Among the largest of the projects is a 28-story mixed-use towerthat locally based Weston Associates plans to build on the site ofa Stuart Street parking lot. Nearby at 640-680 Washington St., a650,341-sf project known as Liberty Place is already underconstruction. That development will add more than 400 rental unitsand 6,289 sf of ground-floor retail space to the market. Meanwhile,just down the block at 659-679 Washington St. , KensingtonInvestment Co. plans to build a $120-million, 346-unit apartmentbuilding called "Residences at Kensington Place," complete withretail storefronts and restaurants on the site of the historicGaiety Theatre.

Five other projects, including a biomedical facility for TuftsUniversity, are already planned or in development in the 25-blockarea that makes up the neighborhood.But all those new developmentprojects have some Chinatown activists alarmed.

"The issue of gentrification is hitting the community harder andfaster than we expected." Alice Leung, a community organizer withBoston's Chinese Progressive Association, tells GlobeSt.com."Chinatown has just become this development hotspot." Leung sayssome Chinatown residents are already feeling the pinch with doubledigit rent increases that have put a strain on households where themedian family income averages $22,000 per year.