Trucks loaded with construction materials park in front of a vacant lot in El Monte, where a homeless man slumbers on the sidewalk next to a mountain of rags and trash bags.
Overhead, colorful flags whip in the breeze, advertising opportunities for wealthy Chinese investors. A large sign above the sidewalk explains the reason for the trucks: the construction of a 133-room Hilton Garden Inn on a run-down section of Valley Boulevard.
The Hilton is part of an unprecedented wave of Chinese investment in a working-class, mostly Latino city, where more than $720 million in projects are under discussion or development.
When it opens in 2015, the Hilton will become El Monte's first full-service hotel since the city was incorporated in 1912. If approved, a $220-million development with about half a million square feet of retail and office space would add another hotel.
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