A four-story hotel in the core of the ID, with retail stores at ground level, the East Kong Yick was created by the pooled resources of 170 Chinese American pioneers.

With no financial backing from a bank, the investment company pooled money from approximately 170 Chinese American community members to fund the construction of two twin buildings that would serve as the anchor of a "new" Chinatown.

[5] Members of the investment company lived not only in Seattle but throughout the Pacific Northwest, making the Kong Yick Buildings a landmark for the Chinese community.

Chin Chun Hock, who arrived in Seattle in 1860, established the Wa Chong Company (華昌, "Chinese Prosperity") in 1868 with partner Woo Gen.

Next door, Chin Gee Hee operated the Quong Tuck Company, another of the multi-purpose mercantiles selling wholesale and retail import goods, as well as supplying contract labor to canneries, mills and other industrial concerns.

The top two floors of the East Kong Yick Building comprised the Freeman Hotel, home to many of these itinerant workers from the canneries, lumber mills, construction sites, farms, restaurants and hand laundries.

By settling in the East Kong Yick, the Wing Luke Asian Museum hopes to help spur the preservation of other historic buildings in the International District and bring thousands of visitors to support the many neighboring shops and restaurants.