Robert Arsenault, an international economic development consultant in Philadelphia, spends $2,540 a month for his two-bedroom in the Goldtex, a luxury building with a concierge, gym and a rooftop pool. His favorite amenity, though, is outside: a slew of authentic Chinese restaurants specializing in everything from Sichuan cuisine to dim sum.

“I eat in Chinatown three to five times a week,” when in town, explains Mr. Arsenault, 64, who is not of Chinese ancestry. He says he moved near the city's Chinatown to enjoy its “really vibrant, comprehensive culinary experience.”

Forged from a combination of economic necessity and racial discrimination, many of this country’s traditional urban Chinatowns are now attracting a new type of business: luxury real-estate development.

Projects near Boston’s Chinatown include Millennium Place Condos, a 256-unit building that opened in 2013 where units sell for between $1.1 million to $4 million. The Kensington, which also opened in 2013, is a 27-story tower with an outdoor pool and pet-grooming room. Units rent for between $2,700 and $6,800 a month, says Connie Kastelnik, consultant to Boston-based Kensington Investment Co.

In the heart of Los Angeles’s Chinatown sits Blossom Plaza. In 2016, developer Forest City West opened the 237-unit building where monthly rents currently range from $1,300 to $2,500. In addition to traditional perks like a pool and gym, Blossom Plaza attempts to “reference Chinese culture” with programming like a Lunar New Year celebration, and Chinese visual cues in the architecture, says Kevin Ratner, president of Forest City West, a unit of real-estate investment trust Forest City , in Cleveland.