About 15 years ago, Tony Hsieh took his hundreds of millions and invested in East Fremont Street. He moved Zappos into the former City Hall nearby.
And that part of downtown came alive with businesses: The Beat coffee shop and Downtown Cocktail Room became familiar local gathering spots. Then other businesses moved in. For a while, it had a definite locals feel. You knew the bartenders, you knew other patrons.
Even before Hsieh’s death, tourists started to notice and slowly came over from the gaudier Fremont Street Experience. Since his passing, nearly all his properties on Fremont East have come under the ownership of Cornerbar Management. Many others, such as the motels further down Fremont, sit vacant.
Slowly, locals migrated back to the Arts District, a mile to the southwest.
Now that area is booming, largely with bars, shops and restaurants. Two large apartment complexes are being built in the middle of it. Right now, by the estimates of some business owners — and they are happy about this — maybe seven out of every 10 customers are tourists.
Change always happens. And again, for some businesses, change in the Arts District is a great thing, and we’ll talk about that. But is it a place for locals anymore?
Our guests are either deeply involved in the area or, for years, have been customers and observers of all of these changes.
Guests: Geoff Carter, senior editor, Las Vegas Weekly; Steve Frankin, realtor; Becky Miller, president, 18b; Derek Stonebarger, owner, Rebar and Davy's
