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In business downtown the strip hsieh inspires at preview las vegas veer condos up for sale from $228,000 By Richard N. Velotta senior staff writer Old-school businesspeople may not understand Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh's methods. But the estimated 2,000 people who attended Preview Las Vegas received him warmly when he offered details of his Downtown Project and Zappos' move from Henderson to downtown Las Vegas. He received a standing ovation. Hsieh is investing $350 million to jump-start small businesses, business start-ups, education, culture and real estate development. In his 30-minute presentation, Hsieh talked about bringing culture and art to downtown, encouraging "collisions" of residents and visitors so they get to know each other and share experiences and ideas and his philosophy of "delivering happiness." Hsieh said one of the secrets to his success is devoting the marketing budget to customer service "so your customers become the ones marketing your product." He also seeks ideas from within his company, emailing his employees about what they'd want to see in their dream campus. The response: a doggie day-care facility, so that's what they'll have. Hsieh said he and many of his employees live at the Ogden apartments downtown and several 8 20130204_VI08_F.indd 8 of the units are left unoccupied so that entrepreneurs considering a move downtown can stay there for free awhile to get a feel for the place. He only asks that guests give something back — maybe a talk or speech to enrich local residents. Eventually, Hsieh said he'd build and open a speakers center to house community events on a regular basis. Under Hsieh's leadership, Zappos.com took over sponsorship of First Friday, a monthly art festival. That strategy has led to monthly "Tech Week" and "Fashion Week" for residents to learn more about technology and fashion trends. To Hsieh, it's OK for people not to choose to move downtown — they can instead become "downtown subscribers" and participate in some of the themed activities that occur there. Hsieh ended his presentation with a story about the inspiration he received from the story of Roger Bannister, the first distance runner to break the four-minute mile. Running a mile in that time was thought to be impossible, but once Bannister did it, several others accomplished it. That, he said, shows that people can be encouraged to do more things that many thought would be impossible — which is what he's trying to do downtown. By Eli Segall staff writer After buying most of the remaining condos at CityCenter's Veer Towers in December, East Coast investors put 100 units back up for sale in late January. Executives with Ladder Capital and Pordes Residential Sales and Marketing plan to sell their 427 condos in phases, said Las Vegas broker Jim Navarro, who is overseeing the efforts at the Strip complex. It will take about three years to sell the entire portfolio, he estimated. Prices start at $228,000 for studios and climb to the high$400,000 range for two-bedrooms, he said. The first 100 units are about evenly split between the two towers, and some already are leased. Navarro said those contracts would be honored. "Nobody's going to be thrown out," he said. New York-based Ladder and Florida-based Pordes, whose involvement in the deal was recently disclosed, bought more than 60 percent of the units last month for $119 million. After the deal closed, the buildings were 98 percent sold. Veer Towers have 335 units each. Units range from about 500 to 3,300 square feet. Amenities include valet parking, exercise facilities and saunas. The 67-acre CityCenter complex is a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and a subsidiary of Dubai World, a Dubai-owned holding company. | 4 FEBRUARY 2013 | 1/31/13 3:02:37 PM