ZZZ - GMG - VEGAS INC 2011-2014

J A N U A R Y 1 3 , 2 0 1 4 / Y O U R b u s i n e s s - t o - b u s i n e s s w e e k ly SPECIAL FOCUS DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS This month, VEGAS INC looks at downtown's history, development and future. Well-known Nevadans review the year and look ahead steve marcus REBUILDING: Downtown Las Vegas has many empty lots, the result of land owners demolishing buildings rather than boarding them up or sprucing them up. a clean slate to reinvent downtown Landscape is at once mortifying and exciting D By Eli Segall staff writer owntown Las Vegas has been a consistent bright spot in the city's sluggish economy. ¶ Stores and restaurants are opening, new developments are sprouting, and tech entrepreneurs are streaming in to build the valley's geek scene. ¶ Amid the excitement, though, another aspect of downtown is just as noticeable but not nearly as welcoming: the area's empty, undeveloped land. Downtown is peppered with vacant lots, unlike many other major cities' urban centers, which are more fully developed. Real estate experts say the empty parcels, which leave stretches of downtown eerily quiet, crimp property values and harm the neighborhood's image. Visitors and newcomers often don't know whether a building was demolished or the site was never developed. Either way, "it's not a good perception," said former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Land Institute. Nationally, developers have been filling downtowns with residential buildings, retail stores and offices as officials try to turn the once-ignored areas into thriving economic hubs. 20140113_VI01_F.indd 1 The same is true in Las Vegas, but success here has been limited, partly because of the recession and partly because it's cheaper to build in the suburbs, where most locals would rather live. Executives with online retailer Zappos are behind much of the recent boom. Through the $350 million Downtown Project, a private redevelopment effort, Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh and his partners have been buying old buildings and empty lots, financing tech startups and developing real estate projects, including the recently opened Downtown Container Park retail and entertainment complex. But Hsieh's group can't build out the whole area. And while see land, page 17 By Rebecca Clifford Cruz staff writer In honor of the outgoing year, VEGAS INC asked 13 prominent Nevada personalities — entrepreneurs, politicians, athletes and entertainers — 13 questions to be answered in 13 or fewer words. They mused about their accomplishments and regrets, their hopes and priorities for the coming year, their heros and peccadillos. You'll find that 13 words can be laced with profound philosophies and clever humor. Nevada Sen. Tick Segerblom, D-Las Vegas Living or dead, what person do you admire the most? President Jimmy Carter. What is the best quality you like about a person? Segerblom Honesty. What are you currently reading? "A Life Worth Living: Albert Camus and the Quest for Meaning." see 13 to know, page 14 INSIDE TODAY FOLLOW THE LEADER | P. 6 New Jersey has set the pace for online gambling JOB OPPORTUNITY | P. 7 Clearance for drone testing gets Nevada in on the ground floor for new field THE DATA | P. 20 Records and transactions THE LIST | P. 21 2014's largest conventions, by expected attendees 1/9/14 1:06:59 PM

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