Our Vibrant Downtown Project

– A vibrant downtown – Opportunities for entrepreneurs, first-time business owners, and small businesses – A place where people could not only connect, but create and collaborate.

When Downtown Project was officially founded in January of 2012, these were some of its objectives. A $350 million investment into the revitalization of Downtown Las Vegas, Downtown Project has worked to bring connectedness, collision and co-learning to the neighborhood, along with shops and services that make the area a great place to live, work and play.

Downtown Project has invested approximately $200 million in real estate and development, $50 million for small business investments, $50 million for VegasTechFund—the tech investment arm of Downtown Project—and $50 million for arts and education. So far, Downtown Project has invested in approximately 50 small businesses and more than 100 tech startups. Additionally, Downtown Project has invested in 9th Bridge School, an early childhood and elementary school; Turntable Health, a unique, membership-based primary care clinic; and Stitch Factory, a co-working space for designers, among others.

Downtown Project also owns and operates a number of businesses, including Gold Spike, located at 217 Las Vegas Boulevard North, which opened in May 2013. A co-working space by day that transforms into a giant party by night, Gold Spike is one of Downtown’s most popular, comprehensive meeting and hangout spots, and is also a sought-after event space, with the capability to host more than 1,000 people in its indoor and outdoor spaces. Its sister property, Oasis at Gold Spike, is a boutique, non-smoking, non-gaming hotel with 44 individually decorated hotel rooms, and another 40 hotel rooms in the Gold Spike Tower.

Downtown Container Park, located at the southeast corner of 7th and Fremont Streets, is an open-air shopping and entertainment venue featuring 38 unique retail shops, restaurants, and bars. The innovative center was built from 43 repurposed shipping containers and 41 locally manufactured Xtreme cubes.

Upon arrival, guests are greeted by a 35-foot-tall praying mantis sculpture that shoots flames from its antennae. After entering the park, guests discover a whimsical world of one-of-a-kind boutiques, restaurants, and bars. Container Park also includes a stage for presentations and live music performances as well as The Treehouse, an interactive play area for children and families featuring a 33-foot-tall slide, NEOS play system, oversized foam building blocks and much more.

“The shops at Container Park offer a little something for everyone, ranging from Oak & Ivy, an American whiskey focused craft cocktail bar, to Kappa Toys, a really fun toy store for kids as well as the young at heart,” said Doug McPhail, Downtown Project’s director of retail operations. “It’s really important to us that Container Park is able to function as a sort of incubator for small businesses and first-time business owners, and we’re very proud of the selection of stores we offer.”

The Market, located at Fremont Street between 6th and 7th Streets, opened in October 2014 and offers a full-scale urban grocery shopping experience featuring traditional market items, fresh produce, exceptional coffee and pastries, gourmet sandwiches, craft beer and wine, and a hot and cold salad bar.

Downtown Project also owns and operates a variety of events spaces, from Place on 7th, a traditional event space with a variety of gorgeous set-up options, to the Western Hotel, a repurposed former hotel-casino which offers nearly 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor temporary exhibition space.

Downtown Project’s small businesses investments range from Eat, a wildly popular breakfast and lunch restaurant opened in 2012 as one of the first investments, to 11th Street Records, half record store and half recording studio, which opened its doors in late April 2015. Restaurants and bars have been a big part of Downtown Project’s investments, with more than 20 food and beverage commitments to date, including more offerings still on the way.

“Restaurants and bars are so important to the development of a vibrant downtown because they tend to be places that bring families or friends together, and people are often willing to travel somewhere new for a great dining experience,” said Will Beam with Downtown Project’s small business team.

Other Downtown Project -affiliated food and beverage venues range from celebrity chef Kerry Simon’s Carson Kitchen to O Face Doughnuts, a specialty doughnut shop, to Grass Roots juice bar, which offers superfood-based juices, smoothies, and foods. All three of those businesses reside at the John E. Carson building at the northwest corner of Carson Avenue and 6th Street.

Downtown Project’s most recently opened restaurants are Glutton, featuring savory meats, locally sourced produce, house-made pastas, and seafood from the Pacific Northwest, and VegeNation, a vegan restaurant featuring globally-inspired street food.

Downtown Project’s small business team also invested in a variety of services and retail concepts, from The Writer’s Block, an independently owned bookstore that also offers free writing classes and field trips for local students, to The Hydrant Club, a membership-based dog park and doggie day care facility that also offers extended boarding services, training, dog baths, and a limited selection of dog food and retail goods.

“In making decisions about investments, we also looked for businesses that were in some way first, unique, or best,” Beam said. “Rather than investing in chain stores, we look for entrepreneurs with a lot of passion and story-worthy ideas and experiences.”

According to an economic impact report by Applied Analysis, Downtown Project’s efforts to create a place of creativity where work and play coincide in historic Downtown Las Vegas has resulted in an estimated $118.9 million in recurring economic output since 2012. Additionally, a one-time economic output of $70 million has been produced as a result of the impact of all completed construction work funded by Downtown Project.

Once all planned construction projects are complete, an annual impact of $220.7 million is anticipated.

“It is amazing to see what Downtown Project has accomplished in the last two years,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal analyst with Applied Analysis. “In addition to reviving interest in the area, the total economic impact of their activities is similar to building more than 400 2,000-square-foot homes each year.”

Over the past three years, Downtown Project has invested in more than 70 ongoing or completed construction projects, and through its small business and tech investments, 1,048 permanent jobs have been established in the growing neighborhood.

Downtown Project has also invested in the Life Is Beautiful Festival, a highly successful lifestyle event which brings together marquee musicians, chefs, artists, and speakers in the heart of Downtown Las Vegas. Introduced in October 2013, the festival welcomed more than 60,000 patrons in its first year and 90,000 festival attendees over three full days in 2014.

Returning September 25-27, the third annual Life Is Beautiful Festival hopes to attract even more attendees to the downtown district. Through the festival and invited guests, Downtown Project generates 23,000 annual out-of-town visitors to Downtown Las Vegas. These guests have contributed a total of $26.5 million each year to southern Nevada’s economy.

Upcoming Downtown Project investments include Zydeco Po-Boys, a quick-casual Cajun concept by chef Brandon Trahan, expected to open at the end of May. Zydeco Po-Boys will be located at the northwest corner of Carson Avenue and 7th Street, in the same building that’s home to Glutton and VegeNation.

Chow, a concept by the owner and chef of Eat, Natalie Young, will feature Chinese food and fried chicken and is expected to open by late summer next door to The Writer’s Block, on Fremont Street between 10th and 11th Streets. Just across Fremont, next door to 11th Street Records, live music venue and bar The Wheelhouse, is expected to open during the second half of the year.

To learn more about Downtown Project, visit downtownproject.com.

 

Maria Phelan

Director of Public Relations

Downtown Project