[Alan LLC]

"Hsieh cult suddenly forced to face reality"

The cult of Tony Hsieh developed a crack this past week, and that’s a good thing.
Good for Las Vegans jaded by decades of hot air of an endless string of “visionaries,” and good for Hsieh and his acolytes as they attempt to put down actual business roots in downtown’s hard-packed soil.
Downtown Project development group set media tongues clicking and hands wringing at the possibility that the celebrated Zappos.com CEO was suffering from blurred business vision.

[url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/columns-blogs/john-l-smith/hsieh-cult-suddenly-forced-face-reality]Hsieh cult suddenly forced to face reality | Las Vegas Review-Journal[/url]




The best thing for downtown is to bulldoze it all and start over.

[UTES]

Don't get sucked into the hyperbole and drama created by the tabloid-style LV newspapers. What occurred is a minor adjustment - hardly the "bloodletting" described. The layoffs only comprised 10% of the Project's corporate staff and 3% of Hsieh's total staff.

Bill

[ddrhazy]

This article is confusing. I'm really not interested in reading through the entire thing when the introductory paragraph has contradictory statements in it.

[Buzz123]

Had the impression all along that the city politicians were yet again letting an outside "expert" come in and take over, only to watch him lose his money on his, "we outsiders know best" dream projects. More like hallucinations. Have seen this kind of thing happen in Las Vegas over and over again for 50 years. I hope I'm wrong this time.

[von949]

Every tenant I have ever had in the downtown area has always told me that the DTP would not have anything for them. And most likely would not cater to them, so they never supported it.




Side note...

I used to run ads on craigslist that highlighted the DTP development.(before it was open for business). I was thinking maybe the DTP development would be an incentive to potential tenants. Calls, texts and emails came in asking about DTP's grocery stores, laundromats, parks, library, bike shops...etc. that's when reality set in for me and I stopped advertising DTP.

[Clarkcty]

City of Las Vegas could do more to keep the momentum going. Here is an individual who invested quite a good chunk of his own money. Time for the city officials to think hard and truly invest in Downtown Vegas and I am not talking about a taxpayer funded stadium.

[Clarkcty]

For those people residing in Downtown Vegas, would they rather see a derelict building, vacant lot full of trash and weeds or thriving businesses? They should patronize the shops, restaurants, bars and other businesses in the area. Once in a while I go to the East Fremont District for a drink and a meal especially at the Container Park.

[winter-rabbit]

Same here, I go there often for O-Face doughnuts (best in LV imho) and fantastic vegan dishes made by chef who personally was Wynn's goto person for his personal vegan diet.

Tony sold Zappos to amazon for $1B. He only got to keep around $375m. He invested in the neighborhood and hired over 700 people.

I am not sure why there are downtown project haters or strong critics. Like you said, would they rather see run down buildings and vacant lots?

Originally Posted by Clarkcty

For those people residing in Downtown Vegas, would they rather see a derelict building, vacant lot full of trash and weeds or thriving businesses? They should patronize the shops, restaurants, bars and other businesses in the area. Once in a while I go to the East Fremont District for a drink and a meal especially at the Container Park.

[Willy702]

Originally Posted by Alan LLC

The best thing for downtown is to bulldoze it all and start over.

Yeah because bulldozing downtown would make it so attractive. This was all a venture capital project by a guy with plenty of money who wanted a more interesting neighborhood to live and work in. He couldn't be in charge of it forever. It is a better place now and others have to build on it.

[BWNLV]

In the internet age, haters hate. Tony has been the best thing for downtown in 20 years.