Las Vegas City Hall

It all started with the plan to move Zappos Headquarters to the former City Hall building in Downtown Las Vegas. What could that campus look like? How could it influence the city around it? How could it help to revitalize Downtown?

Google

There are some corporate campuses that you never have to leave—with dining options, outdoor recreation, gardens, even your dog. But how do the people there interact with the community around them?

Nike

Or what about Nike’s World Headquarters? They have a swimming pool, soccer fields, volley ball courts, workout facilities, and more.

Apple

The Google, Nike, and Apple campuses are all amazing. And Zappos considered creating a similar HQ and polled their employees about what kinds of amenities they would like at their workplace.

Doggy Day Care

When Zappos employees were surveyed about the amenities they would prefer to have in their new campus, doggy day care was the number one request—not human day care..

NYU Campus

Rather than build a campus that’s insular, that doesn’t create reasons for people to leave, Zappos decided that it would be more interesting to create a campus that interacts with the community around it, that encourages people to interact serendipitously with people they might not otherwise meet. A campus that functions not only as a workplace, but also as a community gathering space.

Downtown Las Vegas Fremont East

Surrounding the future Zappos HQ is an amazing neighborhood called Fremont East. It’s filled with bars, restaurants, and shops run by local business owners. It’s the kind of neighborhood where people run into friends on the street, where any bar or restaurant you visit, you’ll see someone you know.

Downtown Las Vegas Fremont East

It’s actually one of the most community-focused neighborhoods you can imagine—in the place you would least expect it. Downtown Las Vegas. Downtown Project was created as its own entity with a mission to help to revitalize the neighborhood and catalyze the growth of the community.

DOWNTOWN PROJECTA $350 Million Investment

$ 50M Small Businesses

$ 50M Tech Startups

$ 50M Education, Arts, Culture

$200M Residential & Real Estate

DOWNTOWN PROJECT GOALS

Live/Work/Play – Walking Distance

The Most Community-Focused Large City in the World

The Co-working Capital of the World

ROI vs. ROCInstead of maximizing short-term

ROI: Return On Investment

We focus on maximizing long-term

ROC: Return On Community

and institutionalizing ROL:

Return On Luck – Accelerating Serendipity

THE BIG BET . . .

Accelerating

Collisions, Community & Co-Learning

…will lead to…

Accelerating

Happiness, Luckiness, Innovation & Productivity

$50M Small Businesses

We’re investing in up to 200 small businesses in Downtown Las Vegas. All of those Post-Its on the wall represent small business ideas.

$50M Small BusinessesWe’re primarily interested in owner-operated small businesses that meet these criteria:

• Are you passionate about your idea?

• Does your idea contribute to community in some way?

• Are you capable of executing your business idea?

• Is your business model sustainable?

• What is it that makes your business unique or the best at what you do?

• What about your business would make it worthy of a story in a major publication or national news outlet?

“What would you be passionate about doing for

10 years even if you never made a dime?”

Entrepreneurs:

Natalie

This is Chef Natalie Young. Her restaurant EAT is our first small business investment to open. Formerly, she worked as a Chef on The Strip. And she was about to leave Las Vegas for good until she was able to follow her passion and fulfill her dream to open her own restaurant.

Natalie

Natalie

Natalie

In order to open her restaurant, many people in the community came together to help Natalie in many ways.

Natalie

Natalie

EAT officially opened for business in September, 2012..

Sarah

This is Sarah Nisperos, a lifelong fashionista who was able to follow her passion after a small business investment from Downtown Project.

This is her boutique, Coterie, which is the first fashion retail operation in the Fremont East area of Downtown.

Before it became a hub for community and fashion, the building where Coterie is located housed a check cashing business.

Before

Coterie

The Downtown Project workspace is located behind Coterie. This is what it looked like before.

After

I’m Romo!

We’re investing $50 million dollars in tech startups like Romotive that are located here or are willing to move their operations to Downtown Las Vegas. Tech startups can grow rapidly and create jobs quickly. We believe you can change the world with a laptop.

$50M Tech Startups

$50M Tech Startups

We’re also investing in spaces for coworking, so startups can have affordable places to work where they can inspire each other and collaborate in ways that accelerate innovation.

$50M Tech Startups

We’re working with Venture for America to bring up to ten of their Fellows toLas Vegas this year. They’ll be working with us on Downtown Project and transitioning into positions with local startups. VFA is a program that sends young, talented college graduates to work in startups to hone their entrepreneurial skills.

$50M Education, Arts, Culture

We’re partnering with Teach for America to bring 1,000 corps members and alumni to live Downtown. We’re also planning to build a K-12 charter or private school in Downtown Las Vegas.

$50M Education, Arts, Culture

And we’re partnering with Burning Man to bring exciting, new public art to Downtown Las Vegas.

We’re investing in organizations like First Friday, to support gathering of the community and the celebration of the local arts scene.

$200M Residential & Real Estate

We’re inspired by the book Triumph of the City and the idea that knowledge is more powerful than space.

When people live closely together, they interact more frequently which creates more opportunities for them to learn from each other.

Accelerate serendipity -> Accelerate learning -> Accelerate productivity and innovation

WHEN CITIES DOUBLE IN SIZE . . .

Productivity and innovation per resident increases by 15%

But it’s not true for companies

HOW TO ACCELERATE LEARNING & INNOVATION

Maximize the number of serendipitous interactions

Accelerate learning opportunities

Increase the metabolism of the city

3 INGREDIENTS FOR SERENDIPITY

1. Residential density of at least 100 residents per acre

2. Street-level activity for residents to collide

3. Culture of openness, collaboration, creativity, and optimism

GROUPS COLLIDING DOWNTOWN

1. 2000 Zappos employees

2. 1000 Teach For America corp members and alumni

3. Tech Startup Community

4. Small Business Community

5. Art and Music Communities

6. Other Passion Communities

7. Local Residents

Culture is to a Company

as

Community is to a City

Values

Innovation

Serendipity

Participation

Upward Mobility

Attracting Startups and the Creative Class

Learning from Zappos and Coworking

Our Secret Weapon …

When people come to visit us in Downtown Las Vegas, they find exactly what we found. A place that is vibrant, interesting, and community-focused. And they want to stay, to move their companies here. They get it.

LEARNING FROM TED, SUMMIT SERIES, SXSW, BIF…

Curated ContentSerendipity

LearningConnectionsCommunity

We’re creating a space where innovators, dreamers, doers, and through leaders from around the world can come to share ideas in Downtown Las Vegas—to enrich the community, to inspire us all. Call it a Downtown Mini-Residency program.

Curated ContentSerendipity

LearningConnectionsCommunity

Downtown Every Day

We’re building a theater at the corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Fremont Street where we’ll host weekly TED-style talks that will given by guests and community members.

OUR BIG BET… 3 Guiding Principles

Accelerate:1. Collisions2. Community3. Co-Learning

And everything else will fall into place…(productivity, innovation, growth, happiness)

What will people say about Downtown?

Downtown Will Make You

SMARTER

50% of Humans Currently Live in Cities

Within our lifetime75% of all people will live in cities

We’re thinking of The City as a Startup

Downtown Las Vegas:The City of Possibilities