CONTENTS December 2014/January 2015 115 HAUTE The Ogden is helping to PROPERTY turn Downtown into a real neighborhood. 115 // WHAT’S UP DOWN THERE? New housing options and even a market are turning Downtown Las Vegas into a real neighborhood. 118 // FOOD AND SHELTER, VEGAS-STYLE A decadent new development pops the Champagne, and a rare penthouse comes on the market. THE GUIDE 123 // RIGHT ON ’CUE Enjoy the fruits of painstaking barbecue investigation at Pot Liquor. 124 // ACQUIRE: SPECIALTY GIFT STORES 126 // DEVOUR: DECADENT SEASONAL DESSERTS 127 // BEAUTY: NEW YEAR’S BEAUTY SPOTS PARTING SHOT 132 // WE’LL DO IT OUR WAY Keep your picturesquely conventional holiday traditions. Las Vegas is the best Christmas town on earth. ON THE COVER: Beth Behrs Photography by Miranda Penn Turin Styling by Maeve Reilly Dress, Salvatore Ferragamo ($2,790). Grand Canal Shoppes at Venetian and Palazzo, 702-369-0251; ferragamo.com. Earrings, M.C.L by Matthew Campbell Laurenza ($1,425). PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYAN HAINER (OGDEN); COVER: HAIR PEREA/STARWORKS BY AVIVA USING PHYTO; MAKEUP BY ADAM BREUCHAUD/TMG USING MAKE UP FOR EVER DUO MAT Mirage, 702-791-7111; mcldesign.net POWDER FOUNDATION; PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANCE BY SUZANNE KINDT AND SARAH RENARD; DIGITAL TECH: ERIC MACKLIN; VIDEO: NARDEEP KHURMI 26 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM HAUTE PROPERTY News and Trends in Real Estate The newly renovated condos at The Ogden are helping to transform Downtown into a functional neighborhood. WHAT’S UP DOWN THERE? NEW HOUSING OPTIONS—AND FINALLY A MARKET!—ARE TURNING DOWNTOWN LAS VEGAS INTO A REAL NEIGHBORHOOD. YOU KNOW, WHERE PEOPLE LIVE. BY ANDY WANG There are plenty of misconceptions about downtown Las Vegas, some of which pioneer investor Tony Hsieh addressed in a long statement after recent employee layoffs at his Downtown Project. One he didn’t bring up, however, is that many people think the Zappos CEO owns pretty much everything in the neighborhood. Consider The Ogden (ogdenlv.com), where Hsieh resides and puts up visitors in crash pads and where some employees of Zappos and the Downtown Project have apartments. “Some people think it’s a Zappos building,” says Uri Vaknin, a partner at KRE Capital, which, along with co-owners Dune Real Estate Partners and Northcap, has placed apartments at The Ogden back on the market as stylish luxury condos. In fact, in a building that went rental after the financial crisis nixed its original condo plans, these units offer something the area has been lacking, despite all the restaurants, bars, bou- tiques, and start-ups that Hsieh has helped attract—namely, apartments that people can buy. “There is a dearth of housing in downtown Vegas,” says Vaknin, “especially for-sale housing.” The newly renovated Ogden condos are part of Downtown’s makeover into a functional neighbor- hood—a transformation that also includes a fancy new grocery store, complete with Stumptown coffee and artisanal sodas, which opened in October with an investment from Downtown Project. The project’s portfolio also includes chef Kerry Simon’s red-hot restaurant Carson Kitchen, which debuted in June. CONTINUED ON PAGE 116 PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYAN HAINER VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 115 HAUTE PROPERTY restaurants—Rachel’s Kitchen and Wild—and the new bar Scullery. Another impressive amenity is in the parking garage, where there’s a station for Shift, a vehicle-sharing start-up that offers smart cars like Teslas, Chevy Volts, and even Renault’s new Twizy electric car. Over at Juhl, where units rent for about $2 per square foot and one-bedrooms can cost up to $1,710 a month ($3,250 for a penthouse), forthcoming amenities include a three-meals-a-day health-food restaurant, an Asian eatery from a proven opera- tor, a store that sells home theater equipment, and even a high-end waxing boutique offering “mans- caping” services. Other potential tenants include a mixology lounge and a shop selling modern furni- A living room at ture packages. The Ogden. None of these by themselves are neighborhood game-changers, but collectively they represent a Vegas version of Brooklynization, in which a neigh- “KERRY [SIMON] AND I WERE BOTH REALLY ATTRACTED TO borhood is flooded with hipster-friendly businesses WHAT’S GOING ON DOWNTOWN FROM A COMMUNITY in a walkable area. “This is [our] Williamsburg,” says Vaknin, refer- PERSPECTIVE.”—CORY HARWELL ring to the ultratrendy Brooklyn neighborhood once known for its surplus of restaurants, bars, and “Kerry and I were both really attracted to what’s ments at The Ogden are a good start, and Vaknin music venues in lieu of boring but vital staples going on downtown from a community perspec- and his partners are also adding a high-profile res- like grocery stores and pharmacies. But now tive,” says Carson Kitchen partner Cory Harwell. taurant and retail tenants to their Downtown rental Williamsburg has plenty of gourmet food shopping “The community was built even before the infra- building Juhl (juhllv.com). (including the world-famous Smorgasburg outdoor structure was there.” “Tony’s created an energy and excitement that market) and neighboring condo buildings with Hsieh notes that the grocery, known as The you couldn’t replicate,” Vaknin says of Hsieh’s drugstores, not to mention gyms and pools. There Market, will employ close to 30 people, about the impact on The Ogden, where KRE, Dune, and are a lot of families with babies, too. same number of jobs as Downtown Project elimi- Northcap own 248 of the 275 units and have You’ll know downtown Vegas has really changed nated. But layoffs are what layoffs always are: a upgraded the public spaces, including the main when the strollers outnumber the Teslas. V business decision. “We remain focused on the long- lobby, elevator lobbies, club room, fitness center, term plan and the evolution of the Downtown and 25th-floor rooftop pool deck. area,” Hsieh said in his statement. Or, as Vaknin The apartments, which have been updated with puts it, “Utopian ideals are fantastic, but at some hardwood floors, granite counters, stainless steel NEW REASONS TO VISIT point you have to be smart businesswise. Otherwise appliances, and recessed lighting, range from DOWNTOWN the utopia would all fall apart.” 815-square-foot one-bedrooms to 2,000-plus- Back to reality: The goal of downtown Vegas, square-foot three-bedrooms with dens. Prices start CARSON KITCHEN Kerry Simon’s restaurant was like any emerging big-city neighborhood, is to in the low $200,000s and increase to upward of envisioned as a place where the chef serves the kind of become a desirable, attainable alternative to the $600,000, in line with the market for off-Strip con- food he would offer at a dinner party in his loft. Beloved best communities in the world. The new apart- dos. The building’s ground floor includes two dishes like fried chicken skins are part of an evolving menu that swaps out about 40 percent of its items every couple of months. 124 S. Sixth St., 702-473-9523; FROM LEFT: The rooftop of The carsonkitchen.com Ogden; Carson Kitchen. SCULLERY Located at the base of The Ogden, Michael Cornthwaite’s latest venue (for those 25 and older only) offers light bites, strong cocktails, and live music. 150 N. Las Vegas Blvd., 702-910-2396; scullerylv.com THE MARKET Downtown gets its much-needed gro- cer—one with prepared foods for the lunch set and Veuve Clicquot to boot. Sunday through Thursday, 7 AM to 10 PM, and Friday and Saturday, 7 AM to midnight. 611 E. Fremont St., 702-586-3401; themarketdtlv.com THE PERCH The Downtown Container Park has seen fits and starts, but this second-floor restaurant, with its flatbreads, salads, and steak frites, has the makings of a popular neighborhood hangout. Seventh and Fremont Streets, 702-854-1418; theperchlv.com PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRYAN HAINER (THE OGDEN); PETER HARASTY (CARSON KITCHEN) 116 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM.