Lots of optimism downtown
Molasky chief says grocery market remains long shot
Downtown’s Fremont Street area has come a long way in recent years thanks to Zappos chief Tony Hsieh, who has invested in real estate, restaurants and other ventures through his Downtown Project.
But the area east of the canopy-covered stretch of casinos remains blighted by boarded-up buildings and vacant lots. And with developers flooding the Las Vegas suburbs with apartment complexes, just one rental project is coming out of the ground on Fremont Street — Fremont9, a five-story complex next to Atomic Liquors by Hsieh’s group and Arizona real estate firm The Wolff Co.
The Molasky Group of Cos., based downtown in its 17-story Molasky Corporate Center office tower, also is looking to build a multifamily project in the area, President Rich Worthington recently said. He declined to say where, adding the deal is not finalized.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Las Vegas Review-journal, Worthington weighed in on the neighborhood.
When would-be investors drive around and see the “tumbleweeds” at partially developed Symphony Park, or the now-demolished former Moulin Rouge site or other vacant lots, he said, “You get the sense that, what’s the trajectory in downtown? Is it flat? Is it upward? Is it downward?”
Here are some of his responses from that conversation:
Review-journal: Residential de- velopment has been pretty slow in recent years downtown. You’ve got Fremont9, but that’s about it.
Worthington: You had a concentration of land holdings in very few hands, and that was not their priority, but it is now.
You mean Downtown Project? Yes. It’s now their focus, and I think they’re going to try to foster residential development. They have a lot of operating businesses they
MOLASKY
ating some affordability pressures that have been offset by relatively low mortgage rates. Metro areas with booming job markets and the steepest home price gains could see more residents staying as renters.
“Since home prices are rising faster than wages, salaries, and inflation, some areas could see potential home buyers compelled to look at renting,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Astheeconomyhassteadilyrecovered from the 2008 financial crisis, demand from would-be buyers has steadily improved. The 17-year low unemploymentrateof4.1percent has left more Americans confident enoughtoputbidsonhomes.
Sales of existing homes in November reached their strongest pace since December 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors.
But the sales growth hasn’t compelled more people to list their homesforsale,asthenumberof properties on the market has tumbled nearly 10 percent in the past 12 months.