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City is hoping to reinvent Downtown Las Vegas

Posted at 8:48 AM, Jun 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-09 12:18:08-04

Is Downtown Las Vegas going through a revival? Some city and business leaders think so. In fact, they're trying to convince homebuyers of it.

The city of Las Vegas is pouring millions of dollars into the stretch of First Street between Bonneville Avenue and Charleston Boulevard. They're paying to put in more trees, street-side cafes, and other things to make it prettier.

The overall goal is to make downtown Las Vegas a more appealing place to live.

It might be a tough sell for locals. This year alone, downtown has seen several fires, at least one shooting, and a high profile punching death.

City officials say the Department of Public Safety and Las Vegas police are stepping up patrols downtown.

The city also says there's been more interest from developers to build downtown. Right now, Fremont 9 is being built. That's a large apartment complex near Fremont Street and Ninth Street.

Regarding concerns for squatter and crime issues, the urban development director for the city of Las Vegas, Bill Arent, would only say the more people who commit to living downtown the safer it will be.

"I think downtown is one of the safest neighborhoods in the community. I think you really don't see any more crime happening downtown than you do in other neighborhoods," said Arent.

You can check out all the places to live at the residential fair Thursday, June 15 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Las Vegas city hall, but the logistics of living downtown are changing.

A spokesman for the Juhl and Ogden Uri Vaknin says the Ogden is 67% sold. Just this week the Juhl opened for sales. It was turned into a condo leasing building during the recession.

"We talk about the crime. We talk about homelessness. I have a second home in LA and you want to talk about homelessness. It's so evident there," said Vaknin.

Vaknin says more property owners will make downtown nicer.