5 Las Vegas motels tied to deceased tech CEO knocked down one by one |
In downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street, the Travelers Motel sits abandoned and closed in February 2016.
A cluster of mid-century, single-story motels near downtown Las Vegas were demolished over the past several weeks. The razing in the Fremont East District has left some disappointed as they lose tethers to the city’s retro past, as well as anxious about what’s coming next to the neighborhood.
The five motels were unoccupied and part of the Downtown Project, a redevelopment effort launched over a decade ago and spearheaded by Tony Hsieh, the former CEO of online shoe seller Zappos. After his death in 2020, Hsieh’s estate is now entangled in probate court, and his vision to reinvigorate the vintage motels along Fremont Street has become blurry and stalled in development limbo.
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“It’s a real bummer. We’re not happy about it,” Lauren Tuvell told SFGATE. “They’re really cool pieces of Las Vegas history.” As the manager at Sure Thing Wedding Chapel on the same block as some of the motels, Tuvell said she’s watched as the properties — Las Gables Court, Las Vegas,........