Downtown Las Vegas has two main draws: the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, the setting of the History Channel’s widely popular “Pawn Stars” series, and the Fremont Street Experience, a nightly light show extravaganza created by the City of Las Vegas to attract tourists away from The Strip and to this relatively unknown part of the city.

Walk a few short blocks away from these attractions and one will get the true taste of downtown Vegas: seedy motels, belligerent vagrants, boarded up buildings, check-cashing stores and bail bond services. Even locals avoid these streets after dusk.

Yet it’s downtown, not the ritzy, high-energy and grandiose Strip, that has captivated the attention and money of one of Vegas’ most prominent residents.

Tony Hsieh, CEO of online shoe and apparel company Zappos.com and author of the best-selling book Delivering Happiness, decided downtown could be changed for the better. His determination to remake the blighted neighborhood into one that he, his friends and employees at Zappos could love consumes 90% of his time. Hsieh, whose net worth is more than $1 billion according to Bloomberg, has allotted $350 million of his own money to build his dream city: one that will feature community-centric bars and restaurants, a grocery store, a dog run, specialty boutiques and more. Hsieh, who turns 40 this December, says he can revitalize the downtown in five years. He has hired a former Bellagio executive and Wall Street bankers to turn his vision into reality.

In the 13 months since his “Downtown Project” began, 10 small businesses have launched including a restaurant called “Eat” and the clothing store “Coterie.” But the majority of Hsieh’s investment – more than 20 acres of downtown – has not changed. The decrepit buildings and sketchy characters that roam the streets are still there.

According to Hsieh, a dozen projects are at different stages of development, the biggest one being a shipping container park that will house a selection of cafes, local watering holes and a bookstore. The park will even include a 40-foot tall fire breathing praying mantis that was purchased from the Burning Man festival. Hsieh’s quixotic ideas have encouraged other entrepreneurs to move to the neighborhood and open businesses. But for Hsieh and his Downtown Project team, the challenges are real and staggering.

“A lot of city revitalization projects depend on having an expensive sports team or building an expensive stadium or having a Harvard or Stanford nearby…we want to show there’s another way,” Hsieh says in an interview with The Daily Ticker. “If we can do it in downtown Las Vegas, the place typically voted as least likely to succeed and make it a place of learning, of inspiration, of entrepreneurial energy, then really there’s no excuse for any other city.”

Hsieh’s 23rd floor apartment, located in the upscale high-rise apartment building The Ogden, has the vibe and appearance of a startup. With the exception of an autographed David Copperfield photo and a handful of llama toys (Hsieh’s favorite animal), his apartment could double as Downtown Project’s headquarters. Renderings of future businesses and a giant map of downtown (with Hsieh’s real estate acquisitions highlighted in red tape) plaster the apartment walls. His apartment marks the first stop on Downtown Project tours, where individuals, led by a “Visits Wizard,” can learn free of charge how Hsieh became interested in the neighborhood and get an inside peek of what’s in store for downtown.

Hsieh moved to downtown in May 2011 from a gated community near Zappos’ suburban offices in Henderson, Nev. He decided in 2010 to transport the company’s administrative offices and its 1500 employees to the old city hall building, located 5 minutes away from Hsieh’s apartment. This fall Zappos will officially become part of downtown.

Hsieh does not deny that Zappos, famous for its quirky and unorthodox culture, was the inspiration for his revitalized downtown.

“One of our goals is to have everything you need to live or play within walking distance…hopefully that will be the next quantum leap for our culture at Zappos,” he says. He wants employees to be “around each other 24/7…it’s good for the community and the city.”

Hsieh has divided his investment into five parts:

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