‘I’m putting it all on the line’: Commercial Center attempts area renaissance after nefarious history
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The first commercial shopping center in the Vegas Valley dominated the 1960s and ’70s before plummeting after 2000. Decades later, businesses new and old say another renaissance is in motion.
The historic Commercial Center on on East Sahara Avenue near Maryland Parkway opened more than six decades ago in 1963. It boasted live entertainment, restaurants, clubs and high-end retail. Some bars were also safe havens for gay communities of the time.
Katy Scott now runs the Las Vegas Cue Club, which has seen the center through its best and worst since opening in 1964.
“This was a big hangout back in the ’60s and ’70s,” Scott said under the light of a pool table Friday morning. “Twenty years ago, you could come in here and you wouldn’t want to be in the parking lot.”
She recounts rampant prostitution and large homeless populations. A mass shooting at an unlicensed hookah lounge in 2021 injured 12 people and killed one.
Clark County Commissioner Tick Segerblom spearheaded efforts to revitalize the area, in part by helping to create a grant program for restaurants moving in. The county also purchased some of the center’s buildings with intentions to tear down and build up, Segerblom told 8 News Now in January.
“First, it has to be safe. So, that’s one of the things we’re doing, is trying to bring in these 24-hour businesses, which will encourage the police to be here more often and make people feel welcome,” Segerblom said.
As of this week, the county says only one grant has been awarded with “several more” in the pipeline. Arty’s Steakhouse, so far, is the one recipient.
Derek Stonebarger, who already owns ReBAR and Davy’s in Downtown Las Vegas, is creating dining rooms disguised as walk-in coolers inside the steakhouse that will double as an art gallery. He says Segerblom approached him to create another concept at Commercial Center.
“The county, in my opinion, they really want their own arts district,” Stonebarger said inside the in-construction steakhouse Wednesday morning. “That’s a place where I want to be. That’s a place where I want to spend this next chapter of my life.”
A couple doors down, the once-blooming Lotus of Siam wilted in 2017 when heavy rains collapsed its roof. Mike Steffen, director of operations, and the rest of the team were pushed to a location near Flamingo and Paradise roads.
But, a homecoming is nearing. Construction is progressing inside the original location to reopen during the first quarter of 2025.
“It’s where (the original owners) put their roots down over 30 years ago,” Steffen said inside the operating location before the lunch rush Friday morning. “We could have gone anywhere else, right? But, it’s such a historic part of town and we like to think, after the longevity we had there, we want to contribute to it, continue on as it goes into the next 30 years.”
Efforts, so far, are seemingly working as crowds continue to patronize the long-standing and new restaurants here. As new businesses move in, they are banding together.
“All these businesses in here, I think, are starting to come together to build a relationship, to try to bring back the commercial center,” Scott said. “There were so many good memories for people that grew up here, and we’re trying to bring that back now.”
Whether Segerblom’s vision will fully materialize remains to be seen. A lot is riding on the success.
“I’m putting it all on the line here,” Stonebarger said. “In order to get a 20-year lease on this, we had to put our house up.”
“Investing the capital we have, seeing the city match that when it comes to infrastructure investment,” Steffen said, “that’s a level of trust and commitment to say, ‘Hey, you’re willing to come back? Great. We’re willing to invest in that and the surrounding area.’”
The county held a block party here in May 2023 that turned controversial as some businesses claim temporary fences blocked attendees from entering their establishments. Segerblom envisions other outdoor events here within the 1,500-spot parking lot.
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