Road closures, parking fees continue to exact toll on downtown Las Vegas businesses

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

Construction projects and new parking fees in downtown Las Vegas are slowly strangling traffic to local businesses — and some haven’t survived. The latest casualty: the Arts District location of Dig It! Coffee Co.

“Between over a year of construction, road closures, parking changes, and now another construction project that’s scheduled within the coming months, it’s been really challenging for a small, independent business,” owner Taylor Chaney said in a tearful video posted to Instagram. “So, despite being named one of Yelp’s top coffee shops within the entire U.S., which I am so proud of, Dig It! will be officially closing the doors to our Arts District location.”

Dig It! Coffee Co. opened in September 2022 at 1300 S. Casino Center Blvd., employing adults with disabilities and providing job training and mentorship. Chaney, inspired by her younger sister Lindsay, who was born with Down syndrome, founded the business after seeing how few opportunities existed for people with disabilities.

Dig It! Coffee is part of a growing number of businesses saying ongoing changes in downtown Las Vegas — construction road closures and parking fee increases — have eaten into their revenue.

It’s an ongoing struggle.

Restaurateur Natalie Young last year posted on social media that the lease for her brunch spot, Eat, had “officially ended” and would “not be renewing due to ongoing construction in the area.” Young shifted operations to Echo, a cocktail and small-plates lounge around the corner at 1301 S. Main St.

Restaurateur Cory Harwell told the Sun in October that his business, Carson Kitchen, which sits on the corner of South Sixth Street and Carson Avenue, had lost tens of thousands of dollars in revenue as a result of nearby construction for the Maryland Parkway Bus Rapid Transit project.

“We’ve been pretty fortunate in the positioning we have in our restaurant community and the support that we’ve received from Las Vegas as a whole where we’re not going out of business tomorrow, but I can’t say that wouldn’t happen in a couple months if this continues,” Harwell said at the time.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is just over halfway done with the 12.5-mile, $378 million project that will link Harry Reid International Airport with the Medical District using bus rapid transit on Maryland Parkway.

When finished, people will be able to access major stops including UNLV, Boulevard Mall and Fremont Street. The corridor, which serves about 63,000 residents, is set to be outfitted with designated bus lanes, better lighting, more landscaping, wider sidewalks and upgraded bus shelters for the 9,000 transit riders that use it daily, according to the RTC.

As of last week, the RTC reported much of the road work in the Medical District near Charleston Boulevard has been finished, but crews still need to install more infrastructure, build curbs and pave roads around downtown and along Maryland Parkway.

Though construction typically occurred at night or in the early hours of the morning when Carson Kitchen was closed, Harwell said his building would usually be covered in dust when he opened each morning.

Construction equipment parked across the street left many customers unsure if it was open, and for a couple of weeks during roadwork, the smell of fresh asphalt wafted into the business as construction crews laid new pavement.

The RTC told the Sun it “works hard to provide information in advance and keep businesses updated throughout the life of a project.” About 26,000 people are subscribed to weekly email or text updates on construction, signs throughout downtown construction areas indicate open business access and new information is also posted to the RTC’s social media accounts.

“At the RTC, we understand that major roadway projects can affect nearby businesses, which is why community engagement is one of our top priorities,” Brij Gulati, director of capital projects at the RTC, said in a statement in October.

An increase in parking fees around downtown Las Vegas has created another hurdle, business owners like Chaney say.

The city of Las Vegas in October raised its on-street metered parking rates by $1 per hour, bringing the rates to between $2 and $4 per hour depending on the location.

Public surface parking lots throughout downtown, which are privately owned and operated by the city, also were hit with a $1-per-hour increase, raising costs to between $2 and $6 per hour. Monthly permit rates for city-operated garages and select parking lots were adjusted starting with the November billing cycle, city officials said.

The city said that even with the rate increase, parking would still cost less than in most major cities. That claim was based on two outside consultants who had recently reviewed the city’s parking rates, which had not changed in six years.

On Feb. 24, community members met with officials from the city, including Councilwoman Olivia Diaz, to raise concerns about the parking rate increases. Members of 18B Arts District, a group of small-business owners in the area, said they would continue fighting against the parking increases.

But the city stressed that this was a natural part of the region’s growth, and that more development would be incoming — including two housing projects on Commerce Street and the eastern edge of the Arts District.

“While the city is always sad to see a small business make the painful decision to close, it is a reality of how urban areas grow and change,” the city said in a statement to the Sun. “Infrastructure work is a part of every city, and a new 500-space parking garage is under construction and set to open this summer in support of the very popular 18B Las Vegas Arts District. The district is growing and we look forward to more success in the future.”

Alongside the October increases, the city expanded its free lunchtime on-street parking window by an hour — patrons can now park for free on weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Its Employee and Resident Parking Discount Program also offers eligible applicants monthly parking in select spaces for $10. Of the 788 active permits, more than three-quarters are held by Arts District employees and residents.

 

grace.darocha@gmg vegas.com / 702-948-7854 / @gracedarocha