By james art 
Downtown Las Vegas venue Downtown Cocktail Room has announced it will close.
We’re the only news channel where you’ll find the inside scoop on this surprising (but not surprising) turn of events, worrying many downtown residents.
The Downtown Cocktail Room is expected to close in November 2024.
Downtown Cocktail Room opened in 2007 near the entrance to the Fremont Street entertainment district before it became a neighborhood or entertainment district.
The bar, which we rarely visited because it was too loud, was the brainchild of Michael Cornthwaite, who many consider the spark that ignited what is now the Fremont East entertainment district (mostly bars and restaurants).
Cornthwaite (who once ran Emergency Arts and The Beat coffee shop) informed Tony Hsieh’s vision for downtown, and eventually Hsieh’s Downtown Project acquired the building that housed the Downtown Cocktail Room. Also in the building are Inspire Nightclub (now closed), Corduroy, the Griffin, Smashed Pig (now closed) and Flippin’ Good Chicken, Burgers, Beer.
The building was acquired by Boston Omaha Asset Management and its co-managing partner Brendan Keating. The company also owns the nearby Tony @ Carson (formerly the John E. Carson Building).
This is where things get awkward.
Many downtown businesses owe their existence to a sugar daddy named Tony Hsieh, of Zappos fame. Hsieh’s Downtown project was all about community building, and not every place would have made it without sweetheart deals for rent and other help, often done quietly behind the scenes, sometimes scribbled on pieces of paper.
What was not communicated is that Downtown Cocktail Room’s rent was ridiculously low based on sales, a holdover agreement from the previous ownership.
The deal was described as an “infinite piggy bank,” an arrangement that dragged on for years because Tony Hsieh’s estate wasn’t very comfortable tracking sales volume against revenue.
Multiple sources have told us the problem is over, hence the decision to close the downtown cocktail lounge. At higher rent, margins dry up and reality sinks.
Here’s the Instagram post announcing the Downtown cocktail lounge’s closing: “The Downtown sign. It has been a beacon for those looking for great cocktails and fun urban vibes for almost 18 years, but like all things in life, it must eventually come to an end. Join us on our short farewell tour. We’d like a chance to say goodbye! Thanks for the tremendous love and support over the years. “Here’s to the center. We raise our glasses to the first FEW who were the pioneers and who took risks and believed when no one else would. Let us know who you are and be proud of what we have achieved. Cheers!”
One of the upset responses to the announcement included a note from the Plaza’s CEO, Jonathan Jossell, who said, “If it wasn’t for the Downtown Cocktail Room, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have spent the last 17 years in Downtown Las Vegas. wow Thanks for the memories.”
Our fondest memory of the Downtown Cocktail Room was finding our way inside. No, really. It was a whole thing.
No word yet on what might be moved into the space.
The inconvenient truth is that a number of downtown businesses previously subsidized by the Downtown Project have floundered since Tony Shie’s death in 2020. His legacy is slowly being dismantled and his assets are slowly being sold off. The “slow” part is a separate story. We’re told lawyers for Hsieh’s estate are making it as difficult as possible for interested parties to strike deals.
Downtown Cocktail Room has filled a niche in the downtown scene, and there’s still time to check it out before it closes. Just wear earplugs.