Downtown doing what cancer center couldn’t

In less than two months, the Nevada Cancer Institute will be no more. The valley has endured far too many business failures, but this one might be the most disappointing of them all.

The institute was supposed to deliver far more than excellent care and groundbreaking research. It was supposed to lead a shift in the Southern Nevada economy by proving that highly educated professionals would be willing to relocate here. It was supposed to help reverse the perception that Las Vegas is a one-industry town.

However, the institute opened with too much debt and not enough buy-in from local physicians. Then the economy tanked. Last year brought layoffs. Bankruptcy followed this year. The University of California, San Diego bought the facility in January with the hope of expanding the medical practice, but California's own economic problems made that impossible. Last week, the university announced the Nevada Cancer Institute would shut down Dec. 31. Some of the practice and its Summerlin campus are expected to be taken over by the Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada.

Is the collapse of the Nevada Cancer Institute a signal that economic diversification in Las Vegas is a pipe dream? That new industries and skilled workers won't come here, no matter the good weather, quality of life, lack of natural disasters and favorable business climate? Can such goals be achieved before a broader economic recovery?

Zappos.com Chief Executive Officer Tony Hsieh is proving that some of the goals of the Nevada Cancer Institute are achievable, albeit through a different course. Mr. Hsieh, through sheer force of will and his own personal fortune, has turned downtown Las Vegas into one of the country's top emerging markets for technology employment. In addition to moving his company into the old City Hall, Mr. Hsieh launched the $350 million Downtown Project, which includes a $50 million technology fund to assist start-up companies.

This week, the Jones Lang LaSalle commercial real estate firm rated Las Vegas No. 2 in high-tech employment growth. The city added 6,898 tech jobs in 2011, a 22.9 percent year-over-year gain, second only to San Francisco.

"We're seeing a lot of demand from out of state," said Bret Davis, Jones Lang LaSalle's Las Vegas office broker. "There just seems to be a general optimism about the market."

Take Two Interactive, the maker of the "Grand Theft Auto" video games, recently moved some operations into a downtown office building. And if Congress passes legislation that legalizes interstate Internet poker, Las Vegas is positioned to become a global hub for that industry.

The Nevada Cancer Institute very well might have succeeded if the economy didn't collapse. The Great Recession exposed its vulnerabilities.

But the institute's broader goals were righteous. Mr. Hsieh is proving the founders and donors of the center were correct to believe in Las Vegas. Big things and better days lie ahead, and the only way to get there is to place big bets.