Vegas meets downtown’s ‘Iranian Tony Hsieh’

The boutique motel rooms have new floors, furniture and paint. The flowers in the center of the property are in full bloom. The road surface is cobblestones, not asphalt. And a small wooden pavilion provides much-needed shade.

And here’s the twist about the newly remodeled Sterling Gardens Motel at 1808 East Fremont St. — the owner is not Tony Hsieh.

Some people joke that property owner Kamran Foulad is the Iranian Hsieh, an older version of the Zappos CEO.

On Thursday afternoon, Foulad joined his 23-year-old son, Adam; city leaders such as Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Councilman Bob Coffin; and hotel staffers to mark the reopening of Sterling Gardens in downtown.

They hope the high-profile redevelopment of East Fremont on the west side of Maryland Parkway spreads to the east side of Maryland, where Sterling Gardens and its 60 rooms sit amid a stretch of properties that could also use a renovation.

While Hsieh and his $350 million redevelopment initiative called Downtown Project grab all the headlines, Foulad has quiety assembled his own portfolio of 35 downtown properties.

For Sterling Gardens, the city partnered with Foulad, who spent more than $1 million and devoted more than a year to rehab the motel.

Foulad used the city’s Visual Improvement Program to help fix the property. The Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency sponsors the Visual Improvement Program.

Qualifying business owners in the city’s Redevelopment Areas can receive a rebate of up to $50,000 for the cost of upgrading properties and bringing exteriors up to code. Sterling Gardens qualified for the full $50,000.

“It’s visually appealing. It’s bringing the standards up,” Coffin said.

Goodman, who passed out her “lucky mayor chip” to ribbon-cutting participants, gushed, “Absolutely magnificent.”

Foulad said he also owns the properties on both sides of Sterling Gardens, so it paid to fix up what he calls a boutique motel.

Foulad is leasing the property to Ken Bracken, who has experience in managing motel properties along the East Fremont corridor.

The room rates are $56 per night, including taxes, and $72.80 on Friday and Saturday nights. The weekly rate is $201.60, including taxes.

Adam Foulad said Sterling Gardens is an affordable, laid-back lodging alternative to the Strip.

His father said he has also worked on redevelopment properties in Dallas, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Contact reporter Alan Snel at asnel@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow @BicycleManSnel on Twitter.