Local duo has big plans for the Flamingo

Is the cliché that good things always come in threes or celebrity deaths? Good or bad?

The local duo of Branden Smith and Brynn deLorimier may be trying to figure out which side of that divide they are on as they recently became the third owners in three years of the dilapidated and long-abandoned Flamingo Inn Motel on Nevada Way.

Speaking on the evening of Sept. 29, deLorimier said the closing came a day earlier than expected.

“We always thought that the 30th was the closing date, but the title company called this morning and said that the documents were ready and we could come down anytime,” she said.

“It was too late in the day for the funds to be wired to the old owner, but the deal is done,” Smith added.

“There’s no backsies, in other words,” added deLorimier.

The pair will probably be familiar to followers of city government as they are frequent speakers during public comment periods. Smith has been the leading voice criticizing the Bureau of Reclamation for the xeriscape that replaced the expansive lawn in front of the building a block above City Hall that is different than what the Bureau proposed to residents when the work began. deLorimier has, among other issues, been one of the leading voices in pushing the city to adopt an enforceable leash law. She started a change.org petition calling on the state attorney general to issue an interpretation of state law that would allow the city to outlaw pet breeding. The final decision did not go that far, but it did give the city clearance to heavily regulate and limit commercial breeding and outlaw hobby or “backyard” breeding entirely.

Both arrived in Boulder City as part of the pandemic-era influx of new residents in 2021. They both own homes and rental properties in town but this is their first foray into a commercial property.

Their concept is kind of a riff on Ferguson’s on East Fremont Street in Las Vegas, another old motel that has been converted into a community space that features artists and artisans, food, live music and community events.

“That’s absolutely what we’re trying to achieve,” deLorimier said. “If we get anywhere near that, we’ll be very happy. Actually, I think we want to do better than that.”

“Ideally speaking,” Smith added, “We’re really — and this is like, you know, hand to heart — we’re really trying to create a community space. There is not going to be any money in this, and we will just be lucky not to go bankrupt.”

The pair says it is all about revitalizing that area of the downtown corridor.

“Giving Boulder City something that they say they want, which is a bunch of little boutique shops, but not antiques, because that’s been done to death,” Smith said. “And give some small business owners a chance to actually have a small business presence without having to start with 100,000 bucks to end up with nothing, you know? It’s just small business helpful. My thought process is really kind of an incubator.”

They clarify that they would like to set up a situation in which rent time for tenants is time-limited. Eighteen months.

“I’d love to say, ‘OK, look, we’re going to stick an 18-month time limit on this, and then 18 months from now, we’re going to triple your rent because we want you to grow. And we want you to outgrow the space so that you can turn it over to the next person who can kind of do the same thing,” Smith explained.

Preliminary plans, subject to various approvals, call for a landscaped courtyard that serves as a community space.

“We want to do like movies in the courtyard kind of thing,” deLorimier said. “And do yoga and self-defense classes, karaoke, and just silly things that will get people’s attention and draw them down to that end of Nevada Way.”

The idea of small spaces for artists and small businesses is not that far removed from what Daren and Donna Saunders had planned when they bought the space in 2022. But a big difference is the food and drink plans.

“So actually, the whole reason that I think Brandon got into this was his dream is to own an espresso bar,” deLorimier explained. The pair run a mobile espresso cart at the Senior Center once every week. “So the old office is going to be an espresso bar by day, and I love making cocktails, so it’ll be espresso bar by day, cocktail bar by night. That’s where we hope to recoup some of our money.”

They would also like to have a “tiny little Neapolitan pizza cafe” and to be able to rent a small commercial kitchen to home bakers to be able to sell their creations legally.

They would like to see that happen in the northwest corner of the building where grease traps necessary (and expensive) for a commercial kitchen are already located.

“That’s also where the restrooms will be going. We’re going to have, I think four — we’ll have to check with the city on how many are required — but four unisex restrooms back in that corner also,” she said.

“ADA compliant,” Smith interjects. Both he and deLorimier have been outspoken about accessibility issues in BC.

“And then coming around the bend there, the first couple rooms. I call them the double-wides because the walls have already been taken down,” deLorimier said, excitedly. “I think in the first couple rooms, that’s where I was picturing almost like, I don’t want to call it a co-op market, but something like that, where we’d have a cashier, and that’s where people would sell their goods that they bake in the commercial kitchen.

“And people with their produce growers’ licenses around town could bring in their produce and leave it there for sale and we’d take a portion of that as commission. People that have beehives that have their licenses, people that even have their bakers’ licenses that bake at home could theoretically bring their things in to sell there. People that have chickens and produce eggs, could bring those in, things like that. So it’d be like, maybe a tiny co-op is the right word for it.”

One thing the two are adamant about is that this is a space for locals. Tourists are always welcome, but the space will be, if all goes to plan, a community gathering spot for all ages.

“I went to a bunch of the city strategic planning workshops like a year and a half ago,” deLorimier recalls. “And one thing I heard over and over was that the teenagers in this city were all pretty distraught when Soda at the Nest closed down.” The Boulder City High School spirit-themed soda shop closed in 2022 to make way for the expansion of the Boulder City Family Mortuary.

“They all go over the hill because they don’t have anywhere to entertain themselves anymore. And they all said we want FroYo or frozen yogurt. So we’re hoping for a frozen yogurt place.”

“I think tourists would be a benefit but, for us, this is really a community-inspired project,” Smith said. “Like, if we get some tourists, great. If it becomes a tourist destination, even better. But this is really, this is for us.”