John Tippins’ Northcap real estate firm has had a hand in the resurgence of residential development all over the Valley—from Palms Place to the Gramercy to the Lennox. But his legacy in Vegas could be as the man who, more than anybody else, turns Downtown into a truly residential neighborhood.

This goes well beyond Northcap properties like the condos that are back on the market at the Ogden and the addition of destination restaurants and boutiques at the Juhl rental building. “My passion project is connecting UNLV to Downtown via Maryland Parkway,” says Tippins, who teaches entrepreneurship at the university and plans to hire students for a Forbes-like real estate rating service he’s developing. Tippins has talked with everyone from original Vegas impresario Irwin Molasky to then-acting UNLV president Donald Snyder about his goal of creating a sprawling, vibrant campus environment like what you’d find at Arizona State or the University of Texas at Austin. He’s identified buildings that could be converted and is discussing next steps with the school. If Tippins succeeds, this could mean thousands of new customers for the restaurants and bars Downtown. It would mean the need for more functional commerce like drugstores and a true supermarket. It would change everything.