The City of Las Vegas and International Market Centers, owners and operators of World Market Center Las Vegas, have announced a proposal for construction of a new 350,000-square-foot Expo Center in downtown Las Vegas adjacent to World Market Center Las Vegas.
The proposal is scheduled to be voted on at the April 4 Las Vegas City Council meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in Las Vegas City Hall Council Chambers, 495 S. Main Street.
The new multi-use building would be constructed at 445 S. Grand Central Parkway on the nearly 60-acre World Market Center Las Vegas campus, currently comprised of three interconnected showroom buildings with more than 5 million square feet of permanent showroom space, a parking garage and three Pavilion temporary exhibit structures. The new state-of-the-art exhibition and meeting space would provide an option in Downtown Las Vegas to host larger scale trade shows, conventions and other exhibitions that cannot be accommodated through the existing inventory of event venues.
“We have been working closely with International Market Centers for some time on this proposal and believe it will fill a need in the downtown area, especially with the closing of Cashman Center,” said Bill Arent, Director of the city of Las Vegas Economic & Urban Development Department. “We look forward to presenting this proposal to the City Council.”
The Expo Center would also be used for the bi-annual Las Vegas Market, a furniture, gift and home decor trade show that currently brings approximately 100,000 visitors to World Market Center Las Vegas and the City of Las Vegas each year. Additionally, International Market Centers will offer the Expo Center for a set number of days throughout the year to host non-profit events as designated by the Las Vegas Redevelopment Agency.
As the Expo Center reaches peak occupancy, it is expected to generate $97 million in annual visitor spending in Downtown Las Vegas and $234 million in the broader Southern Nevada area.
The estimated cost of the Expo Center is $76 million, of which the City of Las Vegas would contribute $30 million through a TIF (tax increment financing) note. Construction would begin within the next 12-18 months and take approximately 18 months to complete.
