Las Vegas Convention Center renovation project cost increases to $620 million

The two-year renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center kicks off in six months, but construction costs have already increased by $20 million, bringing the total to $620 million.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s board of directors was told on Tuesday that the increase was due to the addition of new administrative offices and board meeting rooms.

LVCVA Chief Financial Officer Ed Finger said the higher price is well within the planned contingencies the organization had outlined.

The Governor’s Oversight Panel, which is reviewing the Convention Center construction process for the state, will meet Oct. 12 to consider approving the updated project and schedule.

LVCVA’s consulting builder representative Terry Miller, head of Miller Project Management LLC, gave the board details on the new office spaces, which will be one of the first parts of the massive renovation project on the North, Central and South halls.

Miller said because the South Hall is the newest of the exhibition halls, some of the work there will be put off to relocate the executive offices and build the new board meeting room. The meeting room will be twice as large as the existing board room to accommodate more meeting attendees.

If approved, workers will remove about 21,000 square feet of existing exhibit space to build the executive offices and meeting room. The new spaces will have easy access from the east end of the South Hall and be near the eastern LVCC Loop underground transit system station.

The facade of the Convention Center has also been designed to resemble the architectural features of the $1 billion West Hall, which opened last year, with its sweeping “snow cone” ribbon that extends from the West Hall across Paradise Road to the old building. A similar iconic ribbon will flow from the North Hall to the Central Hall but there are no plans to extend it further across Desert Inn Road to the South Hall.

Construction is slated to begin as soon as the doors close for the ConExpo-Con/Agg construction equipment trade show in March 2023.

As the construction sequence now stands, required contracts and permit acquisitions will be concluded by the end of this year and the South Hall east end work will begin in April and conclude by the end of 2023.

The North Hall will be temporarily closed from the end of February through August, and work will begin in January 2024 and run through the end of the year. Changes include refurbishing the North Hall and its meeting rooms, construction of the main lobby and a new climate-controlled walkway between the North Hall concourse and the west side of the South Hall.

The Central Hall will temporarily close between the middle of March 2025 to mid-September, while work continues on the main lobby and Central Hall connector. There will also be plans to add more meeting rooms and enhancements to the parking lot and landscaping.

LVCVA planners agreed to put off construction during major conventions so those shows won’t be disrupted.

The estimated $620 million project is scheduled to be completed in December 2025, in time for CES 2026.

Finger said since June 2021, room tax revenue has been averaging well above the 2019 level, making him confident that financing will be available without touching a $57 million reserve fund that was put in place when the project’s budget was first developed.

In other business, the board received a report on gains in social media outreach with the newest focus on TikTok as a favored platform to reach more consumers with minimal financial outlay.

The LVCVA’s social media development team reported that followers have grown from 3.5 million in October 2021 to 4.6 million followers this month.

The team and its contracted consultants have set a goal of 10 million followers within three years.

rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.