Question of the Day - 03 June 2017

At present, that space is occupied by the Diamond Lot, a mix of overflow parking and outdoor exhibit space that had its ribbon-cutting last January just prior to the Consumer Electronics Show. So, for instance, if you want to show off your new brand of tractor, you could potentially park it right on the Strip, where the Riviera once stood.

“The Diamond Lot represents the first step in our commitment to Las Vegas’ future with the expansion and renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center,” said Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority President Rossi Ralenkotter at the grand opening of the Diamond Lot. (A ceremony? For a parking lot? Yes indeed.) 

The Lot currently consists of 20 acres of outdoor exhibit space, 3,100 parking spots, and three acres of landscaped walkways.

What happens to the Diamond Lot is still somewhat lacking in specifics, though a grand vision has been announced: The Las Vegas Global Business District will extend the Las Vegas Convention Center down Convention Center Drive, across the former Riviera site and onto the Strip.

The District will expand international business opportunities by marketing directly to foreign meeting needs; according to the LVCVA, “In some instances, the international audience represents 20%-30%” of convention attendees.

The District is tied in with a major renovation of the Convention Center that will create a “convention district” to include 600,000 more square feet of meeting space, a centralized transit hub, refurbishing the existing meeting space, upgraded technology, new food and beverage outlets, and a new grand-concourse connector with more lobby space. 

Altogether, the plan will take seven to ten years to complete, with the first phase budgeted to cost $150 million.

The Strip extension will be the first part of the Business District to be built and all shows will go into that space, while the existing Convention Center is revamped. The LVCVA will soon be taking requests for proposals for design and construction. “Then we will have more specifics,” says the LVCVA’s Jackie Dennis. “But we’re about a year out from that.”