The expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center will bring another 1.4 million square feet and a new design to the facility
Big changes are happening at the country's biggest and emerging gaming destinations, and this is great news for meeting planners, whether they are looking to bring their groups to Las Vegas or far from it.
Of all the changes coming to Las Vegas, none will have a greater impact than the vast expansion of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Plans for the $860 million project were unveiled in April by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, including the 1.4 million-square-foot expansion of the LVCC's existing 3.2 million square feet. It will feature a fluid, wave-like exterior design with a glass wall and a replica of the famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign prominently set above the main lobby.
"Our biggest goal was to give Las Vegas a convention center that will be iconic, with a design that nods to all of the very unique architecture in the city's history," said Rob Svedberg, principal of tvsdesign, the project's architects, at the unveiling. "Being iconic in Las Vegas is different than being iconic in other places, and we really want this building to be unique in the marketplace."
Built on land once occupied by the old Riviera, the Strip-facing facility will have at least 600,000 square feet of new exhibit space. The expansion, scheduled to open in time for the massive CES 2021 show at the beginning of that year, is the second phase of the project. Phase three is a complete renovation of the existing 3.2 million-square-foot convention center. That is scheduled for completion by 2023.
The new Caesars Forum will feature a new 100,000-square-foot outdoor event plazaAnother new facility is coming from Caesars Entertainment, which last month broke ground on Caesars Forum, a $375 million, 550,000-square-foot conference center. When it debuts in 2020, its two 110,000-square-foot ballrooms will be the largest pillarless ballrooms in the world. All on one level, the Forum will also hold two 40,000-square-foot ballrooms, six state-of-the-art boardrooms and a 100,000-square-foot outdoor meeting and event space. The Forum will be able to hold more than 10,000 attendees and will have more than 100 breakout rooms. The LEED Silver facility will be directly connected via skybridge to 5,000 rooms at The LINQ Hotel and Casino and Harrah's Las Vegas.
Caesars Entertainment has renovated more than 15,500 of its more than 23,000 hotels rooms in the city in the past four years. But beyond that, the company is investing heavily in the area around The LINQ, its outdoor dining, retail and entertainment area across the Strip from Caesars Palace. That includes Fly LINQ, a forthcoming zip-line attraction that will let 10 people soar Superman-style (or seated) from a 122-foot tower to the base of the High Roller Observation Wheel.
MGM Resorts International's big news in Las Vegas is the opening of the Park MGM in the space formerly taken by the Monte Carlo. The property features 102 of MGM's Stay Well rooms and the 5,200-seat, high-tech Park Theater, and flanks The Park, MGM's growing outdoor space. It will connect seamlessly to the Strip via a 30,000-square-foot upscale Italian market, Eataly. Still forthcoming is a boutique-style "hotel-within-a-hotel" on its top four floors, the 292-room NoMad Hotel, an outpost of the New York City boutique property.
The Luxor Hotel and Casino has wrapped a redesign of all of its more than 1,700 hotel rooms in its east and west towers. It is also adding Esports Arena Las Vegas, dedicated to the huge and growing world of competitive video gaming. The 30,000-square-foot arena has incredible A/V capacities. These include head-to-head virtual reality platforms, a network-broadcast-capable TV production studio, and a 360-degree video wall for an immersive experience, as well as telescopic seats.
The all-suite Delano Las Vegas has introduced a new option for incentive travelers: all-inclusive pricing for groups of 10 or more rooms, including dining options at restaurants by chefs Alain Ducasse, Hubert Keller and Michael Mina, among others.
The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is renovating 2,895 of the luxurious property's 3,027 rooms in a project set to wrap this year. "Where The Cosmopolitan is at today is a reinvention of the property that opened its doors more than six years ago," said Bill McBeath, president and CEO of The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, at the time of the announcement.
Leaving Las Vegas
On Aug. 24, MGM Resorts International is opening the MGM Springfield in Massachusetts. The integrated resort will feature about 34,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 10,600-square-foot ARIA ballroom. The meeting space will overlook an open-air event plaza. In addition, the MGM Springfield will operate the nearby, 100,000-square-foot MassMutual Center. The $960 million property includes a 250-room boutique hotel, 125,000 square feet of gaming space, and a spa.
The MGM Grand Detroit wrapped up a refresh of all of its rooms this spring, and will unveil a renovated spa this month, as well as a new daiquiri- and local-brews-focused bar, 32 Degrees, in September. A virtual Topgolf Swing Suite opened last fall.
In the Pacific Northwest, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's year-and-a-half-old ilani Casino Resort, near Portland, recently unveiled a 30,000-square-foot Meeting and Entertainment Center, featuring the 22,400-square-foot, divisible Cowlitz Ballroom, as well as prefunction space and a boardroom. The stand-alone gaming and event facility also offers an expansive patio and event lawn featuring views of Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams.
The Catskill Mountains now offers world-class gaming thanks to Resorts World Catskills, which opened in February in Monticello, N.Y., less than 100 miles north of New York City. The casino resort has 332 suites, 10 bars and restaurants, a spa, two fitness centers, and a 2,500-seat, 27,000-square-foot event center.
The Coral Suite at the new Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic CityIf Resorts World Catskills is the new kid on the block, Connecticut's Mohegan Sun is the veteran. Recently, it opened a new hotel and conference center to complement its original facilities. The 400-room Earth Tower opened in November 2016 with a restaurant, a spa, a fitness center and pool, and an expansive outdoor patio with fire pits. In May, the Earth Expo & Convention Center opened with 155,200 square feet of flexible event space, bringing Mohegan Sun's total meeting space to more than 275,000 square feet.
There's plenty going on in Atlantic City, N.J., where the Steel Pier's new 227-foot-high observation wheel opened in December with 40 climate-controlled gondolas where food and beverages can be served. A six-month renovation of the old Revel has seen the birth of the Ocean Resort Casino, featuring 1,399 guest rooms, a 138,000-square-foot casino, 16 restaurants, a nightclub and beach club, a 5,500-seat entertainment venue, a retail village, a 32,000-square-foot spa and six swimming pools, not to mention 160,000 square feet of meeting space and 90,000 square feet of outdoor event space. The Borgata, meanwhile, added an 18,000-square-foot conference center in 2017, bringing its meeting and event space up to 106,000 square feet.
At Mohegan Sun's Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, most of the more than 250 major meeting and convention groups are using "the new, high-tech, all-digital Resorts Conference Center, and many take advantage of Resorts exclusive All-Inclusive Meeting Package," says William Jackson, the director of sales and marketing. That covers everything from guest rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space to meals (including at the property's restaurants), breaks, A/V, WiFi and parking, as well as resort fees, taxes and gratuities.
In June, Caesars Entertainment broke ground on a $200 million conference center and hotel tower at Harrah's Cherokee in Cherokee, N.C. It will feature 83,000 square feet of conference space, as well as 725 hotel rooms.