Las Vegas expo center plan one step closer to approval

Plans for a 350,000-square-foot expo and convention center in downtown Las Vegas got a push forward Wednesday with an endorsement from the city’s redevelopment agency.

The city would contribute $30 million in tax increment financing toward the $76 million project planned for the World Market Center campus along Grand Central Parkway.

“This is the best news we’ve had in seven years,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman proclaimed after a unanimous vote by the redevelopment agency, which has the same members as the City Council.

Councilman-elect Cedric Crear, who will represent the part of the city where the project is planned after he’s sworn in on April 18, asked his soon-to-be colleagues Wednesday morning to hold off on voting so he has a chance to ask questions and get up to speed on the plans.

“Time is of the essence,” Councilman Bob Coffin said, before making a motion to approve the non-binding term sheet that lays out the plans.

The City Council will take a future vote on a formal agreement and the tax increment financing plan.

International Market Centers chief executive Bob Maracich said the company has been advised to “put the gas pedal to the floor” by construction industry experts, because of the likelihood of steel tariffs and competition for labor locally with other large-scale projects.

The goal is for an expedited construction timeline and the center opening in summer 2020, Maracich said.

The tax increment financing plan would divert up to $30 million in future taxes generated by the convention center project to go back to the developer. If the expo center flounders because of “something unforeseeable like another double-dip recession,” the city’s redevelopment agency would be on the hook for less money — no more than 82 percent of what the project generates, Economic and Urban Development Director Bill Arent said.

When the Cashman Center exposition facilities closed at the end of 2017, it left only a total of 106,719 square feet of convention space in downtown Las Vegas, spread across 10 different resorts. At 31,000 square feet, the Golden Nugget is the largest.

The shows at the center would largely be multi-day trade shows and conventions that attract groups from outside the region, with a push for national and regional shows that supplement the home decor shows World Market Center currently hosts. A minimum number of days will be set aside for community events.

Applied Analysis forecasts the expo center would directly create 429 jobs, and an annual 161,677 room nights and $97 million in spending.

The term sheet approved Wednesday calls for the developer to pay prevailing wage rates and follow the city redevelopment agency employment plan, which has benchmarks for local and diversity hiring.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Follow @Journo_Jamie_ on Twitter.