Work nearly completed on $600M convention center renovation

The Las Vegas Convention Center’s $600 million renovation project will be ready for January’s CES trade show and Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority executives will celebrate its opening with a ribbon-cutting event Jan. 5.

The finishing touches are being put on the renovation that upgrades the standards of three convention center halls to the level achieved at the $1 billion West Hall that opened in 2021.

Work crews are completing grading and paving of traffic lanes in front of the lobby between the North and Central halls, installing bollards to protect pedestrians in that area and adding interior flourishes to the building as CES exhibits move in for one of the year’s busiest trade shows.

When work is completed, it will be the first time the Convention Center will be able to use its full 2.5 million square feet of indoor exhibit space. When it opens, the Las Vegas Convention Center will be the second largest in the country behind Chicago’s McCormick Place, but ahead of Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center by indoor exhibit space.

Dan Hayes, the LVCVA’s chief operating officer, told board members Tuesday the project will wrap up on schedule.

“It’s getting very exciting as our project starts to wrap up,” Hayes said. “The eyebrow, or the ribbon roof, that is 95 feet high will actually extend out and cover about 2½ of those traffic lanes in the drop-off area.”

Hayes said crews also are installing a 60-foot flagpole that will support flying a 12-by-18-foot flag.

CES, a massive consumer electronics show, will run Jan. 6-9 and not only will fill the Las Vegas Convention Center, but other venues across the city.

In other business Tuesday, the LVCVA board unanimously approved a one-year business advisory services contract Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026, with Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis LLC for $100,000, plus four optional one-year extensions for $100,000 a year through the 2030 fiscal year.

Applied Analysis principal Jeremy Aguero is expected to provide economic analysis to guide LVCVA decisions.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.