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Veterinary group could host 300 Las Vegas events per year with site expansion

A Las Vegas-based nonprofit that holds one of the world’s largest veterinary conventions will more than double the size of its headquarters near McCarran International Airport.

Western Veterinary Conference will begin construction on an 8,000-square-foot large animal education facility and a 20,000-square-foot administrative building in June, CEO David Little said. Construction is expected to be completed by 2018.

Little said the construction, which will include a 50,000-square-foot medical conference space and a 400-seat cafeteria, will cost about $17 million/

The buildings will be an expansion of the 70,000-square-foot Oquendo Center. In 2016 the center hosted 183 events, and Little believes it could host more than 300 events a year with the expansion.

“There’s only so many days on the calendar you can book space, and once you maximize that you’ve got to create more space,” he said.

On Tuesday, the Clark County Commission approved selling 1.6 acres of vacant property to Western Veterinary Conference for $518,000. The conference will use a majority of that land to create about 325 new parking spots.

Last year, Western Veterinary Conference was attended by some 14,870 people. This year’s conference is scheduled for March 5 through 9 at Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.

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