(Pictured L-R: Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, IMC CEO Bob Maricich and City Councilman-Ward 5 Cedric Crear)
International Market Centers, owners and operators of World Market Center Las Vegas, broke ground on construction of The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, a new 315,000 sq.ft. exhibition facility, scheduled to open in summer 2020 on the World Market Center Las Vegas campus.
The new Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas will feature 194,785 gross sq.ft. of exhibit space, which is divisible into two halls—North with 97,684 gross sq.ft. and South with 97,101 gross sq.ft.—which can accommodate up to 1,000 booths. The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas will feature an expansive lobby area, registration area, onsite shuttle bus depot attached parking garage and two permanent “grab and go” food service areas.
“IMC is making a $90 Million investment in the creation of The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas, a new state-of-the-art, purpose-built facility,” says Robert Maricich, CEO of IMC. “We’re delighted to cooperate with the city of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada to bring this new exhibition venue to Las Vegas. Our use of local labor, at ‘prevailing wage rates’ will make this project a win-win for the exhibition industry and the city of Las Vegas.”
Construction is scheduled to begin fully in April and the grand opening is expected for IMC’s Summer 2020 Las Vegas Market, a semi-annual marketplace for the gift and home furnishings industries.
Mayor Carolyn Goodman says, “According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, in 2017 the exposition industry generated $58.8 billion in economic benefit to Southern Nevada. With the addition of this new facility, Las Vegas now offers the exhibition industry a total of 4,214,047 gross sq.ft. of exhibit hall space at four facilities—the Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands Expo, Mandalay Bay and The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas.”
The Expo at Las Vegas Market will be the new permanent venue for presentation of temporary gift and home decor exhibits at IMC’s semi-annual Las Vegas Market, which showcases 4,000+ gift, home decor and furniture resources in five million sq.ft. of permanent showrooms and temporary exhibition space. During the Las Vegas Market, IMC plans to use the lobby of the Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas for attendee and exhibitor registration, making the new facility the gateway to its entire marketplace. The Expo’s contiguous positioning with Building C also will improve attendee traffic flow between Las Vegas Market’s permanent showrooms and temporary exhibits, which IMC expects will drive new resources to campus and enrich the pipeline for permanent showroom presentations.
Outside of the January and July Las Vegas Market dates, The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas will host tradeshows, as well as corporate and private events.
Maricich says, “Currently, there is approximately 200,000 sq.ft. of available conference and exhibition space in downtown Las Vegas in several locations, but the largest single venue, at 85,000 sq.ft., is smaller than The Expo at World Market Center Las Vegas. This new Expo Center will address demand for modern convention and tradeshow space that currently is limited in the downtown area.”
IMC, which Blackstone and Fireside Investments acquired in 2017, is the world’s largest owner and operator of premier showroom space for the furnishings, home decor, gift and apparel industries, with 20 million sq.ft. of world-class exhibition space in High Point, N.C., Las Vegas, and Atlanta, catering to more than 8,500 exhibitors and lines. The company’s mission is to build and operate an innovative, sustainable, profitable and scalable platform for the furnishings, home decor and gift industries. For more info, visit http://imcenters.com/.
Fireside Investments is a private investment firm focused on making investments in durational real estate operating businesses alongside leading management teams and investment partners. Fireside’s founder and managing member, Jonathan Langer, was involved in the original formation of IMC. For more info, visit www.firesideinvestments.com.
