Plans to expand and renovate the Las Vegas Convention Center took a big step forward today when, after months of analysis and debate, tourism officials approved a recommendation for the $1.4 billion undertaking.
In a unanimous vote, the Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee backed a proposal that would fund the convention center project and create a seven-member oversight panel to supervise the development.
Under the recommendation approved today, the convention center work would be funded by a 0.5 percent increase in the county room tax and by capping the local government collection allowance from room tax revenues at $25 million annually. State legislators will consider the recommendation for possible action.
As it considered a recommendation for the convention center, a key issue for the committee was the oversight panel, which the board of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority could override with a supermajority vote.
Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, a member of the infrastructure committee, criticized the oversight panel as an unnecessary layer of government. But her proposal that the seven members be appointed by the board of the convention authority — instead of the governor — was not accepted by the rest of the committee.
The authority has said it needs to expand its convention facilities in order to meet demand from trade show customers for more space, as well as remain competitive with other cities vying to attract more convention business. That’s why the authority paid more than $182 million in 2015 for the site of the former Riviera hotel, located just across Paradise Road from the existing Las Vegas Convention Center.
Already, the authority has torn down much of the Riviera structures and imploded one of its hotel tower as it prepares to use the site for outdoor exhibit space. Pending favorable action from state officials, however, the authority wants to build an expansion of the convention center on that site before eventually renovating the original facility.
Committee Chairman Steve Hill, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, said today’s vote was exciting.
“We look forward to an exceptional product that helps to move Las Vegas into the future,” he said at the meeting.
MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle, a member of the committee, released a statement after the vote calling the convention center project a “critical part of the effort to maintain Las Vegas as the top destination nationally and internationally.” Hornbuckle's company has long been a staunch advocate of expanding and renovating the convention center.
“We must invest in the future if we are to protect the jobs and revenue that come with this vital industry,” Hornbuckle said in the statement. “We applaud the committee for recognizing the importance of this job-creating industry and urge the legislature to make the convention center a priority, as Las Vegas must continue to offer the best and most modern facilities.”