Las Vegas News · January 5, 2026
Las Vegas Convention Center Finishes $600M Renovation
By The Property Management Firm
Published
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) marked the completion of a $600 million renovation of the Las Vegas Convention Center's legacy campus with a ribbon cutting on Monday, Jan. 5, according to the authority's release that day and the Las Vegas Sun. CES, which runs Jan. 6-9, is the first trade show in the fully renovated space, the LVCVA said.
What Was Finished
The LVCVA said the work on the legacy campus began in 2023. It extended the design and technology introduced with the $1 billion West Hall, which opened in 2021, across the 4.6-million-square-foot campus.
The LVCVA listed these design highlights:
- A modernized Central Hall Grand Lobby with a glass curtain wall and natural light
- A 75-foot-by-42-foot digital screen and two smaller screens in the lobby
- A climate-controlled indoor concourse between the North Hall and the South Hall, so attendees can move through the whole facility without going outside
- A redesigned South Hall with a new entrance on the east side of the building, a boardroom and a new administrative office complex
- An extension of the West Hall's exterior ribbon roof across the campus
AECOM, whose AECOM Hunt unit was part of the construction team, described the work as a 3.2-million-square-foot renovation of the Central, North and South halls that added a 100,000-square-foot Grand Lobby with digital wayfinding. The company said the work also modernized building systems, acoustics, digital signage and technology, and that events and operations continued at the convention center while construction was underway.
According to the LVCVA, Miller & Ham Project Development oversaw construction as the owner's representative, Klai Juba Wald was the architect of record, and a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and The PENTA Building Group was the contractor.
"This milestone signals the next leap for trade shows in Las Vegas," LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said in the authority's release.
The 2026 Convention Calendar
The LVCVA said the renovated convention center was on track to host upwards of 48 trade shows and 1.23 million trade show attendees in 2026, up from about 1.06 million in 2025. The Las Vegas Sun reported the same two attendance figures.
Other figures from the LVCVA release:
- Las Vegas welcomed 6 million convention attendees in 2024, and the convention segment supported $16 billion in economic impact.
- Southern Nevada has nearly 15 million square feet of meeting and convention space.
- Meetings and conventions help fill the destination's 150,000 hotel rooms Sunday through Thursday.
- CES 2025 generated a $381.2 million economic impact in Southern Nevada.
For CES 2026, the LVCVA said the show will span more than 2.6 million net square feet of exhibit space across 13 official venues, and that airlines have added more than 360 flights, including from nine countries, to Harry Reid International Airport for the show. Las Vegas has hosted CES since 1978, according to the LVCVA, and the Sun reported that CES brought more than 141,000 attendees to Las Vegas in 2025.
How the Project Was Funded
The Las Vegas Sun reported that the Nevada Legislature approved the Southern Nevada Tourism Improvement Act in 2016, which helped finance the West Hall expansion and the improvements just completed at the convention center. The West Hall project was completed by June 2021, according to the Sun, and this phase brought the West Hall's upgrades to the rest of the complex.
What This Means for Owners and Renters
For owners: The LVCVA describes meetings and conventions as essential to Las Vegas tourism, and it expected about 1.23 million trade show attendees at the convention center in 2026. AECOM said delivering the renovation required the coordination of hundreds of professionals over two years.
For renters: The LVCVA also owns the Vegas Loop at the convention center and the Las Vegas Monorail, a 3.9-mile elevated system with seven stops in the resort corridor. The new indoor concourse links the North and South halls, so attendees can move through the full building without going outside, the LVCVA said.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What did the renovation cover?
The LVCVA says it covered the convention center's legacy campus, including the Central Hall Grand Lobby, a new indoor concourse between the North and South halls, a redesigned South Hall and an extension of the West Hall's ribbon roof.
How many trade show visitors does the LVCVA expect in 2026?
The LVCVA said the convention center was on track to host upwards of 48 trade shows and 1.23 million trade show attendees in 2026, up from about 1.06 million in 2025.
Who built it?
According to the LVCVA, a joint venture of Hunt Construction Group and The PENTA Building Group was the contractor, Klai Juba Wald was the architect of record and Miller & Ham Project Development was the owner's representative.
Sources
This is general local news, not financial or legal advice. Figures come from the sources listed above and can be revised, so talk with a licensed professional about your own situation.
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