The most recent expansion of the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis was finished back in 2011 in conjunction with the adjacent 1,005-room JW Marriott. The blueprint for its new expansion, which broke ground this week, follows a similar pattern: New convention center space will be complemented by a 40-story Signia by Hilton hotel.
The $200 million ICC expansion will add 143,000 square feet of space, including a 50,000-square-foot ballroom. Not only is Visit Indy touting the project as adding the largest ballroom in the state, they say the additional space will be enough to allow two citywide events in the facility at the same time.
A skywalk will connect the existing convention center to the expansion and the new 814-room hotel. Once completed, high-rise property going up on Pan Am Plaza will bring the number of hotel rooms connected via skywalks to the ICC to more than 5,500.
The new hotel will be only the fourth Signia property, a convention-focused brand launched by Hilton in 2019. It will join Signia hotels in San Jose, Calif., and Orlando, open now, as well as the first new-build Signia, expected to open in Atlanta in March 2024.
The groundbreaking drew local leaders as well as representatives of key convention customers such as the American Society of Association Executives, Performance Racing Industry, Indiana Black Expo, and the NFL Scouting Combine.
Both the hotel and the convention-center expansion are expected to be finished by summer of 2026.
