The fairways on the Desert Inn golf course behind the Las Vegas Strip will soon be torn up to make way for exhibit halls and hotel rooms.

According to a plan announced by Stephen Wynn, chairman and CEO of Wynn Resorts Ltd., an upscale convention center will go up on the land, sandwiched between the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Sands Expo & Convention Center. The new center, still in the design phase, is expected to be approximately 1.8 million square feet in area. It will be supported by two new 2,600-room hotel towers and an underground transportation system that will move attendees between the exhibition facilities and the hotels.

The new development will be east of the 2,716-room Wynn Resort and the company’s adjacent Encore property, which opens in December with a 2,034-suite hotel and approximately 72,000 square feet of casino space.

Wynn unveiled the plans during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call on May 1, promising a luxurious development with a lake and fountains as the centerpiece.

A completion date has not been announced.