The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority approved a deal this week that, if finalized, will secure the funding for a major renovation of the 4.6-million-square-foot Las Vegas Convention Center and spur development near the center.
The board of directors for the LVCVA, which operates the convention center, approved an agreement to sell ten acres of land on Las Vegas Blvd. near the under-construction Fontainebleau Las Vegas for $125 million. The buyers are Brett Torino and Paul Kanavos, who now have a three-month due-diligence period before closing on the deal. The developers have each built retail projects in Las Vegas; while they have not specified what they’ll use the land for, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that they’re considering a retail and entertainment complex and possibly a non-gaming hotel. The buyers would be required to begin construction within 10 years.
LVCVA had planned to sell the site to a Chilean developer, but the deal fell through last year.
Money from the sale will be use on a renovation project to bring the North, Central, and South halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center up to the standard of the $1 billion West Hall, which debuted in 2021. Architectural planning for the upgrades begins in April, but most construction will take place in 2024 and 2025.
