World Market Center Las Vegas, located at 495 Grand Central Parkway in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
, is a showcase for the home and hospitality contract furnishings industry in downtown Las Vegas. It is the largest showroom complex in the world for the home and hospitality furnishings industry, serving domestic and international sellers and buyers.
Originally, developers planned for the project to have more than of exhibit space in 8 buildings on .
History
In 2002, the developers announced that the project was to be built on a lot adjacent to the City of Las Vegas' redevelopment parcel, as an eight building, facility designed by
Jon Jerde
Jonathan Adams Jerde, (January 22, 1940 – February 9, 2015) was an American architect based in Venice, Los Angeles, California, founder and chairman of The Jerde Partnership, a design architecture and urban planning firm specializing in the des ...
of Jerde Partnership in association with
Edward Vance of JMA Architecture Studios. The square footage of the main building alone is greater than that of the
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
in New York City. In 2005, WMCLV announced plans for completion of an expansion increasing the space to a total of complete with
skywalk
A skyway, skybridge, skywalk, or sky walkway is an elevated type of pedway connecting two or more buildings in an urban area, or connecting elevated points within mountainous recreational zones. Urban skyways very often take the form of enclos ...
s between all buildings on all levels.
Building A opened in May 2005 with . The first show, July 21–25, 2005, was so overbooked that it used space in three Pavilions (huge
tent
A tent () is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over, attached to a frame of poles or a supporting rope. While smaller tents may be free-standing or attached to the ground, large tents are usually anchored using gu ...
structure
A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...
s) and the
Las Vegas Convention Center
The Las Vegas Convention Center (commonly referred to as LVCC) is a convention center in Winchester, Nevada. It is owned and operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
As one of the largest convention centers in the world, it h ...
.
Construction started on the 16 story, Building B in 2005. It opened in January 2007.
Construction on the 16 story, Building C started on September 27, 2006 and completed July 2008. The first 2 floors are part of the
Las Vegas Design Center. At a construction cost of $550 million, Building C stands with on each floor, which is nearly 30 percent larger than those in Buildings A and B. In all, more than 400 showrooms comprise Building C. In conjunction with the opening of Building C, a $60-million, seven-story
parking garage with on each level also opened in July 2008.
In 2008, World Market Center put plans on hold to finish its complex of buildings, originally slated to be about 12 million square feet and set for completion by 2013.
World Market Center is owned by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC). On May 3, 2011,
Bain Capital
Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...
,
Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management is an American global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of March 31, 2022, the company managed $164 billion for its clientele.
The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that ...
,
The Related Companies
The Related Companies, L.P. is an American real estate firm in New York City, with offices and developments in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, London, São Paulo and Shanghai. Related has more than 3, ...
, and other investors announced the formation of International Market Centers, a venture that combines properties in High Point and Las Vegas and would control 11.5 million square feet of showroom space. At that point, two of the World Market Center buildings and two of the
High Point showroom complexes had been in receivership for several months. In a deal completed September 26, 2017,
Blackstone Real Estate Partners, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Fireside Investments purchased IMC, which at the time owned 5.4 million square feet in three Las Vegas locations.
[
In August 2019, construction began on the Expo at World Market Center building. It is a convention facility that will connect to Building C. The expo building will replace the Pavilion tent facilities located across the street. The tents would be removed upon completion of the expo building and the 21-acre land will initially be used for parking, with the potential for future development. The expo building was ]topped off
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
on December 19, 2019, and was opened on April 9, 2021.
Las Vegas Market
Las Vegas Market is the name of the major trade show
A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and cu ...
hosted by the World Market Center Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Design Center
When not hosting the Las Vegas Market or other trade shows, the first two floors of Building A are open as showrooms for interior designer
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordina ...
s and the general public Monday-Friday 10-5pm. These spaces are called the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC) and contain more than of permanent showrooms, which are open Monday – Friday. The LVDC offers year-round access to a global selection of furniture, fabrics, lighting, floor coverings, wall décor and accessories.
Part of Las Vegas Design Center’s ongoing programming includes the First Friday series, a monthly A&D event featuring top design and arts and cultural speakers from around the world. The Design Icon award is part of the Design Series and celebrates modern-day design legends and gives them a platform to share their stories and inspire others. The Winter 2010 Las Vegas Market Design Icon will be Christopher Guy Harrison. Previous Design Icon honorees include Juan Montoya, Vicente Wolf Vicente Wolf is a Cuban-born American interior designer based in Manhattan. He is the head of Vicente Wolf Associates. He has designed hotels, private residences, and furniture.
Biography Early life
Vicente Wolf was born in Cuba and lived there unt ...
, Roger Thomas, Vladimir Kagan and Larry Laslo.
Gallery
File:World Market Center Vegas (7980200630).jpg, Buildings A (right) and B
File:Las Vegas - 42431293100.jpg, Aerial view in 2018
File:World Market Center - panoramio.jpg, Building B
Image:WorldMarketCenter1.jpg, World Market Center Las Vegas Grand Plaza at night
References
External links
World Market Center Las Vegas web site
{{Downtown Las Vegas
Buildings and structures in Las Vegas
Downtown Las Vegas
Wholesale markets
Marketing companies of the United States