World Market Center Las Vegas - History

History

In 2002, the developers announced that the project was to be built on a lot adjacent to the City of Las Vegas' 61 acres (25 ha) redevelopment parcel, as an eight building, 7,500,000 sq ft (700,000 m2) facility designed by Jon Jerde. The square footage of the main building alone is greater than that of the Empire State Building in New York City. In 2005, WMCLV announced plans for completion of an expansion increasing the space to a total of 12,000,000 sq ft (1,100,000 m2) complete with skywalks between all buildings on all levels.

Building A opened in May 2005 with 1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m2).

The first show, July 21-25, 2005, was so overbooked that it used space in three Pavilions (huge tent structures) and the Las Vegas Convention Center. These tent structures have been declared by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest tents in the U.S.

Construction started on the 16 story, 1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m2) Building B in 2005. It opened in January 2007.

Construction on the 16 story, 2,100,000 sq ft (200,000 m2) 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 130,000 sq ft (12,000 m2) 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 175,000 sq ft (16,300 m2) on each level also opened in July 2008. The parking garage accommodates 3,600 vehicles and allow for up to 15 levels.

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.

On May 3, 2011, Bain Capital, Oaktree Capital Management, Related Cos. 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.

World Market Center is owned by International Market Centers, L.P. (IMC) is the world’s largest operator of showroom space for the furnishings, home décor and gift industries.