World Market Center Las Vegas

World Market Center Building A
World Market Center Las Vegas, Building A, in Las Vegas
General information
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada
Town or city	Las Vegas
Country	United States
Completed	July 2005
Opening	July 2005
Technical details
Floor count	10
Floor area	1,300,000 square feet (120,000 m2)

World Market Center Las Vegas, located at 495 S. Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada, is a 5,000,000-square-foot (460,000 m²) showcase for the home and hospitality contract furnishings industry in downtown Las Vegas.

World Market Center currently has about 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m²) of space. Originally, developers planned for the World Market Center project in Las Vegas to have more than 12,000,000 square feet (1,100,000 m²) of exhibit space in 8 buildings on 57 acres (23 ha), making it one of the largest mega-campuses of showroom and convention complex in the industry.^{[citation needed]}

History

World Market Center Building B
General information
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada
Town or city	Las Vegas
Country	United States
Construction started	2005
Completed	January 2007
Opening	January 2007
Technical details
Floor count	16
Floor area	1,600,000 square feet (150,000 m2)

In 2002, the developers announced that the project was to be built on a lot adjacent to the City of Las Vegas'^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]} 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^{[citation needed]}

Buildings

Artist rendering of the completed World Market Center Las Vegas complex, in Las Vegas

World Market Center Building C
General information
Location	Las Vegas, Nevada
Town or city	Las Vegas
Country	United States
Construction started	September 27, 2006
Completed	July 2008
Opening	July 2008
Technical details
Floor count	16
Floor area	2,100,000 square feet (200,000 m2)

• Phase One (Building A)-1,300,000 sq ft (120,000 m²), 10-story building; opened July 2005
• Phase Two (Building B)-1,600,000 sq ft (150,000 m²), 16-story building; opened January 2007
• Phase Three (Building C)-2,100,000 sq ft (200,000 m²), 16-story building; opened July 2008

Design and layout

All eight of its buildings will be on a single site with enclosed skywalks connecting all buildings on the site. Buildings 3, 4, and 5 will be butted up against each other in order to create one building, and a parking structure will be built behind building 3 in order to supply more parking for buyers and exhibitors.

Las Vegas Market

Las Vegas Market is the name of the major trade show hosted by the World Market Center Las Vegas. Currently the Las Vegas Market is held twice a year. Las Vegas Market features a vast array of product offerings across all categories, including furniture, accessories, gift, lighting, home textile, rugs, floor coverings and more.

Las Vegas Design Center

When not hosting the Las Vegas Market or other trade shows, the first two floors of Building A and the first three floors of Building C are open as showrooms for interior designers and the general public. These spaces are called the Las Vegas Design Center (LVDC) and contain more than 400,000 square feet (37,000 m²) 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, Roger Thomas, Vladimir Kagan and Larry Laslo.

Gallery

• 

  |World Market Center Las Vegas Grand Plaza depicting Buildings A, B and C

• 

  Aerial of World Market Center Las Vegas 5,100,000 sq ft (470,000 m²) campus featuring Buildings A, B and C, along with a Parking Garage

External links

• World Market Center Las Vegas web site