World Market Center Las Vegas
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World Market Center Las Vegas at 495 S. Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas, Nevada is intended to be the United States', and possibly the world's, largest and most preeminent furniture wholesale showroom and market place.
Similar operations include High Point Market and smaller, regional venues include the Chicago Merchandise Mart, Dallas Market Center and the San Francisco Mart.
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[edit] History
In 2002, the project was announced on a lot adjacent to the City of Las Vegas' 61 acres (25 ha) redevelopment parcel, as an 8 building, 7,500,000 sq ft (697,000 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 (121,000 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 (149,000 m2) Building B in 2005. It opened in January 2007.
Construction on the 16 story, 2,100,000 sq ft (195,000 m2) Building C started on September 27, 2006 and completed July, 2008. The first 5 floors are part of the Las Vegas Design Center.
At a construction cost of $550 million, the architecturally iconic 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]
[edit] Buildings
- Phase One (Building A)-1,300,000 sq ft (121,000 m2), 10-story building; opened July 2005
- Phase Two (Building B)-1,600,000 sq ft (149,000 m2), 16-story building; opened January 2007
- Phase Three (Building C)-2,100,000 sq ft (195,000 m2), 16-story building; opened July 2008
[edit] Design and layout
All 8 of its buildings would 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 all the buyers and exhibitors due to the fact that the 3, 4, and 5 buildings are going to be built on top of the current parking structure for the World Market Center.
One advantage that Las Vegas has for a showroom of this caliber, is the availability of hotel rooms, many near the marketplace. The Center will make the visit more productive for the buyers, as they will spend much less time getting to the various showrooms.
[edit] 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. The winter show, is held in February and the summer show is held in July. Tym De Santo, (cast member from the hit TV show "Design Star" is currently the host of the "Style File" show; a trends watch video show produced by World Market Center for each market.
The Summer Las Vegas Market show, for the first time, brought all exhibitors together on one campus from July 28 - August 1, 2008.
[edit] 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 decorators. 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 to members of the trade.
[edit] 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 (474,000 m2) campus featuring Buildings A, B and C, along with a Parking Garage |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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