Pieces fall into place for start on new center

LVCVA approves maximum price of $758.1 million

The last puzzle pieces for the

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority’s $935.1 million expansion fell into place Tuesday and construction equipment should begin moving into place on the site within days.

The LVCVA’S board of directors approved a guaranteed maximum price of $758.1 million on a 1.4 millionsquare-foot building that will include 600,000 square feet of new exhibition space at the northwest corner of Paradise Road and Convention Center Drive.

The guaranteed maximum price is a part of a $792.1 million construction-manager-at-risk contract the LVCVA has with a joint venture of New York-based Turner Construction and Martin-harris Construction of Las Vegas.

Under a construction-manager-at-risk development method, the manager provides a maximum price and must deliver the building by a set deadline with failure resulting in a series of financial penalties. The LVCVA is counting on a completion of the new exhibition hall by Dec. 1, 2020,inordertoprepareforthe arrival of CES 2021. The contract with Turner Martin-harris includes $34 million in contingencies. In addition to that contract, the

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eye toward someday retiring, invited Hill to breakfast to gauge his interest in taking the position of chief operating officer. After a review of several potential applicants, Hill took the chief operating officer job at the LVCVA in January. His annual salary jumped from $132,875 a year at the GOED, according to Transparent Nevada, to $315,000.

Sept. 1 starting day

Ralenkotter left the LVCVA on Aug. 31. Hill took over the next day. On Monday, Hill, in an interview with the Las Vegas Review-journal editorial board, was asked how much he thought he was going to be paid.

“I don’t know the answer to that,” he said.

“I think it’s important for the destination that the position be compensated competitively, regardless of the structure,” he said. “It’s an important organization, and I think the entire industry and the board feel that the position needs to be able to be filled with someone who can perform at that level and be compensated at that level.”

Hill’s compensation came up at two meetings Tuesday, the first with a seven-member compensation committee and the second before the full 14-member board.

With little debate, the committee agreed on $375,000 a year. Committee members noted that the median salary for similar positions nationwide was between $440,000 and $450,000. When Ralenkotter left, his