Convention center eyes expansion

Trade-show organizers praised a nearly $500 million proposal to expand the Orange County Convention Center, but pressed officials to speed up what could be a 4½ year construction timeline.

Convention center officials announced Tuesday the latest details to build two new additions onto the convention center’s North-South Building that would add up to 800,000 total square feet with proceeds from the tourist development tax.

Several officials who run large-scale trade shows said at the Orange County Commissioner meeting that they have outgrown the convention center, which has 2.1 million square feet of exhibition floor space.

The Plastics Show, one of Or-

With an expansion, the convention center could draw 25 new events a year or 250,000 people, according to the center’s estimates.

lando’s annual trade shows, recently sold out for its event that’s more than a year away. The show will bring about 70,000 people into the community, said Bill Carteaux, president of the Plastics Industry Association.

“The one problem we’re having here is: How do we grow?” said Carteaux, who serves on the convention center’s client advisory board.

He asked the county board to expedite the timeline so at least one new building would be available by 2021.

Several county officials voiced approval for the project. The board did not vote Tuesday and must approve future design concepts and the costs.

Convention center officials could return to the board later this year or early next year with more details on the cost and the design.

“We have so much opportunity ahead of us as an community,” said Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs. “It’s important our convention center keeps up with the demand.”

In 2016, nearly 1.5 million people — from Star Wars fans to volleyball players and construction builders — visited the convention center’s 122 trade shows and exhibitions. About 1 million people attended trade shows in 2006 at the convention center.

An expansion could help draw 25 new events a year, or 250,000 people, according to the convention center’s estimates.

Under the new plan, a multi-purpose venue with 200,000 square feet of open space for trade shows and 40,000 square feet for meeting space would be added onto the NorthSouth Building’s east side.

On the opposite side of the building, a project known as Convention Way Grand Concourse would expand 60,000 square feet for ballroom space as well as 40,000 square feet for meeting rooms. It would also create a enclosed walkway for people to travel in between the north and south concourses.

The county’s tourist-development tax would pay for the proposed convention center expansion. The 6 percent surcharge on hotels and motels, which generated about $240 million last year, has caused county and city officials to sometimes be at odds with how to spend the money.

The last major renovation to the convention center was the NorthSouth Building’s opening in 2003. Talk of expansion has been in the works with the county since late 2014.

The county hired Kansas City, Mo.-based architecture company Populous Inc. to conduct a feasibility study. The company’s recommendations for improving the convention center included a new parking garage, a shuttle system and a better connector between the North and South concourses.

Buffy Levy, who serves on the Orange County Convention Center’s client advisory board, said Tuesday there was strong competition in the trade show industry now that other cities around the country are beefing up their venues and adding more space to lure in the large-scale events.

“The competition for convention business today is fierce,” said Levy, who directs trade shows for a trade association made up of food manufacturers.