The City of Los Angeles hopes to complete its modernization and expansion of the Convention Center by 2022 according to the minutes of last month's meeting of the Board of L.A. Convention and Tourism Development Commission.
Last month, the Executive Director of the Convention and Tourism Development Department Doane Liu reported to the Commission that "positive dialog(sic) continues," between the City and AEG, the owner and developer of L.A. Live and the Staples Center. Once the company finalizes its proposal, AEG can move forward to complete negotiations with the City to expand the Convention Center and include an expansion to the existing JW Marriott.
AEG and the City hope to complete construction prior to the 2022 Super Bowl.
The City of Los Angeles has made several unsuccessful attempts to expand the Convention Center since 2010, when AEG announced plans to expand the facility through the construction of an NFL stadium in place of its dilapidated north hall. However, AEG canceled the project in 2015 after failing to convince an NFL team to commit to the proposed venue. The Rams and Chargers have since relocated to Los Angeles, with the intention of occupying a new stadium under construction in Inglewood.
Following the collapse of the Farmers Field project, the City then turned to a more $350-million expansion. The proposal, which was backed by the Los Angeles City Council, would have merged the existing north and south halls with an new elevated structure built over Pico Boulevard.
The current proposal for a public-private partnership emerged in late 2015 when former Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana recommended that the City contract with a private sector entity to build, operate and maintain the Convention Center. AEG, with its existing properties at L.A. Live and Staples Center, stepped in as a natural partner in this arrangement.
The company had already proposed an expansion of the J.W. Marriott through a 38-story, 750-room tower on a parking lot on Olympic Boulevard. However, AEG pulled the plug on that project after the City announced plans to construct additional hotels on the Convention Center campus.
