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, 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 acre (247,000 m²) redevelopment parcel, as an 8 building, 7½ million ft² (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. In 2005, WMCLV announced plans for completion of an expansion increasing the space to a total of 12 million ft² (1.11 km²) complete with skywalks between all buildings on all levels.
The center opened the first building in May 2005 with 1.3 million ft².
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, 1.6 million ft² Building B in 2005. It opened in January 2007.
Construction on the 16 story, 2.1 million ft² Building C started on September 27, 2006 with completion scheduled for July, 2008. The first 5 floors will be part of the Las Vegas Design Center.
At a construction cost of $550 million, the architecturally iconic Building C will stand with 130,000 square feet (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 are anticipated for Building C. In conjunction with the opening of Building C, a $60-million, seven-story parking garage with 175,000 square feet (16,300 m²) on each level will also open. The parking garage will accommodate 3,600 vehicles and allow for up to 15 levels.[citation needed]
[edit] Buildings
- Phase One (Building A)-1.3 million sq. ft., 10-story building; opened July 2005
- Phase Two (Building B)-1.6 million sq. ft., 16-story building; opened January 2007
- Phase Three (Building C)-2.1 million sq. ft., 16-story building; opening 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 January 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 will, for the first time, bring 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 Buildings A & B 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.
