MGM Grand breaks ground on convention space addition

By Thomas Moore

Tuesday, June 20, 2017 | 2 a.m.

MGM Grand is set to break ground Tuesday on an expansion to its convention center that will add 250,000 square feet, giving it more than 850,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.

The expansion will replace the circular driveway that serves the current convention center, and sits on land between the existing building and the resort’s parking garage on the corner of Koval Lane and Tropicana Avenue.

The expansion will include a new 5,500-square-foot outdoor courtyard for private events, a 49,000-square-foot ballroom, a 32,000-square-foot ballroom, three junior ballrooms and 11 breakout rooms. It is scheduled to open in November 2018.

This expansion, along with recent expansions to convention space at Aria, gives MGM Resorts more than 4 million square feet of space dedicated to group meetings.

Meeting space at MGM Resorts International properties

MGM Grand: 850,000 square feet (after the addition)

Mandalay Bay: More than 2 million square feet

Aria: 500,000 square feet (after a 200,000-square-foot expansion scheduled to open in February)

Mandarin Oriental: 15,000 square feet

Bellagio: 200,000 square feet

Mirage: 170,000 square feet

Monte Carlo: 30,200 square feet

Circus Circus: 21,400 square feet

New York-New York: 21,000 square feet

Luxor: 20,000 square feet

Excalibur: 12,226 square feet

Vdara: 10,000 square feet

The Signature at MGM Grand: 4,000 square feet

Meeting space at other Strip resorts

Encore: 92,739 square feet

Wynn: 197,393 square feet

Wynn has not expanded recently but has upgraded facilities and services including internet service, air walls, AV equipment, etc.

The Cosmopolitan: 190,000 square feet, consisting of seven ballrooms ranging from 7,000 to 40,000 square feet as well as 46 meeting rooms.

The Venetian and Palazzo Las Vegas: 2.3 million square feet of meeting and convention space. This is the combined area for both the Venetian, Palazzo Congress Center, the Sands Expo and some extra meeting room in the hotels.

Caesars Entertainment properties:

Bally’s and Paris: 175,000 square feet

Caesars Palace: 300,000 square feet

Flamingo: 73,000 square feet

Harrah’s: 24,000 square feet

Planet Hollywood: 88,000 square feet

Rio: 114,366 square feet

The Linq resort: 63,000 square feet

Linq: Promenade/High Roller/The Vortex: 200,000 square feet