Derek Stevens, owner and CEO of Circa Las Vegas, poses for a photo in the Galaxy grand ballroom at the resorts new conference space Monday Aug. 22, 2022.
Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022 | 2 a.m.
As Circa Las Vegas officials showed off the resort’s new meetings and convention space Monday, workers moved large works of art in protective packaging while a team of audio experts worked on laptops at a table.
Circa owner and CEO Derek Stevens said his team is almost ready for a planned September opening.
“We’re excited because this was always planned, right from the early design (of Circa),” Stevens said. “We all know that the convention business is coming back.”
Las Vegas has more than 14 million square feet of convention space, most of which is on the Strip.
Large conventions that attract thousands of people — like CES or the World of Concrete construction trade show — will likely always be more attracted to the Strip than to downtown Las Vegas, which generally features small meeting spaces.
That’s fine with Stevens, who opened Circa in 2020.
With a 35,000-square-foot third floor space — including a 14,000-square-foot ballroom — Circa is looking to host smaller conventions, with under 1,000 attendees, said Sasha Lee, Circa’s director of sales.
Most events will be in the 500- to 800-person range. The first conference at Circa will be a cryptocurrency event, she said.
“Our target market is those events with anywhere from 100 to about 800 people,” Lee said. “For groups of that size, it can be difficult to find space because the Strip is targeting events that have 1,000-plus people.”
The area also features an outdoor terrace space, complete with heaters hooked up to the ceiling for chilly days and nights.
True to Circa’s vintage Vegas brand, meeting rooms are named after well-known former Las Vegas venues, the Ambassador, the La Concha, and the Starlite.
“We always want to represent the history of Las Vegas,” Stevens said. “It’s something that fits in with what we try to do, which is to celebrate all of Las Vegas.”
Stevens said it was important to the Circa brass that the meeting space was complete with upscale audio and visual offerings.
“We really tried to create a flexible space for all different kinds of groups,” Stevens said. “This is a high-tech space that we think will open up the door for a lot of different people to come downtown.”
Among downtown properties, only the Downtown Grand (46,000 square feet), the Plaza (close to 44,000 square feet), and the Golden Nugget (about 40,000 square feet) will have more than Circa in terms of convention space.
The venue will also host banquets, sports viewing parties, and other types of special events.
Before the official opening of the venue, Circa will later this month host a “football preview” event there for participants in its football season betting contests.
“People are booking and we’re definitely busy,” said Lee, who is also responsible for sales at The D and the Golden Gate. “But their booking habits have changed. People are concerned about the inflation rates. Many are booking perhaps three months out instead of a year of more out.”
