The Las Vegas Sands wants to build a destination resort, casino and convention center in North Texas. They believe the market can handle it as the metro area is expected to reach nine million people by 2030.
The metro already has several convention centers: in Dallas, Fort Worth, Irving, Arlington, and Grapevine. The newest addition came in downtown Dallas, where the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center is being redeveloped and is set to open in 2029. That will be truly huge, with more than 2.5 million square feet.
NBCDFW traveled to Singapore to see their facility. During our visit, the “Token” cryptocurrency conference was going on. They told me they believe Dallas can handle another events center because of its central location in the country and its growing business hub.
NBCDFW reached out to Maura Gast at the Irving Convention and Visitor Bureau, who would be an inter-city competitor to this proposed convention center. She told me that in today’s age, they view other cities as competitors more than other facilities in the same city. Bringing more people to town is better for all of them, says.
“Who are your common competitors? It becomes Orlando, it becomes Las Vegas, it becomes, to some extent, Chicago, just because of the size of that convention center and the fact that it is also in the middle of the country,” said Maura Gast, Executive Director, Irving Convention & Visitors Bureau.
