Potential to double annual events, unlock cross-cycle resiliency revs citywide growth.
LOS ANGELES ─ Hotel investors got a major new reason to put Los Angeles at the top of their urban wish list with the Oct. 1, 2025, groundbreaking for the $2.6 billion Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) Expansion and Modernization Project.
The shovels-down ceremony ended an 11-year wait for a redevelopment that could double the number of citywide conventions each year and layer in opportunities for smaller national, regional and local events.
“There is substantial pent-up demand for large conventions in Los Angeles. We’ve always had an outstanding meeting package, but our current limited contiguous space precluded us from hosting the industry’s largest conventions,” said Doane Liu, Los Angeles’ chief tourism officer and director of the City Tourism Department. “This expansion will propel LA into the top 10 largest centers in the nation based on contiguous event space.
Doane Liu, Los Angeles City Tourism Department
Work is already under way to make that a reality in 2029. The addition of 190,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space connecting the South Hall and West Hall above Pico Blvd., a 98,000 sq.-ft. rooftop ballroom and 38,000 square feet of meeting space (including flexible rooms-without-walls options) not only will secure that top-tier position when the redesign debuts; it also opens the door to pursuing larger events in both traditional and emerging markets such as medical conventions, premier trade fairs, large corporate meetings and association business that will drive hotel performance and development throughout LA.
“Initially, we’ll be looking at 40 to 50 events of these types a year. Longer term, I’m thinking about a calendar with almost one of these events a week,” said Liu.
Based on the influx of queries, that goal looks to be within reach. Adam Burke, president and CEO of Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board (LA Tourism), offered positive news for investors at a Sept. 24, 2025, press conference on the expansion and modernization plan.
He noted that more than 100 large conventions have expressed interest in bringing their events to Los Angeles. If they follow through, these new events could deliver an economic impact of more than $300 million.
Liu expanded on that point, saying early research forecasted this uptick in top conventions would generate on-peak demand for 5,000 to 6,000 hotel rooms. “Now, it could be more like 8,000 to 10,000,” he said.
He estimated that 3,000 to 4,000 hotel rooms are on the books but haven’t been built yet. “We're expecting to see a lot of developers and brokers dusting off the old packages and looking for financing. Now that the expansion is starting, new hotel projects that are already approved are certainly more viable. The LACC project is a really big bonus for the hospitality industry in Los Angeles,” he said. “There aren’t many hotel investors or lenders still on the fence.”
Incentives and infrastructural improvements to the Metro public transit system should help attract fresh capital. Upmarket hotels in DTLA may be the most visible targets in the near term, but Liu predicts that compression will add appeal in various neighborhoods. “Keep in mind that Koreatown is only two stops [on the Metro] from LACC, and that can mean less transit time for attendees than walking from some perimeter DTLA hotels.”
...early research forecasted this uptick in top conventions would generate on-peak demand for 5,000 to 6,000 hotel rooms. Now, it could be more like 8,000 to 10,000.
Doane Liu
There’s little doubt about how pivotal the improvements to LACC are to the hotel investment decision. A recent measurement report conducted by Hotel Investment Today by Northstar for LA Tourism revealed that hotel investors, developers, owners and operators within Northstar’s first-party proprietary audience viewed the 2028 Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and the convention center redevelopment as major catalysts that could strengthen future confidence in the LA market. Nearly 40% ranked convention center redevelopment as one of the upcoming events/developments “that would excite them most about investing in Los Angeles.”
Other sides of the investment story
Although the expansion of the convention center anchors its long-term appeal as a hotel investment driver, Kimberly Weedmark, general manager, LACC, pointed out that the facility’s new design, technology, digital capabilities and flexible spaces give investors cross-cycle resilience.
The floorplans for the addition ─ a new structure suspended over Pico Blvd. that bridges the two existing halls ─ creates options for “stacking business” to foster a steady booking flow throughout the year.
Innovations from the space layout to reinvented loading dock workflows make it easier to limit downtime between events and maximize the attraction of spaces for groups of various sizes, purpose of trip and budgets.
This reduces over-reliance on a single revenue source and plays to the strengths of LACC’s dedicated sales team.
“For example, LA Tourism can be really strategic in what business they’re going after and how they book that into the city. Now, our sales team can backfill on top of what LA Tourism sells into the building,” said Weedmark. “That opens our doors to go after larger consumer business. It helps the hotel industry because this type of booking builds compression beyond DTLA and into the regional areas within Los Angeles ─ like Hollywood, the area around Universal Studios and into West Hollywood.”
Kimberly Weedmark, Los Angeles Convention Center
With its open plan and light-infused spaces, the new LACC is exploring a range of events that not only diversify its business base to cushion hotels against specific industry downturns but invite a broader inventory of hotel development.
Plans for the city’s largest ballroom, located on the top of the building, give investors a powerful tool for building results in good times and across rough patches. Playing to meeting and social function planners’ focus on experiential spaces, the expanse that will become the city's largest rooftop ballroom has windows along one side and a skylighted “ceiling” that open up the interiors to views of the LA skyline and the Hollywood sign. A 10,000-sq.-ft. terrace reinforces the California feel of pre- and post-function space.
“Because the space can be broken down into meeting rooms or utilized as one full ballroom space, we can sell this in conjunction with a large program or sell it to our local community as well. We live in the city of entertainment and so I think there's lots of opportunity that we can sell it from an entertainment standpoint,” said Weedmark.
The ballroom and terrace prove out the layered upside that’s built into the LACC’s next chapter. Weedmark noted the importance of aesthetics for Silicon Valley companies at the scale of Microsoft, AWS and Google. A modern, updated convention center is a springboard for pursuing this segment, she added.
Now, our sales team can backfill on top of what LA Tourism sells into the building...It helps the hotel industry because this type of booking builds compression beyond DTLA and into the regional areas within Los Angeles ─ like Hollywood, the area around Universal Studios and into West Hollywood.
Kimberly Weedmark
But the new spaces will be more than galas and glamour. They also give access to a complementary market of groups with more limited budgets, which could boost development activity beyond luxury and upper-upscale segments.
A recent high school volleyball tournament that took over the entire existing space points to opportunities ahead. Events like these may not command the same room block delivery as conventions, but they expand LACC’s selling power to families and coaching staffs whose travel dates aren’t tied to the business cycle.
“It’s not just about a building,” Liu added. “It’s about enabling our clients to program events the way they want to program them.”
Mary Scoviak is custom and design content director at Hotel Investment Today.
The views and opinions expressed in this content do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel Investment Today or Northstar Travel Group and its affiliated companies.