Los Angeles has never lacked hotels, entertainment venues, or global name recognition. What it has lacked is a convention center large enough to compete consistently for the biggest citywide events. An expansion project that broke ground in October 2025 is changing that.
The project, which comes with a price tag of $2.6 billion, has been in discussion for more than a decade. All that talk with no action had forced planners to look elsewhere. Not anymore.
Thirteen organizations have committed to holding conventions in Los Angeles between 2029 and 2036, directly because of the planned expansion and modernization of the Los Angeles Convention Center, according to city officials. Together, the events are expected to attract more than 103,000 attendees and generate over $242 million in economic impact.
The 13 newly announced conventions include the American Chemical Society in 2029, the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in 2031, Educause in 2033, and the American Society for Human Genetics in 2035.
Los Angeles Not In The Top 20
For Adam Burke, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, those bookings are early evidence that the city’s long-delayed convention center project is already changing planners’ perceptions.
“We didn’t have a center that would accommodate the largest events,” Burke told Skift Meetings. “We couldn’t take anything that required more than 350,000 square feet of contiguous space.”
That limitation kept Los Angeles out of contention for many of the most valuable conventions. Burke said 90% of the country’s 250 largest citywide events have traditionally rotated among approximately 20 destinations, and Los Angeles was not one of them.
The expanded convention center will offer more than 750,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, moving Los Angeles from 22nd to sixth in the country by that measure, according to Burke.
The project will also add a two-acre ballroom that can be divided into as many as 30 flexible event spaces. Burke said it will be the fourth-largest convention center ballroom in the United States.
Expansion Moves Ahead During Olympic Preparations
The building will play a key role in the city’s ability to welcome international crowds for the 2028 Olympic Games.
Burke said approximately 80% to 85% of the work is expected to be materially complete when the International Olympic Committee takes control of the building for its exclusive-use period. The convention center will host five Olympic and five Paralympic events.
The exterior will be “Games-ready,” with construction equipment and scaffolding removed. The remaining work is scheduled for completion by spring 2029.
The expansion was not necessary for the convention center to host its Olympic competitions, which were planned around the existing building. That has given project leaders more flexibility to pause work when the Olympic exclusive-use period begins.
“They didn’t lock themselves into a pre-Olympic completion timeline,” Burke said. “Whenever we’re approaching the exclusive-use period, they can hit the brakes, and they’ve always planned it that way.”
The design allows the convention center’s West and South halls to continue operating during much of the construction. A new central section, called the Sky Node, will connect the existing facilities and bring natural light into the middle of the complex. The ballroom level will also feature outdoor and green spaces with views of the Los Angeles skyline.
“We had a pipeline of over 90 citywides who said, ‘We love the destination, but we can’t book LA until we see a shovel in the ground and know the project is real,’” Burke said.
Now, the shovels have spoken. Burke said the city is booking business through as far out as 2040.
