Finding convenient off-site venues, whether they are museums, nightclubs, restaurants, or event plazas, is getting much easier, thanks to the trend for cities to develop entertainment districts around their downtown convention facilities.
“Convention centers are going beyond their four walls and looking at the setting,” says John Kaatz, a development consultant with Minneapolis-based Convention, Sports & Leisure. “Cities are paying attention to the fact that there needs to be dining and entertainment in the immediate area.”
Some of the biggest changes on this score are taking place in downtown Los Angeles, where the first phase of L.A. Live, a $2.5 billion, six-block mixed-use complex, is opening this month adjacent to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Among these first components is the 7,100-seat Nokia Theater, which along with presenting headline entertainment is available for new product launches and other special events. Also opening is Nokia Plaza, a 40,000-square-foot open-air space that includes giant LED screens and an area for red-carpet events.
L.A. Live’s second phase, scheduled for completion in October 2008, will usher in a whole roster of entertainment facilities, including Club Nokia, a live music venue accommodating up to 2,200 people for private parties; Conga Room, a venue for Latin music; Lucky Strike, a bowling center; and the Grammy Museum, a museum devoted to popular music that will include a rooftop terrace for special events. Dining outlets will include ESPN Zone, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and a restaurant operated by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
When the final phase is unveiled in early 2010, L.A. Live will also encompass a 1,001-room tower with that will include Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels along with an additional 224 residences. The final phase will also bring a 14-theater cinema complex that will be available for corporate presentations and breakout space.
A major entertainment district is also in the works for a site adjacent to the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) in Birmingham, Ala. Performa Real Estate Inc., which developed the Beale Street entertainment district in Memphis, Tenn., is set to break ground in January on a two-and-a-half-block complex that will include two hotels with a total of 280 rooms, several restaurants, multiple entertainment venues, and retail stores.
“Although we’re in the center of Birmingham, we have very few restaurants in the immediate vicinity,” says Susette Hunter, sales and marketing director for the BJCC. “Meeting planners have told us that it’s difficult to break for lunch within an hour time slot as most restaurants are four or five blocks away. This will also give them some new off-site venue choices.”
While a name for the district and its tenants had not been announced at press time, the complex will, much like Beale Street, highlight the city’s musical heritage. Former American Idol winner Ruben Stoddard has signed on with Ruben’s Club 250, while another local American Idol, Taylor Hicks, is also expected to be associated with a music venue in the complex.
The development plan also calls for two large grass courtyards surrounded by restaurants, clubs and shops that would accommodate concerts, festivals and other outdoor events. Completion is expected in 2010.
