GOCAL, the Southern California region between Los Angeles and Palm Springs with Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga at its well-connected core, is going big via an impressive array of new and expanded meeting and event venues, hotels and attractions.
The biggest news is the expansion of the Ontario Convention Center, targeted for a December 2027 opening and doubling in size to half a million square feet. The facility will even boast a parking garage that can even be pressed into service as an event venue.
[Related: Ontario, California, Goes Big With Massive Convention Center Expansion]
Other highlights of the expansion include a 50,000-square foot, events-ready plaza between the parking garage and the main convention center along with a 600-room luxury hotel to serve the facility.
“Now we'll be fed nationwide because our size is now appropriate for a whole different demographic of customer,” said Michael Krouse, president and CEO of GOCAL and regional vice president convention centers for ASM Global.
While the convention center expansion is enough to make any DMO flush with pride, it’s only one of several new developments relevant to the meetings and events offerings of Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.
[Related Podcast: How GOCAL Is Going Big With a Massive Convention Center Expansion and More]
Ontario
“Single-A” Dodgers Affiliate and New Stadium
Ontario will welcome its first professional baseball team—a “Single-A” affiliate of the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, no less—starting in the 2026 season. The team will play in a new, state-of-the-art, 6,500-capacity stadium that will anchor the new Ontario Sports Empire and also be utilized for events.
A key draw for the lucrative sports meetings segment, the 190-acre Ontario Sports Empire—the largest of its type west of the Rockies—will boast top-tier athletic facilities that will include 34 fields for various sports along with 10 baseball diamonds (including two championship diamonds) and four football/rugby fields.
Arena District Expansion
Anchored by the 11,000-seat Toyota Arena, Ontario’s Arena District is undergoing a significant expansion that will further its appeal as a regional entertainment hub.
Built out in two phases, with the first phase already having broken ground, the project will see 70,000 square feet of commercial space and 700 residential units come online. Phase 2 of the project will add a 60,000-square-foot performing arts theater and a luxury hotel.
“It will include everything from restaurants, nightclubs, bars—a whole outdoor scene on these plazas—ultimately culminating with a new performing arts theater for 2,500 seats in phase two,” Krause said.
New GOCAL Hotels
With all of the new additions, new hotel product is being added to feed the growing region’s expanded events offering. Highlights include the following:
- Hyatt Place | Hyatt House Hotel, a 265-room, five-story property set for an early 2026 completion
- Everhome Suites Hotel, offering 118 rooms and targeting early 2026 for an opening
- Hampton Inn, a 124-room offering that is set for an early 2025 groundbreaking.
Rancho Cucamonga
Over in Rancho Cucamonga, about six miles from Ontario and the site of a new station for the Brightline West high-speed rail service connecting Los Angeles with Las Vegas, several new projects are turning heads.
Rancho Cucamonga Transit Transformation
A game-changer on a variety of fronts, construction on the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink Station expansion and the West Valley Connector project are underway, with the West Valley Connector expected to open in 2026.
The station is touted as the first multi-modal station in the U.S., offering high-speed passenger rail that connects to air, bus and regional passenger rail services. The project is anticipated to be completed in time to welcome visitors to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Sanctity Hotel Rancho Cucamonga, Tapestry Collection Hilton
Rancho Cucamonga is welcoming the 68-room Sanctity Hotel Rancho Cucamonga, Tapestry Collection Hilton, which will begin accepting reservations March 3, 2025, and offers one meeting room with 468 square feet of space.
Highlights of the property include the Durango Cantina & Rooftop Bar—sister restaurant to the Durango Cantina on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles—and a Thriv Spa.
9/11 Memorial Park
Built with materials that included steel remnants from the World Trade Center, the design of this 1.3-acre park is centered around three artifacts from the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, from the World Trade Center, Flight 93 and the Pentagon, linked together by a walking path for visitors to reflect on that tragic day.
Still under construction but with final funding approved for the $3.2 million memorial, an opening date is still to be determined.
Reyes Coke Bottling Plant
While most may not associate a Coca-Cola bottling plant with the capacity as an events venue, the GOCAL events community is particularly proud of this $500 million project to transform the current 125,000-square-foot facility into a 620,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art campus that will serve as a flagship full-production facility within Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling and the Coca-Cola system.
The project is slated to include meeting spaces and guided tours that may be of particular interest to meeting groups in the factory/logistics industries.
Connect
This article was produced in collaboration with GOCAL.
