Charlotte’s convention center is about to get a $110 million expansion
City Council on Monday unanimously approved a $110 million plan to expand and renovate the Charlotte Convention Center, adding new meeting space and breakout rooms in an attempt to lure more events.
Construction is expected to start next year, funded by the city’s hospitality tax, and would run through 2020. That means at least part of the Convention Center is likely to be under construction during the 2020 Republican National Convention, which runs Aug. 24-27.
The 23-year-old building runs for three blocks on Stonewall Street, opposite a massive amount of new development that includes a Whole Foods, three hotels including a JW Marriott luxury hotel, new office towers and hundreds of luxury apartments. Since opening, the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority says the meeting market has changed, with planners demanding more breakout rooms, space for smaller meetings and less square footage of floor space for massive exhibits.