Las Colinas Convention center

IRVING CONVENTION CENTER AT LAS COLINAS WILL BE CENTERPIECE IN NEW ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

IRVING, TEXAS – With its multi-functional space and distinctive architecture, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will create a new hub of activity for the Las Colinas Urban Center and the city of Irving.
Slated to open in late 2010, the facility is the first phase of a mixed-use entertainment complex on a 40-acre tract in the Las Colinas Urban Center, Irving’s upscale business, residential and retail district located adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and in between Dallas and Fort Worth.
The $133 million Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will boast 275,000 square-feet, including a 50,000 square-foot, column-free exhibit hall, a 20,000 square-foot ballroom and 20,000 square feet of breakout meeting space.
Irving Mayor Herbert A. Gears said the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas and its planned adjacent entertainment complex, along with other developments planned for the Las Colinas Urban Center, will make Irving a thriving destination.

“It’s a key addition to the Urban Center and it’s already spurring other development,” Gears said.
Phase Two of the project features a 600,000 square-foot entertainment complex, situated south of the convention center, and includes a 6,000-person capacity concert hall, nine full-service restaurants, four nightclubs featuring specialty food service, 7,000 square-feet of high-end retail space and an adjacent 1,200-space parking garage.
The pedestrian-friendly complex will include outdoor gathering places enabling visitors to enjoy a variety of events.
The dynamic complex will also link to Las Colinas’ Area Personal Transit (APT) “people-mover” system, which will connect to a DART light rail line that will take visitors to D/FW Airport and downtown Dallas.
“We want to make Las Colinas a destination for an evening out or even a weekend out,” said Will Beuck, chief marketing officer with developer Las Colinas Group, LP. “It’s a great addition to the Irving Convention Center. It will offer conventioneers instant entertainment and they can book their own entertainment for private parties.”
Slated to open in mid-2011, the $210 million complex is being developed by Las Colinas Group, LP in a public-private partnership with the City of Irving.
In the future, convention-goers and visitors will also be able to access entertainment and shopping just a quick connection away via Las Colinas’ APT at the 13-acre, mixed-use Water Street development.
Developer Gables Residential has secured preliminary approvals for the $300 million project, and is expected to begin work soon on necessary infrastructure improvements, including reclaiming 1.2 acres of Lake Carolyn.
Water Street will be located across O’Connor Boulevard from the famous bronze Mustangs of Las Colinas — Irving’s most popular tourist attraction and one of the largest equestrian installations in the country.
Plans call for 300,000 square-feet of retail, more than 1,000 residential units, a boutique hotel and 20,000 square-feet of office space. Construction on the first phase should begin in early 2010.