IRVING CONVENTION CENTER AT LAS COLINAS DESIGNED TO TARGET BUSINESS GROUPS, WHILE SERVING VARIETY OF WEEKEND USERS

Contact: Diana Pfaff
972-252-7476 or 1-800-247-8464
dpfaff@irvingtexas.com


IRVING, TEXAS -- When it opens in late 2010, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will change the way meeting planners look at convention center space.  

"We're setting a new standard," said Maura Gast, executive director for the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas creates an environment made for business." 

With an iconic design and high-end finishes, the $133 million, 275,000 square-foot Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas takes a bold new direction in a landscape of traditionally "institutional" facilities.  

Designed as a multi-functional building, the center includes a 50,000 square-foot, column-free exhibit hall, a 20,000 square-foot ballroom and 20,000 square feet in breakout meeting space.  

Irving tourism officials plan to take a targeted, strategic approach in attracting new business. Rather than compete with the major convention facilities already available in North Texas, the center will focus strategically on small and mid-size groups, primarily targeting groups of 800-1,200 delegates. The center can accommodate groups as large as 4,000.  

The vertical "stacked" layout enables Irving to simultaneously host sporting events, corporate and trade meetings, galas and other civic events, while allowing each group to have its own distinct space and ambience. For larger groups, the vertical design means delegates can flow efficiently between events.  

The center will also offer Irving a new opportunity to attract weekend business, and gives the community a venue to host civic events previously held outside the city.   

"Weekend business is a huge opportunity for us because our mid-week business is already so strong," Gast said.  

Pennsylvania-based SMG, a leader in facility management and development, will be the center's operator under the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau's direction, and will share sales and marketing responsibilities for the facility.  

Bob McClintock, senior vice president-convention centers for SMG, said the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will offer a unique product in the marketplace.  

Rather than offering users an exhibit hall-driven building that also includes meeting space, the Irving Convention Center will provide a facility that focuses on meetings, while including the necessary exhibit space. 
 
"The Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will have a character and a quality that is much more akin to a high-caliber conference facility than it is a convention center." McClintock said.  "This isn't the quintessential 'box with docks'."  

Thanks to its distinctive architectural design, "within its genre, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas is going to stand out."   McClintock said the Irving center's distinctive design and mission for top-quality customer service will mirror the sense of place and quality that already exists in the 12,000-acre Las Colinas master-planned development and the city's hotels.   

By focusing on meeting space, and the ability to serve customers seamlessly for food and beverage services at a level comparable to a conference center or five-star hotel, Irving will be able to take a surgical approach and focus on high-end groups that add demand for the city's hotels and generate new revenues for local restaurants and retailers.  

"This isn't meant to be a utilitarian building," McClintock said. "It's going to be functional and flexible, but its going to have that feel of a high-end facility both in its architecture and its service. That's what customers expect and require." 

Careful study and planning for the project by Irving officials means the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas will be more than just functional.  

Situated on a 40-acre site visible from State Highway 114 and Northwest Highway, the Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas uses a small footprint, allowing for future development that will include a performance venue, hotel and entertainment complex. 

Together, the projects will provide an exciting environment for convention delegates, visitors to Irving, and the corporations that call Irving home.  

The Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas fits into a carefully defined niche that reflects the sophisticated and professional environment of Las Colinas, rather than trying to compete for the same kind of convention business nearby facilities serve.  

"Irving has a true understanding of who it is and what it wants to be," McClintock said. "The city is building something that matches what the market needs."  

Irving's strong fundamentals -- a high-quality, existing supply of hotels, easy access from both Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, and a robust built-in corporate market -- make it an ideal place for a convention center, McClintock said.  

With its intimate size, small and mid-size groups will enjoy the high customer service levels of being the proverbial "big fish" in a small building.  

"Irving has a first-tier market feel with its amenities and access to air service, but is able to offer smaller groups that customer focus they'd find in smaller markets," McClintock said. 

On weekends, the building's users likely will shift from corporate to consumer, with amateur and youth-sporting events, events by social, military, educational, religious and fraternal (SMERF) organizations and events that tap the local community. 

"Our goal isn't to fill the building with general interest consumer shows," Gast said. "We want to find the premium shows in that market by looking for specialized niche groups."   


About Irving, Texas
Located immediately adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Irving, Texas, (www.irvingtexas.com) boasts more than 75 hotels and more than 11,000 rooms.  Las Colinas is a 12,000-acre master-planned community within the city of Irving, and is known worldwide for its quality and uniqueness. The area has a total taxable base of more than $7 billion and is home to 8,000+ companies, 30 Fortune 500 companies, plus the world headquarters of four. In the next three years, the area will see more than $4 billion in hotel, retail, entertainment, office, residential and meeting facility development.

About SMG
Headquartered in Pennsylvania, SMG (www.smgworld.com) provides management services to more than 200 public assembly facilities including arenas, stadiums, performing arts centers, theaters and convention, conference and trade centers. As the recognized industry leaders since 1977, SMG provides construction and design consulting, pre-opening services, venue management, sales and marketing, and event booking and programming. SMG also offers food and beverage operations through an in-house catering company, Savor...Catering by SMG, currently servicing 65 accounts worldwide. With facilities in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, SMG controls more than 1.5 million entertainment seats worldwide and manages more than 10 million square-feet of exhibition space. 

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