After the Expansion: Denver Is Ready for the Rush

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 3/21/2005

The $300 million expansion of the Colorado Convention Center opened on budget and on time last December, nearly doubling the available exhibit space at the facility. In addition to helping put Denver back on the tradeshow map, the project is doing its part to usher in an era of swank tradeshow spaces that double as cultural venues.

The expansion, which took about 2½ years to build, brought the CCC's total exhibit space to 584,000 square feet and meeting space to 100,000 sq. ft., making it the mountain states' second-largest exhibition facility, after Denver's Natl. Western Complex with 601,500 sq. ft.

Convention center and bureau officials say it will be a year or two before the city starts reaping financial benefits from the new facility. Following this ramp-up period, Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Richard Scharf said, the facility should break even. Although many convention centers aren't self-supporting, the CCC used to break even before the economic downturn, Scharf said.

"If we play our cards right, we'll not only generate hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact, but we'll also have the ability, once we mature the building, to break even" on revenue and operating costs, he predicted.

John Adams, general manager of the CCC, said the facility typically hosts 30 to 40 citywide conventions per year, and is expecting to get into the low 30s for 2005.

The center appears to be on its way to fulfilling these goals, since it will host five of the 10 largest tradeshows scheduled to take place in the mountain states (excluding Las Vegas) for the remainder of this year (see chart, p. 16).

As a result of the expansion, three Tradeshow Week 200 events that wouldn't have previously fit are going to the CCC this year. The Christian Booksellers Assn. will bring its 130,000 sq. ft. CBA Intl. Convention (recently renamed the Intl. Christian Retail Show) to the city July 9–14 this year and return in '08. The Intl. Assn. of Fire Chiefs will produce Fire-Rescue Intl., with 250,000 sq. ft., Aug. 11–14 and return in '08. And TruServ's True Value Fall Market will take place Sept. 16–19, filling 240,000 sq. ft.

IAFC Executive Director Garry Briese said the convention center being large enough to hold Fire-Rescue was only one of the reasons the association is looking forward to returning the show to Denver, after nearly 30 years away.

In addition, he noted, "It's an airline hub. The hotel package — especially with the opening of the new Hyatt (a 1,100-room property slated to open across the street from the center in 2006) — is very good. And the CVB was extremely attentive and responsive. They busted their tail to get us information."

But while Adams and Scharf agree that conventions and exhibitions — which put heads on beds, generate economic impact and pay the mortgage — are their top priority, they say the expansion has given them the flexibility to book just about any kind of event.

Besides the exhibit and meeting space, the expansion added a high-end, 50,000 sq. ft. ballroom and 5,000-seat auditorium, which is divisible into thirds.

The Natl. Basketball Assn.'s All-Star weekend Feb. 18–20, expected to create a $30 million economic impact, featured several parties and fan events at the CCC. And local media reports described the venue as fittingly plush for headline entertainers like soul singer Alicia Keys, who played there March 10.

"When we developed the program for the expansion, what we had in mind was a lecture hall," said Adams. "What we ended up with is a theater that can be a lecture hall."

He said the ballroom and theater have been "enormous hits" with entertainment companies like House of Blues and Concerts West.

In fact, Scharf said having a good mix of business will be what makes the center successful. Concerts and public shows, which book much closer to opening date than tradeshows, will help fill in open dates around citywide meetings.

Adams said that, in addition to the 30-odd trade-shows he's expecting to see come through the doors in 2005, he's also expecting a couple dozen concerts, 12 to 18 social events and 20 consumer shows.

Scharf noted: "We're a pretty remote destination. We have a good airport and are in the center of the country, and we're the capital of the Rocky Mountains. If our residents need something, we go out and get it."

As evidence of this, he pointed to the Science Cultural Facility District Tax, which generates a $35 million fund used to support 300 cultural organizations in the metro area. The versatile CCC was designed to be a part of this culturally concerned community.

At the same time, Scharf stressed, it was designed with the input of 100 meeting planners in order to remain friendly to group business users.

And, like many facilities these days, the facility is no stranger to corporate events. The CVB is targeting user group meetings, vendor fairs and new product launches to fill in any dates that may be left over — when Alanis Morissette and the Indigo Girls are done with the place.