MEET Looks to August Debut
Diane Taylor -- Tradeshow Week, 4/24/2008 3:00:00 PM
The ads say, “The White House Is Moving” but, in fact, the American Payroll Assn. is in the final stages of constructing a brand-new meeting space in downtown Las Vegas. Abandoning the look of the famous home on Pennsylvania Avenue, the APA has dubbed its new venue MEET.
Originally expected to open in July 2007, MEET is now slated for an August ribbon-cutting.
“The White House is a building just steps from the Las Vegas Convention Center that was originally owned by the American Payroll Assn. and used for training and meeting space,” said Melanie Bash, MEET’s director of sales and marketing. “That space was so successful, we wanted to expand.”
The Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority, as part of its own master expansion plan, bought the White House building. In 2006, APA purchased a 30,000 square foot building in downtown Las Vegas for $8.6 million, according to Bash, and will spend another $7 million on renovations.
The third floor of the new building, at Fourth Street and Bridger Avenue, will house three training rooms equipped with computer work stations and space for multimedia presentations and video conferencing. The first floor is column-free; it and the second floor can be used as either event or banquet space. Bash said she was taking bookings for this fall and for next January’s Intl. CES. The Las Vegas Hospitality Assn. has booked its holiday party at MEET.
Bash said the new venue’s greatest asset would be its flexibility. “Our meeting space is a blank palate. We can wrap the outside of the building with a client logo and launch a new product line on the inside,” she added.
Asked about the delayed opening, Bash said, “Yes, we had planned to be open sooner, but we kept expanding the concept. We want our motto to be, ‘We will never say no to a client’s request.’”
Among the APA’s past meeting space customers have been Westinghouse, Moen, Microsoft and Hershey.
“We’re a private facility, but we’re only a block from the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, which is investing millions in this area, only a 10-minute walk from the World Market Center and a short coach ride from the Las Vegas and Sands Convention Centers,” Bash said. “Charlie Palmer and others are planning new businesses in the area. We think downtown will soon have a renaissance, and MEET will be part of it.”
