A slew of convention centers are being built and breaking ground on impressive expansion projects—and boosting local economies in the process.
Here, Vendelux rounds up all the new and noteworthy developments in the pipeline for convention centers across the US…
Breaking Ground
The Cedar Park Convention Center in Cedar Park, Texas, is breaking ground this month, with plans to open to the public in early 2027. Alongside 30,000 square feet of convention space, the development will include a brand-new, 300-room Marriott hotel and a 1.1 million-square-foot retail district, according to the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce. Some of the outposts being built as part of the shopping center will open as early as late 2026.
The East Montgomery County Convention Center in New Caney, Texas, is slated to open roughly 30 miles outside of Houston in October 2026. The $310 million, 210,000-square-foot facility is currently under construction as part of a broader development that will include a 115-acre upscale, walkable shopping district along with a hotel, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The convention center itself will boast a 55,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 20,000 square feet of meeting space and 25,000 square feet of pre-function and lobby areas. The East Montgomery County Convention Center also promises to offer outdoor courtyards, entertainment spaces and an 813-space parking garage.
Perhaps most impressively, the convention center is expecting to generate more than 530 jobs and a staggering $1.73 billion in economic impact over the next three decades, per the Houston Chronicle, citing an East Montgomery County Improvement District (EMCID) economic impact analysis.
Building On
Once again proving Texas is at the forefront of the future meetings and events industry, the Austin Convention Center is undergoing a major redevelopment dubbed “Unconventional ATX.” Part of the existing, 365,000-square-foot facility is going to be demolished to ultimately erect a convention center spanning 620,000 square feet (including 70,000 square feet of public outdoor space) come 2028. The venue, however, isn’t slated to open for events until 2029.
The Austin Convention Center was shut down in April in preparation for the reconstruction, which will end up costing a whopping $1.8 billion, funded by Hotel Occupancy Tax and Convention Center revenues. Nearly $18 million of those funds will be dedicated to public art projects for the new space alone, according to the convention center’s website.
Seattle-based LMN Architects, which is helming the project in collaboration with Texas-based architectural and design firm Page, has said that the new Austin Convention Center will be the world’s first zero carbon convention center. Another impressive stat: the expansion project will generate an estimated $285 million yearly for the local community—nearly $13 million in additional tax revenue—as well as 1,600 more jobs.
In Cincinnati, Ohio, the Duke Energy Convention Center was initially expected to unveil a $240 million facelift in January 2026—though local reports are saying the venue could be completed as early as December 2025.
The renovation project will see the entire 750,000-square-foot facility modernized with new tech and a fresh design. Upon the Duke Energy Convention Center’s opening, there will also be a new rooftop terrace and an adjacent alfresco plaza, the Elm Street Plaza, which will transform a former city street into a network of paved areas and green landscapes complete with a pavilion, outdoor seating, a dog park and dedicated event spaces. The renovation also paves the way for an 800-room hotel to sit adjacent to the convention center, according to FOX19 Now.
Until the remodel is complete, the Duke Energy Convention Center is closed to all events. Any major annual events that would traditionally take place at the venue have been moved to the smaller, 65,000-square-foot Sharonville Convention Center located 16 miles away, FOX19 Now reported.
The 253,000-square-foot Fort Worth Convention Center is due to wrap up Phase 1 of its $701 million expansion project this time next year. The convention center has remained open through expansion to lessen the impact on the downtown hotel community. (For reference, the venue is surrounded by 4,000 hotel rooms.)
Phase 1 paves the way for even more hotel rooms in the near future by straightening Commerce Street. Updated food and beverage facilities, an expanded southeast entrance and six more loading docks are also part of the initial expansion, a $95 million investment, per the local destination marketing organization’s (DMO) website.
Phase 2, which will spend the remaining $606 million dedicated to the project, will renovate the Fort Worth Convention Center’s outdated, 28,160-square-foot ballroom, 58,849 square feet of dedicated meeting space and 36 breakout rooms. The project includes the addition of even more meeting spaces, an outdoor terrace and food and beverage facilities. Phase 2, the final phase of the expansion, is set to wrap up come 2030.
Houston’s 1.1 million-square-foot George R. Brown Convention Center (GRB) has been undergoing a $2 billion modernization since 2023, with plans to renovate the original 1987 structure and add a total of 700,000 square feet’s worth of space. The venue remains open during the transformation, and currently hosts more than 250 events and meetings annually.
Construction is being executed in phases, with plans to implement some updates in time for the 2026 World Cup next June, and others in time for the Republican National Convention for the 2028 election cycle, at which point GRB Houston South is slated to be completed.
When the full campus transformation is done in 2038, GRB will have two exhibition halls totaling 150,000 square feet; a 25,000-square-foot atrium; 225,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space; a 100,000-square-foot pedestrian plaza connecting the convention center to the adjacent arena, the Toyota Center; and a ballroom that can span anywhere from 60,000 to 80,000 square feet, the largest in Texas, according to Houston First Corporation.
The Indiana Convention Center (ICC) is currently undergoing its sixth-ever expansion that will add 143,000 square feet of new space—including a 50,000-square-foot ballroom, the second-largest in Indiana—come this fall.
As part of the revamp, the convention center will boast a connecting, 800-key Signia by Hilton hotel that will stand 38 stories tall. The expansion solidifies Indiana as the state with the most hotels connected by enclosed skywalks into a center in the US. Once the ICC’s expansion is complete, 13 properties and more than 5,500 guest rooms will be connected via the convention center, Visit Indy reported.
The completed development is expected to generate $232 million in economic impact from the new convention space alone (on top of $300 million from retaining cornerstone conventions) and $69.3 million in new business from new hotel sales teams, as well as 400 new hotel jobs.
Also in Indiana, an expansion of the Monroe Convention Center is adding a 31,500-square-foot ballroom and a 27,000-square-foot exhibit hall—enough room for up to 150 vendors, 1,500 diners or 3,000 concertgoers—to the Bloomington venue’s existing 24,000 square feet, according to The Herald-Times. Upon the $71 million project’s anticipated completion in January 2027, the venue will be renamed to the Bloomington Convention Center.
Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) is set to begin the first phase of its $900 million expansion by the end of this year. The initial revamp, also known as the $560 million “Grand Concourse Expansion,” will add an 80,000-square-foot ballroom and 60,000 square feet of dedicated meeting rooms to the 7 million-square-foot OCCC.
Phase 2 will add a 200,000-square-foot, columness exhibition hall with capacity for up to 20,000 seated guests, according to the venue’s official website. Completion of the entire revamp is expected in 2029.
