Waterfront Takes Center Stage in Expansion Project Vision
Broward County Convention Center is South Florida’s premiere waterfront conference center – a breathtakingly beautiful 600,000 square foot LEED EB Gold Certified facility.
This is an exciting time for Broward County as the plan to expand our first-class Convention Center and enhance the site with a headquarter hotel begins to take shape. The master planning process has included months of gathering input from key stakeholders and members of the public. The vision for the new and improved complex takes full advantage of the site’s waterfront location, and integrates surrounding assets and businesses to create a sense of place and encourage further, sustainable development.
Where is the Broward County Convention Center?
The Convention Center is conveniently located just five minutes away from Broward County's Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and downtown Fort Lauderdale, adjacent to bustling Port Everglades, and less than one mile from Broward’s Blue Wave beaches.
Once the discussion to expand the Convention Center and add a headquarters hotel began, it quickly became clear that the project offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create an iconic waterside development on the site of the existing facility, take full advantage of the site’s potential as a “gateway” to Broward County and connect it to other assets in the vicinity.
Site Identification
The project site was identified as a 40-acre area, bounded by the Intracoastal Waterway to the east, various port and cruise ship functions to the east and south, Eisenhower Boulevard to the west and 17th Street and bridge to the north.
There are 2.1 acres of water, leaving a net area of 37.9 acres. In addition to the current Broward County Convention Center, which is 600,000 square feet, the tract area includes Broward County's Port Everglades’ Terminal 1 building, which is planned to be demolished, and the Northport parking garage, which contains 2,400 parking spaces shared by Port Everglades, the Convention Center and the former Portside Leasehold area. Surface lots to the west along Eisenhower Boulevard and to the north abutting 17th Street bring total parking to 3,175 spaces.
