The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) Board of Directors has approved and awarded preconstruction services for the second phase of the Las Vegas Convention Center District Plan—an estimated $860 million expansion project—to Turner/Martin-Harris, A Joint Venture.
The Turner/Martin-Harris joint venture combines Turner’s experience as the largest convention center builder in the country with Martin-Harris’ long-standing local presence. “Since our companies share similar core values, the idea of a joint venture has been in the works for more than four years,” said Frank Martin, CEO of Martin-Harris. “Turner has an unparalleled knowledge of convention center construction experience on state-of-the-art projects throughout the world, so the Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion is the perfect opportunity for us to collaborate.”
Dewey Newton, Turner Senior Vice President and Principle-in-Charge of the joint venture added, “Martin-Harris has been in Las Vegas for more than forty years. Both the company and Frank Martin have a reputation for honesty, integrity and giving back to the community. Together, we are committed to maximizing local participation on the Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion to the fullest extent possible.”
Martin-Harris Construction President, Guy Martin, will oversee the small business inclusion plan which will provide educational outreach and engagement services to aid local small businesses in preparation of the bidding opportunity.
“Martin-Harris’ Subcontractor Opportunity Program was implemented more than 15 years ago with the goal of developing relationships and contracting opportunities for local small, minority, women and veteran owned companies,” said Guy. “We sponsor several industry organizations, provide mentorship through small business organizations, and serve on diversity committees.” He added that for the Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion small business inclusion plan, the team gathered representatives from these established partners to brainstorm about the optimal approach. Continued Guy, “I look forward to working with them on the implementation of our vision. We have also contracted Sumnu Marketing to assist us with these efforts,”
Sumnu Marketing, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) has developed small and diverse outreach programs for public entities and private companies in Nevada since 2006. Sumnu was recently recognized by Small Business Administration (SBA) Nevada as Family Owned Business of the Year and received the 2017 National Minority Supplier Development Council’s National Supplier of the Year Award.
The LVCVA Board of Directors has awarded a professional services agreement for the expansion to tvsdesign / Design Las Vegas. “Like the Tuner/Martin-Harris joint venture, the design team combines the very best local industry professionals with a nationally recognized leader in convention center design expertise,” added Guy, noting that the Turner/Martin-Harris team will work closely with tvsdesign and the LVCVA for the next five months. He continued, “With well-established relationships between the contractor and design team, preconstruction efforts for this project will be truly collaborative and focused on providing innovation and the very best value to the project.”
Cordell Corporation NV, LLC is managing the project as the LVCVA’s Owner Representative.