Mayor Karen Bass is pulling out all the stops to cross the finish line and win reelection. She announced the Los Angeles Convention Center expansion project, which is expected to be completed by 2029. The expansion project is expected to bring in over 189,000 visitors and generate an estimated 400 million for the local economy.
With thousands of new union jobs created and almost $10 million in wages paid, this project is putting paychecks in Angelenos’ pockets and already delivering an economic boost for Los Angeles,” Bass said in a statement. “I will continue to stand with our Council leadership, union workforce and local business leaders to move this generational investment forward.”
Officials said that since construction began a year ago, 18 major conferences have chosen to hold their annual events in Los Angeles.
City Council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Curren Price and Ysabel Jurado hailed the expansion project.
“There will always be people who find a reason to say no, but delay was costing this city jobs, revenue and opportunity. We chose to move forward, and Los Angeles is already better for it,” Price said.
In 2015, the expansion project was estimated to cost $470 million. As approved in 2025 by the City Council and Bass, the financing plan will encompass $2.68 billion in borrowing and $5.39 billion in total debt service.
City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman is unimpressed and concerned about Bass’s move ahead of the mayoral election, calling it a “refurbishment boondoggle.”
“Refurbishing the Convention Center is important — but no responsible mayor would pursue this through a $5.9 billion financing plan that drains essential services for decades,” Raman said in a statement. “This project will cause $100 million in cuts to city services every year, leaving more broken streets, dark streetlights and slower 9-1-1 response times across every neighborhood in our city.”
Bloomberg Law reported that L.A.’s $1.8 billion bond sale for the Convention Center’s expansion has been delayed due to market conditions, citing sources familiar with the proceedings. The bonds had no set date for pricing as of Sept. 28.
Raman was one of two council members, alongside Katy Yaroslavsky, who voted against the project. Raman accuses Bass of sitting on the project and unveiling it now as a means to sway voting.
