Meeting the Moment

When New York City officials celebrated the grand opening of the $1.5 billion, 1.2 million sq ft Jacob K. Javits Convention Center expansion in May 2021, they opened the doors to a new venue that relied on innovative engineering that solved a host of site- and structure-related challenges and restored the Javits Center’s position as the largest convention center in the Northeast. For the Javits Center to remain a viable and esteemed New York City venue, it needed to increase its revenue and program space, solve its operational challenges, and elevate its place in the competitive convention center market. In 2006, the Empire State Development Corp. and its subsidiary, the New York Convention Center Development Corp., set the stage by adopting a general project plan to overhaul the venue. This involved a major renovation of the existing building, including a new facade, additional entrances, a green roof, and significant energy efficiency improvements. The team needed to work collaboratively to successfully deliver the project on a demanding schedule of 42 months, requiring all stakeholders to provide coordinated information quickly and out of sequence.