The adage that "change is good" certainly applies to Phoenix, where a metamorphosis of the city's downtown meetings and convention scene is nearly complete.

In the most significant development in America's fifth-largest city, the Phoenix Convention Center is wrapping up a $600 million expansion project. The first phase of that project, the West Building, began welcoming groups in 2006, while the second and final phase, the North Building, is on schedule to make its debut in January of 2009. When the fully expanded Phoenix Convention Center is complete, it will feature nearly 900,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, making it capable of hosting about 80 percent of the conventions in North America.

In the West Building, groups enjoy access to 157,000 square feet of conference-style meeting and exhibit space spread over four levels. The neighboring North Building will boast 635,000 square feet of meeting and exhibition space and will be linked to the West Building by both a glass-and-steel sky bridge and a substreet exhibition hall the size of six football fields. Among its accoutrements will be a street-level ballroom, 190,000 square feet of virtually column-free exhibit space, climate-controlled loading docks, and a food court with wireless connectivity.

To help accommodate the influx of meeting attendees the expanded convention center is sure to attract, a new 1,000-room hotel is rising just a block away. Slated for completion this October, the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown will be the largest hotel in Arizona. A total of more than 80,000 square feet of flexible meeting space will include 17 meeting rooms, two ballrooms, two board rooms, and a terrace for outdoor events. The hotel will pamper guests with a 2,000-square foot outdoor pool and sundeck, a 6,500-square foot fitness center and spa.

Yet another major development in downtown Phoenix is the creation of a $1.3 billion light-rail system, which, when it debuts in December 2008, will usher in a transportation revolution not seen in the Sonoran Desert since the thirsty horse gave way to the combustion engine. The system's quiet, air-conditioned trains will provide passage to the neighboring cities of Tempe and Mesa, as well as to Sky Harbor International Airport.

Phoenix at a Glance
Convention Facilities: The Phoenix Convention Center is nearing the end of an expansion project that will increase the facility's meeting and exhibit space to nearly 900,000 square feet. The convention center's West Building features a 62,000-square-foot exhibit hall scored in 10-by-10-foot squares for easy booth set up. That hall will be linked to another in the new North Building, creating a substreet exhibit hall the size of five football fields. The North Building also will house 190,000 square feet of virtually column-free exhibition space and two levels of flexible meeting space totaling more than 85,000 square feet.

 Accommodations: More than 55,000 guest rooms, including more than 1,500 within walking distance of the Phoenix Convention Center. The 1,000-room Sheraton Phoenix Downtown will open a block away from the convention center in October.

Attractions: Chase Field, Desert Botanical Garden, Heard Museum, Heritage Square and Science Park, Papago Park, Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix Mountains Park and Recreation Area, Phoenix Zoo, Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park, South Mountain Park and Preserve, Taliesin West, Tempe Town Lake, US Airways Center

For More Information: Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau, 400 E. Van Buren St., Suite 600, Phoenix, AZ 85004; phone: (877) MEET-PHX or (602) 254-6500; e-mail: jjessie@visitphoenix.com; Web site: www.meetphx.com