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Just south of the expanding Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center, New River connects with the Intracoastal Waterway and the area’s many canals.
After years of anticipation, the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is slated to debut the final phase of its $1.3-billion expansion by late 2025. The project, which has been years in the making, was designed with two of Greater Fort Lauderdale’s most impressive assets in mind: its year-round sunshine and stunning waterfront location.
When phase two is complete, business event planners will find a new waterfront plaza that’s perfect for hosting open-air gatherings. The six-acre space will feature an on-site restaurant and a concert venue, all within a pleasant, parklike atmosphere overlooking Port Everglades. When events must go indoors, attendees can still enjoy the views from the center’s new 65,000-square-foot waterfront ballroom.
In total, phase two will bring an additional 525,000 square feet of meeting space for a new grand total of 1.2 million square feet. With enhanced Water Taxi service also coming to the convention center, attendees can cruise the waterways of Greater Fort Lauderdale, nicknamed the Venice of America, and arrive at their event in style. The Water Taxi also makes a scenic and convenient option for reaching the many delightful restaurants that line the 300-plus miles of intracoastal waterways of Greater Fort Lauderdale.
New meeting space inside the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center will provide a one-of-a-kind setting with panoramic views of sky and sea as nearby cruise ships pass by.
More to come
Another major update for groups to look forward to: the addition of a new headquarter hotel, which will directly connect to the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center. The Omni Fort Lauderdale Hotel, expected to open in fall, will feature 801 guest rooms and suites, six dining venues, a full-service spa, an outdoor pool deck, and ample meeting spaces. That means event planners and attendees won’t have to go far to enjoy the area’s offerings in between meetings.
Eco-conscious planners can also rest assured that the expansion will continue with the facility’s commitment to sustainability. The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is Florida’s first LEED-certified convention center and one of only three in the nation to achieve LEED Gold certification for an Existing Building.
The facility is also the first convention center in North America to adopt the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program, which offers tools to make it easier for attendees with non-visible disabilities to voluntarily share that they may need extra assistance. All convention center employees are trained to help meet these needs, and there’s also a dedicated Zen Room designed to support people with non-visible disabilities.
Looking beyond its new spaces, the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center’s convenient location sits just five miles from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and three miles from Port Everglades. It’s also minutes away from Las Olas Boulevard, a lively thoroughfare between the beach and downtown Fort Lauderdale that’s lined with restaurants, boutique shops, and art galleries. It connects to the iconic Riverwalk, which provides even more ways for attendees to enjoy the area’s electric atmosphere both day and night.
