• Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google +
  • Flickr
  • You Tube
  • Nick Bastian

Rail Life

Phoenix Light Rail News and Information

  • About RailLife
  • Events
  • Homes Near Light Rail
  • Phoenix Light Rail Map
You are here: Home / Phoenix Light Rail / Phoenix Convention Center and Light Rail working well together

Phoenix Convention Center and Light Rail working well together

June 3, 2009 by Nick Bastian 2 Comments

Recently, I attended a really cool tour of the Phoenix Convention Center. One of the attendees was my good friend, Gene Urban. Gene writes the “Urban Life Blog” and always shares a lot of cool things about downtown so I asked if he would write a post sharing his thoughts. Thanks so much to Gene for sharing!

Phoenix Convention Center… a major piece of the downtown Phoenix success puzzle.

A quick hop north from the 3rd and Washington rail stop lays the expanded Phoenix Convention Center… a significant addition to the downtown area. The convention center began as Phoenix Civic Plaza in the 1960’s and has stretched into one of the top 20 convention sites in the Nation.

A week or so ago, a group of us were treated to a behind the scenes look at the Phoenix convention facilities. It was a pretty big wow!. Dan Padilla, the operations manager, took us on a whirl wind tour of the nearly 900,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.

The center offers both exhibition space and a modern conference center. Most of us knew about the exhibition space, but the conference center surprised us with its state-of the-art executive board room and an impressive 192 seat education center with every audio/visual trick imaginable… even one of those polling systems you see on court TV where the audience proclaims innocent or guilty. I love fun tech.

Guests of the conference center not only have leeds certified meeting spaces, they are treated to an extraordinary range of food and beverage options included in their flat-fee package.

The January 2009 expansion of the convention center, the North building, put Phoenix on the map for major conventions never possible in the past. The NRA recently brought 60,000+ members and exhibitors to the Valley. While much of the news media focused on stories about gun ownership rights, the Valley was rewarded with millions in revenue. Funny we didn’t hear from the “I Hate Pink” people when Mary Kay was in town earlier this year.

In the first 6 months of 2009 over 100,000 people came downtown to play, spend money and attend conferences. Dan Padella estimates over 300,000 people will be attending events at the convention center in 2010. Watch out Atlanta, Chicago, New York and San Diego… Phoenix is now a player in the international convention game.

Filed Under: Phoenix Light Rail

About Nick Bastian

Nick Bastian is a 31 year veteran of the real estate industry and can be reached at 602-803-6425. You'll also find him sharing real estate info on his web site and hanging out onTwitter.
Family man, lover of life, maker of friends. A bit of a geek, long time Tempe real estate guy just havin' some fun. What's your story?

Comments

  1. Mark Dudlik says

    June 3, 2009 at 2:28 pm

    This is really good news!

    You think you can talk them into donating space for Phoenix Design Week 🙂

    Reply
  2. Nick says

    June 3, 2009 at 2:45 pm

    Mark, that would be a GREAT fit. Can’t hurt to ask! I’ll be in touch.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

RailLife

Thanks for visiting RailLife.com! We want to be your resource for all that is light rail in Arizona. Here, we share information about “life along the line.” Feel free to cruise around and to bookmark the site as information is added or changed often!

RailLife Uber Code

Good for $20 off your first ride with Uber! Use Promo code: RAILLIFE OR click here to get an Uber account: RailLife Sign up code

Search RailLife

Search for Homes

Looking for a home? Search NickBastian.com for your future home.

Homes Near Light Rail

50 Listings
501 W COOLIDGE Street, Phoenix, AZ 85013

$639,999 501 W COOLIDGE Street
Phoenix, AZ 85013

4229 N 3RD Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85013

$665,000 4229 N 3RD Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85013

65 W VIRGINIA Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

$650,000 65 W VIRGINIA Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

331 W EDGEMONT Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003

$889,000 331 W EDGEMONT Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

419 E 3RD Place, Mesa, AZ 85203

$317,000 419 E 3RD Place
Mesa, AZ 85203

1649 W BEDFORD Street, Mesa, AZ 85201

$375,000 1649 W BEDFORD Street
Mesa, AZ 85201

previous next

MLS IDX Listing Disclosure © 2023

Copyright 2023 Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All rights reserved. Information Not Guaranteed and Must Be Confirmed by End User. Site contains live data.

Lakeside Living

7 Listings
120 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 101, Tempe, AZ 85281

$869,000 120 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 101
Tempe, AZ 85281

435 W RIO SALADO Parkway, 101, Tempe, AZ 85281

$365,000 435 W RIO SALADO Parkway, 101
Tempe, AZ 85281

140 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 106, Tempe, AZ 85281

$1,122,000 140 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 106
Tempe, AZ 85281

435 W RIO SALADO Parkway, 103, Tempe, AZ 85281

$449,900 435 W RIO SALADO Parkway, 103
Tempe, AZ 85281

945 E PLAYA DEL NORTE Drive, 4009, Tempe, AZ 85281

$489,000 945 E PLAYA DEL NORTE Drive, 4009
Tempe, AZ 85281

140 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 312, Tempe, AZ 85281

$735,000 140 E RIO SALADO Parkway, 312
Tempe, AZ 85281

previous next

MLS IDX Listing Disclosure © 2023

Copyright 2023 Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All rights reserved. Information Not Guaranteed and Must Be Confirmed by End User. Site contains live data.

RailLife Posts

Looking For A REALTOR To Rock The Rail Life

Nowhere To Eat In Downtown Mesa

Could Coyotes Help Expand Tempe Streetcar?

Scott Smith Remaining as Valley Metro CEO

Banta Lawyers Up – Sues Valley Metro for $1.65 Million

© 2023 · RailLife · Developed by Marketing Press