Miami’s trendy Lincoln Road will soon welcome meetings in a big way with the debut of the Miami Beach Convention Center’s (MBCC) $620 million renovation and expansion this September, bringing the center’s total meeting space to almost 500,000 sf.
Host of the international Art Basel event, the convention center pays homage to its artsy roots, touting more than $7.4 million worth of art installations created by artists from all over the world. That’s one of the largest public art commissions in the country to date.
The LEED-certified space will also feature six acres of green space in addition to other sustainable design elements. Most notable is its fin-like structure that is not only pleasing to the eye, but also helps bring in natural sunlight to the space. That mixed with high-efficiency lighting units and LED bulbs will result in a 20 percent reduction in energy usage for the building. And that’s not all: The convention center’s 60,000-sf grand ballroom features prefunction and outdoor space designed around a strangler fig tree that has been protected and preserved to give it new life as the focal point of the park space.
In an effort to also preserve history, the nearby Carl Fisher Clubhouse, the oldest public structure in the city, is also being fully restored and will provide additional space for meeting planners to work into their meeting or event. With MBCC’s close proximity to the outdoor shopping and patio restaurants dotting Lincoln Road, there are a wide range of other event venues and entertainment within walking distance, including Miami Beach Botanical Garden and New World Symphony Center, to name a few.
