World Market Center Launches Phase Three Leasing Campaign - Phase Two Is 90% Leased

Furniture World News

With construction well underway on Building Two and the showroom space 90% leased, World Market Center officials are launching the leasing campaign for the third building. Building Three is slated to be the largest and most diversified showroom structure planned for the 12 million square foot home furnishings campus. Next week World Market Center will launch a new, cutting edge marketing and sales campaign for Building Three with 20-page advertisement highlighting the distinguishing features of the 20-story, 2 million square foot structure, planned to open in 2008. Chief among these features is the integration of exhibitors from many new segments of the home furnishings industry that have contacted Las Vegas Market officials, eager to become part of the growing campus. In Phase Three, these industry sectors will be represented in a more concentrated fashion than prior buildings with floors totally dedicated to distinct categories. Once complete in 2008, the first three buildings will total nearly 5 million square feet of permanent and temporary home furnishings showrooms across all industry segments. “We are bringing the best of each market segment to this building and under one roof,” said Jack Kashani, managing partner of World Market Center. “Such diversification allows manufacturers to cross-sell and cross-merchandise in a whole new way, and will expand business opportunities for them to reach new buyers across all industry segments.” Designed to be the most diversified showroom structure yet, Building Three will allow significant growth opportunities for sectors of the industry that World Market Center already caters to such as furniture and decorative accessories, including major expansion opportunities for lighting and floor coverings. In addition, officials plan to introduce totally new categories such as textile companies, contemporary goods and floral/seasonal products to the growing make-up of suppliers at Las Vegas Market. The first three floors of the building will serve as year round showrooms and will feature a number of well known, high end designer lines that are found at some of the best design centers around the country. Furthermore, there are also two floors dedicated to Market Suites, comprising about 200,000 square feet of flexible temporary space that can accommodate a range of juried products and exhibitors. “The building was designed to be complementary to the trends in retailing, which has become much more diversified in terms of its merchandising strategy,” added Shawn Samson managing partner of World Market Center. “World Market Center is accommodating the changing needs of buyers with a larger, more diversified building where retailers can, in one destination, fulfill multiple product needs.” “The third building is by far the most diverse line-up and will make World Market Center, and its suppliers, a true “one-stop shopping” destination for buyers. At almost 5 million square feet in the next few years, Las Vegas Market will be poised to deliver the quality, range and depth of products in all categories,” added Dave Palmer, general manager of World Market Center. In addition to product diversification and segmentation, the third building features a contemporary architectural design and boasts many state-of-the-art technologies, amenities and conveniences. Each level of the building, totaling 100,000 square feet, offers open, easy to walk floor plan with optimum racetrack circulation as well as sky bridges connecting to other buildings. Rounding out the amenities of the building are “smart” building technologies, wi-fi access, full service cafes, internet lounges, ample parking, easy access loading docks, freight elevators and much more. Awareness for Building Three is starting as the second building on the campus reaches unprecedented milestones, more than a year prior to its scheduled opening in early 2007. The leasing success of Building Two, which will comprise a total of approximately 300 showrooms, further represents continued strength of World Market Center. “The overwhelming success of our inaugural Market in July has heightened the demand for additional space. We have already leased 90% of the space in the second building, which is a great testament to the enthusiasm about World Market Center among the home furnishings industry,” said Babs Blair, director of leasing. “We have a number of industry leaders and exciting suppliers joining our next building and we are eager to begin sales for Phase Three.” The 57-acre integrated campus, when completed, will be fully developed with eight buildings totaling 12 million square feet, making the World Market Center the largest trade complex in the world. World Market Center is a partnership between Kashani, Samson and The Related Companies, LP who will continue to oversee the highly-experienced development team including Jerde Partnership International as lead design architects, JMA Architecture Studios as executive architects, in addition to many other experienced subcontractors and members of the trade. For leasing opportunities please call 888-416-8600. Registration for the upcoming Las Vegas Market, January 30 – February 3, 2006, will be available on-line beginning in late October 2005. Hotel booking information can be found at www.lasvegasmarket.com or call 800-974-9833 (Mon-Fri., 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST).