Outside the Los Angeles Convention Center.
AEG has officially taken the keys to the Los Angeles Convention Center and brought with them a number of new executives and third-party contractors to assist with the takeover of the 720,000-sq.-ft. facility.
Former San Diego Convention Center GM Brad Gessner will serve as Sr. VP and General Manager of the 42-year-old facility after city officials voted to hand over management responsibilities to AEG on Oct. 23. AEG will be paid an annual fee of $175,000 with incentive structures that could double the amount.
The deal also means the end of Aramark’s decades long contract to manage food & beverage at the facility — AEG-backed Levy restaurants will take over the contract on Jan. 1 and launch its Taste of L.A. program.
Gessner has also ended the convention center’s inhouse exclusivity contract for trade show electrical work and will allow vendors to contract with three private vendors, part of a bid to increase competition and lower costs.
And more importantly, the building has tied its long-term fate to AEG’s growth and has become a critical piece of a larger plan to bring the NFL to Los Angeles. If AEG officials can bring an NFL team to Los Angeles, that will launch into motion a plan to remodel the convention center, tear down the building's West Hall and replace it with Farmers Field, a $1-billion stadium planned to house L.A.'s next team.
If a team agrees to relocate to L.A., that will trigger AEG to complete architectural design documents and start convention center improvements, which could begin as soon as six months after a new team is announced. AEG officials would oversee the construction of 200,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibition space, a 47,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and 40,000 sq. ft. of additional meeting space. Once that construction was complete, AEG could then begin the process of tearing down the convention center’s aging West Hall and begin the three-to-four year process of building Farmers Field.
AEG is expected to begin talks to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles as early as the start of the post-season later this month, and continue talks after the Super Bowl, with a team possibly announced by March or April. In case AEG is unable to secure a team, L.A. officials are beginning to examine a ‘Plan B’ and have hired the Urban Land Institute to develop backup plans for creating the 200,000-sq.-ft. of contiguous exhibition space.
“At this point, AEG remains committed to bringing the NFL back to L.A.,” company spokesman Michael Roth said. “We’re in a time now when teams start to make decisions and in this offseason we hope to enter into a longtime lease and break ground in the spring.”
In the meantime, Gessner said AEG has some capital improvement plans for the building’s South Hall which will remain intact during the renovations. He’s also brought on three new electrical services providers — GES-owned Trade Show Electrical, Freeman Electric and Edlen. Exhibitors can accept bids from any of the three contractors and use their services. Edlen was given the added distinction of being the “preferred vendor” for the building, which gives it access to about $2 million in electrical equipment.
Encore Event Technologies, the hospitality division of the Freeman Company, was selected as the new in-house preferred provider of audio/visual services. Show managers and exhibitors can work with other AV providers, although Encore has the exclusive on use of the convention center’s house sound system.
Gessner also hired on a new team of executives to help run the facility. Keith Hilsgen has been hired as VP of Finance while Ellen Schwartz steps into the role of Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Hilsgen was formerly the head of accounting and finance as part of the opening team for AEG Facilities at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. while Schwartz comes to the facility after her time at the Long Beach (Calif.) Convention & Entertainment Center.
Serving as VP of Event Services, Carisa Malanum joins the convention center from the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board where she served as director of Client Services. Ruben Lechuga, director of Security & Guest Services, previously served as the Public Safety manager for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. Angela Baker now serves as director of Human Resources. Baker has more than 17 years of experience in human resources in the luxury hotel industry.
Interviewed for this article: Brad Gessner, (213) 765-4600; Michael Roth, (213) 742-7155