$2.62B LA Convention Center Expansion Will Need 6 Low Voltage Systems Ahead of 2028 Olympics

$2.62 billion Los Angeles Convention Center Expansion & Modernization Project at 1301 S Figueroa Street requires six low voltage systems, creating an estimated $130 million low voltage opportunity over the 2025–2029 construction window in advance of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Project Overview

The $2.62 billion Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC) Expansion and Modernization Project officially broke ground on October 1, 2025, kicking off the largest single piece of public infrastructure work in downtown LA ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. According to permit records filed with the City of Los Angeles, an Early Start Foundation Only permit valued at $125 million has been issued at 1301 S Figueroa Street to begin construction on the major addition that will combine the existing West Hall with the South Hall — bridging Pico Boulevard with a single connected facility for the first time.

When complete, the expansion will add roughly 285,000 square feet of new convention space: 190,000 SF of new exhibit hall, 55,000 SF of meeting rooms, and 95,000 SF of multi-purpose space. Pico Boulevard between South Figueroa Street and LA Live Way is already closed 24/7 from December 4, 2025 through March 31, 2028 for construction. The project will pause between June and October 2028 to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, then resume with final delivery scheduled for spring 2029.

Project	LA Convention Center Expansion & Modernization
Location	1301 S Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA
Total Project Value	$2.62 billion (full project) — $125M (foundation start permit)
New Square Footage	~285,000 SF added across exhibit, meeting, multi-purpose
Project Type	Convention Center (Mega-Project)
Status	Active — broke ground Oct 1, 2025; substantial completion spring 2028
LV Score	9/10
Source	Los Angeles Building Permits (LADBS)

Key Players

This is a public-private partnership (P3) project with a clear public client and a vetted, award-winning design-build team. All key players are public record from City Council disclosures and groundbreaking press releases.

Role	Company	Details
Owner / Operator	Los Angeles Convention Center	City of Los Angeles is the public owner. The facility itself is operated by AEG / ASM Global on behalf of the city.
Development Partner (P3)	Plenary Americas + AEG Facilities	Joint venture selected by the City Council to design, build, finance, operate, and maintain the expansion under a single P3 contract. Bond financing of $990 million authorized through 2058.
Architect of Record	Populous	Lead design firm. Globally known for sports venue and convention/exhibition design. Led the architectural vision for the unified West Hall + South Hall complex.
General Contractor	PCL Construction + Webcor Construction (JV)	Joint venture serving as construction manager / general contractor under the design-build delivery model.

Low Voltage Systems Breakdown

Convention center expansions are some of the most low-voltage-intensive commercial projects in construction. The combination of mass occupancy life safety, broadcast-grade AV, ubiquitous wireless connectivity, and public security creates a layered scope that touches every floor, every meeting room, and every loading dock.

System	Category	Scope Description	Complexity
Structured Cabling	Data / Voice	Building-wide Cat6A and OM4/OS2 fiber backbone supporting back-of-house operations, exhibitor floor connectivity, ticketing, F&B point-of-sale, and broadcast feeds. Distributed IDFs on every floor with redundant pathways.	High
Access Control	Security	Card and mobile credential readers at staff entries, loading docks, mechanical rooms, IT/AV control rooms, and segregated VIP corridors. Mass event lockdown integration and after-hours zoning.	High
CCTV	Security	Multi-thousand-camera IP video surveillance covering exterior perimeter, entry queueing, exhibit floor, food courts, and back-of-house. Olympics-grade analytics and federation with city/Secret Service operations during 2028.	High
AV	Communications / Public Display	Digital signage, exhibit hall projection and LED wall infrastructure, broadcast tie-in panels for major shows, simultaneous-translation booth feeds, and central control rooms. Single largest dollar line item in the LV stack.	Very High
Fire Alarm	Life Safety	Voice-evacuation addressable system covering 285,000+ SF of new public assembly space and existing connected halls. Integrated with smoke control, mass notification, and AHJ-stamped sequence of operations under NFPA 72.	Very High
DAS	Wireless / Public Safety	Distributed Antenna System for cellular carriers (AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile) and a separate Public Safety DAS for Los Angeles Fire and Police bandwidth. Code-required for venues this size in California.	High

Estimated Low Voltage Value

Industry benchmarks for convention centers and mass-assembly venues place low voltage and technology scope at roughly 5–7% of total construction value, weighted toward the high end because of AV intensity, broadcast tie-ins, and Olympic security overlay. Applied conservatively at 5% to the $2.62 billion project, the estimated low voltage contract value approaches $130 million — a number that puts this single project on par with several years of work for a top-tier regional LV integrator.

Total Project Value	$2,620,000,000
Estimated LV Percentage	5.0% (conservative for convention center)
System Count Multiplier	1.0x (6 systems, AV-heavy)
Estimated LV Contract Value	~$130,000,000

Realistically, AV scope alone (digital signage, projection, broadcast, central control) likely accounts for $50–65 million. Structured cabling backbone for a building of this scale runs $20–30 million. Fire alarm, access control, CCTV, and DAS combined add another $40–55 million. The work will be split across multiple specialty contractors over the three-and-a-half year construction window — no single LV firm in California will execute the entire scope, but specialty integrators with AV, security, fire alarm, and DAS bench have a generational opportunity to win one or more packages.

Skills and Certifications Required

Convention centers and Olympic-grade venues are unforgiving on credentialing. Every major LV system on this project will require certified design, certified install, and AHJ-stamped commissioning before ribbon-cutting.

System	Key Certifications	Critical Skills
AV	AVIXA CTS, CTS-D, CTS-I, manufacturer cert (Crestron, Extron, Dante, QSC)	Large-venue projection, broadcast tie-in, AV-over-IP, central control programming, digital signage CMS
Fire Alarm	NICET Fire Alarm Level III+, California Fire Life Safety License (C-7/C-10)	Voice-evac design, smoke control, mass notification, NFPA 72/101 compliance, LAFD coordination
Structured Cabling	BICSI RCDD (design), BICSI INSTC/INSTF (install), manufacturer cert (Panduit, CommScope)	Multi-floor backbone design, fiber splicing at scale, Fluke DSX certification, pathway coordination
Access Control	PSP, manufacturer cert (Genetec, Lenel, HID, Software House)	IP networking, mass event lockdown logic, integration with city/event ops, credential lifecycle
CCTV	Manufacturer cert (Avigilon, Axis, Milestone, Genetec)	Large-camera-count VMS architecture, video analytics, Olympic-grade redundancy, federation with public safety
DAS	BICSI RCDD, RF engineering, carrier-specific training (AT&T NDS, Verizon NEF)	Public safety DAS (LAFD/LAPD bands), cellular DAS, antenna placement, signal modeling, FCC compliance

California requires C-7 (Low Voltage Systems) and/or C-10 (Electrical) contractor licenses depending on system. Fire alarm work also requires registration with the State Fire Marshal. Contractors bidding on packages should verify their CSLB license is current, that DIR public works registration is active (this is a prevailing-wage public project), and that all field technicians are enrolled in the appropriate apprenticeship program. The P3 delivery model means PLAs and signatory union requirements are likely in play for portions of the scope.

Market Signal

The LACC expansion is the largest single low voltage opportunity in California for the rest of this decade. It is also a signal flare for the broader LA28 Olympic build-out — there are dozens of supporting venue improvements, transit upgrades, and athlete-housing projects already permitted or in pipeline across LA County. Convention centers, sports venues, and transportation hubs are the natural anchor points where Olympic LV scope concentrates, and the LACC sits at the center of that map.

For California LV integrators, the implication is straightforward: position now. The major scope packages — AV, fire alarm, structured cabling, security, DAS — will be procured through the PCL/Webcor JV under the design-build agreement, and qualifying as a sub-tier bidder requires bonded capacity, prior public works track record, and prevailing-wage compliance bench. Out-of-state integrators will struggle to compete on the public-works side of this project but may find subcontract roles on AV and DAS scope where specialty expertise outweighs local presence.

The broader signal: Los Angeles is in the middle of a multi-year capital cycle that is more LV-intensive than any time since the original 1984 Olympics buildout. Contractors who win meaningful packages on LACC will be on the short list for the rest of the LA28 venue work — and for the post-Olympics legacy projects that follow.

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