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KEEPING THE OCCC WORLD CLASS
BUILDERS’ BREAKFAST | OCTOBER 19, 2023
The Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) is the third largest in the country, and second largest on the scale of having a more robust calendar. The original West Concourse building construction in 1983 housed an 11,300-seat arena until 1992 and hosted a plethora of popular artists such a Madonna and Aerosmith until its decline when the Orlando Arena opened in 1989. Today, the OCCC includes two buildings with a combined 2.1 million SF of exhibition space, 235 flexible meeting rooms, three full-service restaurants, eight food courts, and on-site parking for 6,227 cars.
In 2022-2023 the convention center hosted 159 events with 1.5 million attendees equating to a $2.8 billion economic impact. The OCCC has a $50-60 million annual budget to cover renovations, mechanical and electrical improvements, roof replacements, life safety upgrades, technology upgrades, digital signage, and more. There is a dedicated project management team that is part of the procurement department involved in each project.
Some of the most recent projects included renovations to the 48,600 SF Tangerine Ballroom that was expanded to include the Sunburst Room as a signature meeting room with dynamic finishes and an outdoor reception area. The food courts in the west building have been upgraded to dining lounges and hydroponic gardens, wellness spaces, and nursing rooms were added. Ongoing capital of a 2.5%-5% reinvestment of value has been put back into the OCCC since 2012 to keep the buildings at a world class level.
The West Building now has 1.1 million SF of flexible meeting space that can be separated into up to 135 rooms and hosts 120 events in 2022. Originally, you could tell that this building was constructed in phases, the recent renovation projects have created the cohesiveness it needed to remain a modern and state-of-the-art space.
The newer North/South Building currently has 950,000 SF of exhibit space, but at 23 years old is ready to get the facelift it needs to continue attracting events. This will be part of the next expansion and renovation plan that the Orange County Commissioners recently approved the OCCC to receive TDT funding to move forward. Planned is upgraded flooring, new movable partitioning, a new 1.4 million SF roof with solar paneling, restroom renovations, food court upgrades, and a 60,000 SF meeting room expansion on the west side of the North/South Building. Currently an RFP is being put together for the expansion project that will be publicly solicited in March-April of 2024.
For upcoming projects at the OCCC visit: https://procurement. opengov.com/portal/orangecountyfl
Orange County Convention Center Facts:
• The North/South Building Construction took 27,000 tons of steel. The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is made of only 5,199 tons of steel.
• The Operable Partition Panels in the North/South Building equal 1.65 miles, making them the largest operable partition system in the world.
• The main span of the Brooklyn Bridge could fit inside the West Building’s contiguous exhibit space.
• The Valencia Ballroom has more square feet than the White House and can hold events for up to 6,000 people.
• There are 130,000 Cubic Yards of cast in place concrete that equals 410 miles of sidewalk. That is the same distance to Key West from Orlando.
As presented at the ABC Central Florida Builders' Breakfast on October 19, 2023. For more information in our Builders' Breakfast/ Luncheon events, contact us at meetings@abccf.org.
