The massive $1.5 billion project to expand New York City’s Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which began in early 2017, is now complete. The upgraded facility will be christened by the International Beauty Show July 25-26 and put to the test for the New York International Auto Show August 20-29, which will use 1 million square feet of exhibition space.

Javits, run by the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, now has a total interior area of 3.3 million square feet, with 500,000 contiguous square feet of event space. The 1.2 million-square-foot addition brings another 200,000 square feet of meeting room and pre-function space, including a 54,000-square-foot special event space (shown above) with views of the Hudson River. There’s also a new truck marshaling facility designed to make event operations more efficient.

The project’s rooftop spaces, which include a glass-enclosed pavilion, an outdoor terrace, a greenhouse, and a one-acre farm, will be completed early this summer. More than 3,000 solar panels are also being installed on the rooftop as part of a program with the New York Power Authority. 

Also new at the Javits is a 30,000-square-foot broadcast studio, opened in September 2020, to meet demand for virtual and hybrid event broadcasting options. The studio that can host up to 300 participants in a socially distanced setting.

The Javits expansion is part of the city’s Midtown West redevelopment plan. The long-term vision includes transportation-facility improvements at Penn Station and the Port Authority bus terminal plus the transformation of Pier 76, located directly behind the convention center, from a police tow pound to an extension of Hudson River Park. There are also plans to link the High Line walking trail to Pier 76.

“Reinvesting in on our infrastructure is critical to restarting our economy after Covid-19, and the expansion of the Javits Center will play a pivotal role in attracting people back to New York and supporting local businesses,” New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in May. “From operating as a Covid-19 field hospital to the largest vaccination center in the United States, the Javits Center has demonstrated its importance to the recovery and resurgence of the Empire State, and this project reinforces [the center’s] part in New York’s economic future.”