LAS VEGAS — The corporate owner of the Venetian and Palazzo resorts is planning a new convention center that could open by 2010, cost about $680 million, and make room for as many as 7,000 new hotel rooms.

A Las Vegas Sands Corp. spokesman confirmed Thursday that the company filed plans several months ago with Clark County to build a 1.2 million-square-foot facility across Koval Lane from the existing Sands Expo and Convention Center.

A company executive vice president also outlined the proposal for investors in a Feb. 11 investor conference at The Venetian.

The land for the Sands project is surrounded on three sides by property owned by Wynn Resorts Ltd., including a parking lot for Wynn Las Vegas resort employees.

According to plans on file with the county and a conference transcript cited by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the new center would have 36-foot-high ceilings, about 1,800 parking spaces and moving sidewalks connecting it to the Palazzo and Venetian resorts.

The new facility would be an upgrade from the existing convention center, which opened in 1990, and could give Las Vegas Sands room to build more hotel rooms on one of the priciest pieces of Las Vegas Strip real estate.

———

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, www.lvrj.com