Apr. 29--Despite their relative proximity in size, Mandalay Bay's planned 1.8-million-square-foot convention center will not compete for business with the expanding Las Vegas Convention Center, according to representatives of the two. 

Rather, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority will market the new convention center, as well as its own space and others'. 

"I think people forget sometimes ... our primary goal is not to book the Las Vegas Convention Center," said authority spokesman Rob Powers, whose facility will have been expanded to 2.2 millions square feet by November. "It's to make sure a piece of business comes to Las Vegas rather than go to a competing destination." 

Executives of Mandalay parent company Mandalay Resort Group announced Thursday that they will break ground for the new facility in June at the southwest corner of the Strip's southernmost megaresort, and expect to have it completed by summer 2002. 

Their goal is to bolster room rates and increase foot traffic at the company's south-Strip Mandalay Bay, Luxor and Excalibur by eliminating midweek swings in demand. 

Company executives have declined to release a price for the project, saying they are still developing its plans. They say a proposed shopping mall at Mandalay Bay remains in development, and the company could soon have an announcement about the retail project. 

Rick Moses, first vice president of General Growth Properties Inc., which owns the Boulevard and Meadows malls in Las Vegas, said Friday his company is no longer involved with the development of the Mandalay Bay mall. 

Last year, Moses said there was an "excellent chance" of a deal with Mandalay to develop the planned 1.2 million-square-foot retail complex. 

That was after the original developer, Westcor Partners of Phoenix, pulled out of the project because they couldn't land a second anchor. Construction of the mall was halted following the erection of the steel framing. 

Nordstrom had signed a letter of intent with Mandalay Bay to build its first Las Vegas store there, but that agreement expired in April 2000 and Nordstrom announced it would instead be going into the expanded Fashion Show mall. 

Mandalay Resort Group shares rose 5 cents Friday to close at $23.55 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. 

The convention center plan is similar to one employed by the 2-year-old Venetian, which relies on midweek business generated by the neighboring Sands Expo and Convention Center to fill the 3,036-room megaresort with expense-account-wielding conventioneers and trade-showgoers who are willing to pay more than $200 a night for rooms. 

The Las Vegas Convention Center charges 20 cents a square foot for its meeting and convention space. The 1.7-million-square-foot Sands Expo Center get 35 cents per net square foot during a show and 17 1/2 cents for setup and breakdown. 

Mandalay executives expect to charge 30 cents a square foot for show days and 15 cents for move-in and move-out. 

"This proves outright that the business model of The Venetian combined with its direct connection to the Sands Expo is a winning formula," said a Sands Expo representative who requested anonymity. 

Rejecting talk of a Mandalay-Sands-Las Vegas Convention Center battle for convention and trade show supremacy, a Mandalay executive said competition is not a driver behind the construction of the convention center. 

"We're not taking dead aim at anybody," said John Marz, corporate vice president of marketing for Mandalay Resort Group. "We're taking dead aim at a convention and trade show market that is out there in the country." 

Review-Journal writer Hubble Smith contributed to this report. 

-----To see more of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lvrj.com. 

(c) 2001, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. JWN,