Low-Cost Exhibit Space Takes Shape

Not far from the 548 Building, businessman Shawn Afshani is trying to breathe new life and usefulness into another historic downtown structure.

He and his partners are constructing a 150,000-square-foot exposition center in the old Hamburger Department Store building at 826 S. Hill St., which many Angelenos may recall later became the May Department Store headquarters. Their mission is to provide a low-cost venue to attract consumer-product shows and similar exhibitions downtown.

“There is a gap in the market that we can fill,” Afshani said. “A lot of the smaller shows are turned away from the large convention centers because of high cost or lack of available space.”

The LA Expo Center boasts 18-foot ceilings, marble floors and exhibit booths with built-in electrical fixtures and locking doors. The partners have plans to add a food court and are constructing parking for a few hundred cars in the basement.

While the partners have begun wooing event organizers, trying to attract established consumer shows to the new venue, they aren’t taking any chances when it comes to getting bodies in the building. They’ve organized their own series of weekend computer shows, the first of which is scheduled for Sept. 18-19.

“It benefits our building and the whole area to get more people downtown,” Afshani said.

For more information on the LA Expo Center, check out its Web site at https://www.laexpocenter.com.

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Marla Dickerson can be reached at marla.dickerson@latimes.com.