LA Preps $1 Billion Bond for Convention Center Ahead of Olympics

Los Angeles is planning to borrow nearly $1 billion to revamp its convention center ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics — an undertaking that risks straining the city’s already tight budget.

The city expects to sell as much as $990 million of bonds tied to lease payments to help fund roughly $2.6 billion of upgrades to the Los Angeles Convention Center, a 1970s-era exhibition hall in the city’s downtown. The project, which broke ground earlier this month, will add an estimated 190,000 square feet of exhibit space and build a new rooftop ballroom.

The city’s Controller Kenneth Mejia has ...