Raleigh Marriott City Center

Raleigh's ambitious downtown renaissance reached a milestone in 2008 with the opening of the much-anticipated Raleigh Convention Center. Located at the intersection of Fayetteville Street and East South Street across from the regionally acclaimed Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, the center's ideal downtown location provides maximum convenience and appeal to meeting planners. Striking both inside and out, the 500,000-square-foot convention center welcomes guests with a grand lobby lined by floor-to-ceiling windows. From the 4,100-square-foot mezzanine level, visitors can easily access all points of the center, including the 150,000-square-foot exhibit hall with room for 790 booths or 15,000 people theater-style. The center also features 20 flexible meeting rooms, ranging in size from 701 square feet to 5,538 square feet, and a 32,000-square-foot grand ballroom adjacent to a reception area from which guests enjoy panoramic views of the city. The Silver LEED-certified convention center has implemented a number of green initiatives. Among its efforts are exit signs using highly efficient LED lamps; low flow toilets and faucets; recycling procedures for all glass, metal, plastic, and corrugated cardboard; and the donation of leftover banquet food to local food banks. Even the building itself is eco-friendly, as 100 percent of the center's steel is recycled product and over 89 percent of the construction services were contracted from within North Carolina. From the exhibit hall to the smallest meeting room, the convention center features cutting-edge technology, including state-of-the-art lighting and sound, high-speed Internet access, Wi-Fi throughout the building, and remote satellite capabilities. The convention center's in-house catering staff is managed by Centerplate, a leading caterer in major cities such as New York, Miami, and Washington, D.C. An attached garage has 900 parking spaces, and more than 4,000 parking spaces can be found within a two-block radius.