Council approves lease, $4.5 million sublease for Las Vegas Museum of Art Media Lab in Symphony Park

The Las Vegas City Council on July 2 approved a city lease of 15,536 square feet in Symphony Park and authorized a $4,500,000 sublease to the Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) to establish a Media Lab and headquarters space ahead of the museum’s main building opening.

City economic development director Dina Babbski told the council the lease covers the vacant retail space along the Promenade Garage at 355 Promenade Place and carries an initial 10‑year term with two five‑year renewal options. The lease will use a market rate appraised at $70 per square foot; actual rent, Babbski said, will commence when the main museum building is completed.

The Media Lab, presented by LVMA Executive Director Heather Harmon, is a ground‑floor, multiuse public programming space intended to “activate Symphony Park ahead of the museum’s grand opening,” Harmon said. The lab will include office amenities for museum staff, exhibition and immersive displays about the future museum, a small bookstore and retail space, and an education program roll‑out the museum hopes to begin as early as 2026.

“The Media Lab will expand the city's public private partnership with LVMA and bring forward this additional community venue,” Harmon said, describing partnerships already planned with LACMA, the Smith Center, the Discovery Children's Museum and Nevada Ballet Theatre. She told the council the lab could host exhibitions such as Christian Marclay’s The Clock and serve as a pilot site for school visits and other educational programming.

Councilwoman Summers Armstrong moved approval of the related resolutions authorizing execution of the lease and the sublease; the council approved both items on voice vote. The resolutions cited by staff were identified in the meeting as R‑43‑2025 (lease finding) and R‑44‑2025 (sublease finding and authorization). No public speakers came forward during the public hearings for the lease and appraisal items, and the council closed the hearings before voting.

City staff said the Media Lab will allow LVMA to establish operations and community programming while construction of the larger museum continues, and that rent payments will be triggered upon the museum’s completion rather than when the sublease is signed. Babbski described the current step as part of a longer public‑private partnership to bring cultural programming to Symphony Park.

Council members who spoke during the item expressed general support. Mayor Pro Tem asked a question about storefront signage; Harmon replied the museum planned “respectful and symbiotic” signage to work with the prominent Vicks sign along the promenade.

With council approval, city staff will finalize lease and sublease documents and proceed with execution consistent with the authorized resolutions.