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Convention corridor expansion spurs new Las Vegas hotel development. Construction Owners Editorial Team New Project Mortenson launches dual-brand Marriott project designed to capture growing demand from convention, business and extended-stay travelers. Highlights. * Mortenson Development is moving forward with a dual-brand AC Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott in Las Vegas. * The 233,330-square-foot project will include 397 guest rooms. * Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-June, with completion targeted for summer 2028. * The hotel will be located adjacent to the Las Vegas Convention Center. * Amenities will include meeting space, a rooftop pool deck, fitness facilities and extended-stay accommodations. Hospitality investment targets convention market growth. Developers continue to invest in hospitality projects near major convention venues as business travel and event activity remain important drivers of local economies. In Las Vegas, a new hotel development is set to expand lodging capacity within one of the nation's busiest convention districts. Mortenson Development has secured the project site and financing necessary to move forward with a new dual-brand AC Hotel and Residence Inn by Marriott near the Las Vegas Convention Center. Construction is expected to begin this month, with delivery planned for 2028. Dual-Brand concept broadens market reach. The development will combine two Marriott brands within a single property, providing accommodations for both short-term visitors and longer-stay guests. Plans call for 397 guest rooms, including traditional hotel rooms under the AC Hotel flag and extended-stay suites operated as Residence Inn. The strategy reflects growing demand for hospitality properties capable of serving multiple traveler segments, particularly in convention-driven markets. The project's location near the convention center positions it to attract business travelers, trade show attendees, corporate visitors and leisure guests seeking convenient access to major attractions and event venues. Modern amenities designed for business and leisure travelers. The hotel will include meeting and event facilities, a fitness center, retail and food service offerings, and dedicated amenities for extended-stay guests. A rooftop amenity deck featuring a pool, lounge areas and skyline views is expected to serve as a signature feature of the development. The project team has also incorporated flexible gathering spaces designed to accommodate small and midsized business events. The combination of hospitality, meeting and recreational amenities reflects evolving traveler expectations, particularly among convention attendees seeking integrated accommodations and networking environments. Las Vegas remains a key hospitality development market. Las Vegas continues to attract significant hospitality investment due to its position as a leading destination for conventions, entertainment and tourism. The convention center corridor remains one of the city's most active development zones, supported by millions of annual visitors and ongoing infrastructure improvements. Developers increasingly view mixed-use and dual-brand hotel concepts as a way to diversify revenue streams while maximizing site efficiency in high-demand urban markets. The continued expansion of hotel inventory near major event venues also reflects confidence in the long-term strength of business travel and convention activity. What this means for Construction Owners. For construction owners, developers and investors, the project highlights sustained demand for hospitality assets tied to convention and business travel markets. Hotels located near major event centers often benefit from consistent visitor traffic and diversified occupancy sources. As travel patterns continue to evolve, developments that combine traditional lodging, extended-stay accommodations and flexible amenities may offer stronger competitive positioning and long-term value creation opportunities.

How Mortenson laid the groundwork for smarter proposals. Team Kantiv June 2, 2026 About Mortenson. Mortenson is a nationally recognized construction company with more than 70 years of experience delivering complex projects across the energy, commercial, healthcare, sports, and data center markets. With over 7,000 team members and 12 regional offices across the United States, Mortenson operates at scale, bringing together diverse teams to pursue and deliver some of the most challenging builds in the industry. Summary. Mortenson partnered with Kantiv to modernize proposal development by centralizing past proposals and reusable content. With a governed, AI-enabled platform in place, pursuit teams significantly reduced time spent on first drafts, improved consistency across offices, and collaborated more effectively across markets. By starting with content organization and governance, Mortenson established a strong foundation for scaling AI, unlocking immediate efficiency gains while preparing for deeper integrations across their pursuit workflows. The challenge. Operating across multiple regions and markets, Mortenson's marketing teams were producing a high volume of proposals, often under tight deadlines. While the organization had a wealth of strong past proposals, resumes, and project profiles, accessing the right content at the right time was a challenge. Proposal teams relied on disconnected file systems, emails, and ad hoc requests to piece together content. This made proposal development slow, repetitive, and inconsistent across offices. "Before [Kantiv], I would have to scan through our folders, open up every proposal individually, and spend multiple minutes reading each one just to find the highlights I needed." - Ken Erickson, Senior Proposal Specialist, Mortenson In addition to inefficiencies, the process made it difficult to ensure consistency in tone, messaging, and compliance - particularly across regions. Teams spent significant time simply getting to a usable first draft, leaving less room for strategic thinking and refinement. The solution. Mortenson implemented Kantiv to centralize all proposals, boilerplates, resumes, and pursuit content into a single intelligent platform, managed by their pursuits team. With Kantiv, Mortenson: * Brought proposal vaults online in a governed environment * Enabled AI-powered search across all approved content * Controlled access through curated collections to protect confidential submittals * Ensured consistent tone, messaging, and compliance across offices "We wanted to reduce the time marketers spend on the pain points of putting proposals together - resumes, project profiles, generating first drafts," - Jen Orthaus, Proposal Manager, Mortenson Unlike generic AI tools, Kantiv was purpose-built for AEC pursuits, allowing Mortenson to reuse their best work safely and effectively. By giving teams strong, compliant drafts to react to, Kantiv helped Mortenson eliminate "blank page syndrome" and shifted effort away from manual content assembly toward strategy and messaging. The results. Significant TIme Savings During a pilot survey, Mortenson team members reported saving 8-10 hours per week on basic proposal activities. "If you regularly use [Kantiv], you're saving eight to ten hours a week - which is huge," - Jen Orthaus, Proposal Manager, Mortenson Stronger Strategic Focus With first drafts generated faster, Mortenson was able to spend more time refining messaging, asking better questions, and improving proposal quality. "[Kantiv] allows us to show up differently in the proposal process - not just as information gatherers, but as strategists." - Jen Orthaus, Proposal Manager, Mortenson Improved Collaboration Across Offices Kantiv enabled teams to pull the best content from across the company, breaking down silos and creating a more unified pursuit process. "[Kantiv] has allowed us to pull the best of the best content from around the company." - Ken Erickson, Senior Proposal Specialist, Mortenson Faster Onboarding and Greater Independence New hires were able to ramp up faster by gaining visibility into approved content and past proposals, without relying heavily on shadowing or manual searching. "[Kantiv] allows people to become independent faster by giving them a place to start." - Jen Orthaus, Proposal Manager, Mortenson Conclusion. Kantiv has transformed how Mortenson approaches proposal development, from first drafts to team collaboration and onboarding. What began as a solution to content inefficiencies has evolved into a scalable, trusted foundation for AI adoption. With governed content in place and teams using Kantiv every day, Mortenson is now well-positioned to extend AI across deeper pursuit workflows and system integrations. "Our team uses [Kantiv] every day. I can't imagine leading a proposal without it." - Ken Erickson, Senior Proposal Specialist, Mortenson Team Kantiv Case Studies June 2, 2026 Case Studies June 2, 2026

Xpanner secures $18 million Series B funding to scale AI-powered automation in construction. Xpanner, a provider of construction automation equipment, has raised $18 million in Series B bridge funding. The round was led by Korea Investment Partners with participation from KB Investment (KBIC), both existing global investors. The raise brings Xpanner's total funding to $38 million and marks a focused effort to expand its subscription-based automation solution across the US market. Ryan Park, co-founder and CFO and CSO of Xpanner, says: "Robotics & Automation News is thrilled to have KIP's continued support as Robotics & Automation News enter its next chapter. "This capital will accelerate its Physical AI solutions tackling labor shortages and jobsite productivity - and fast-track its subscription model expansion. "Our focus now is building recurring subscription revenue on top of a proven customer base, driving both growth and profitability." Discover more Automation Case Studies Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence Business Automation Training Sangjoon Park, managing director at Korea Investment Partners, says: "Few Physical AI companies in construction, anywhere in the world, reach commercial traction and profitability this quickly. "Customer conversations on the ground gave us the conviction to return as investors and the shift to subscriptions is what turns a strong product into a truly scalable business." Since its founding in South Korea in 2020 by industry veterans from Bobcat, BMW, Boeing, Hexagon, and Volvo Construction Equipment, Xpanner has grown into the only company in construction Physical AI with both meaningful revenue and proven profitability. The company expanded to the US in 2023 with a mission to convert cutting-edge autonomous technology into tangible productivity gains for operators on active job sites. Today, Xpanner partners with industry leaders including Mortenson, Black & Veatch, and QCells and has earned recognition on BuiltWorlds Global Robotics Top 50 List for 2023-2025. The company expanded to the US in 2023 with a mission to convert cutting-edge autonomous technology into tangible productivity gains for operators on active job sites. Today, Xpanner partners with industry leaders including Mortenson, Black & Veatch, and QCells and has earned recognition on BuiltWorlds' Global Robotics Top 50 List for 2023-2025. Since entering the US market, the company has grown 10x year-over-year with zero churn. As of Q1 2026, Xpanner is sustainably profitable, with cumulative revenue exceeding $31 million - more than 90 percent of it earned in the US. Market penetration is equally significant. Xpanner has completed transactions with or entered active discussions with 19 of the top 20 US solar farm EPCs, a penetration rate that has earned it recognition as the only "market-proven company" in construction Physical AI. At the heart of Xpanner's offering is software-defined machinery (SDM) - the principle that existing construction equipment should evolve through software, not hardware replacement. The company's flagship product, X1 Kit, is a full-stack solution that integrates integrating SDM and retrofit hardware with task-specific automation licenses. Xpanner currently offers field-ready solutions for piling and material handling. Rather than selling equipment outright, Xpanner delivers automation capabilities through its Automation-as-a-Service (AaaS) subscription model - essentially bringing the pay-as-you-go concept to construction machinery, making automation accessible without large upfront investment. The timing of this raise reflects surging global demand for AI data centers, Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS), and utility-scale solar farms; all of which require large-scale construction that is increasingly difficult to staff with traditional labor. Xpanner's platform sits at the intersection of two megatrends: the construction industry's labor crisis and the explosive buildout of AI-era energy infrastructure. With the top US solar EPCs already in its network, the company has effectively proven that its AaaS model works at enterprise scale. Kiho Lee, director at KB Investment, says: "What makes Xpanner compelling is that they've already de-risked the hardest part by proving the product works with top EPCs at scale, and doing it profitably. "Solar piling gave them the foothold. BESS and AI data centers give them the runway. That combination of proven execution and a rapidly expanding market opportunity is exactly why we doubled down."