Under a warm sun and cool breeze, retail insiders took a gut check of the market. Al Laboz, principal at retail landlord United American Land, captured the mood of many.
“There will be more time for long lunches,” Laboz said. The general sentiment at the Wynn Las Vegas European pool Sunday afternoon and at several parties that night was a measured concern for the future — in large part, they said, because of a broad disconnect between buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants.
Casting a long shadow was the giant retailer Amazon, as many brokers and owners mulled the impact of their spouses or children doing more and more shopping online.
Ashkenazy Acquisition, for one, was finding deals by patiently looking at complex situations “with hair,” said Dan Levy, a partner at the firm.
But don’t let all the doom-and-gloom talk fool you: Sunday at ICSC is always an occasion to party, and this year was no different.
Many of the industry’s biggest players were at the Wynn European pool, including Jeff Sutton of Wharton Properties, Paul Massey of Cushman & Wakefield, Isaac and Haim Chera of Crown Acquisitions, Sam Chang of McSam Group, and Ralph Herzka of Meridian Capital Group. The cabanas were rammed with dealmakers sipping margaritas and talking shop, and the vibe was far more rambunctious than Saturday’s relaxed affair.
(To see photos and highlights from Day 1, click here)
(To see all ICSC RECon 2016 coverage, click here)
In the evening, Herrick Feinstein threw a private dinner at Tao, playing host to top developers and brokers including Jacob Klein of the Klein Group; Shibber Khan of the Criterion Group; Daren Hornig of Hornig Capital Partners; and Steven Hornstock of ABS Real Estate Partners.
And at Cabo Wabo, RKF entertained much of the same crowd that was hanging by the Wynn earlier in the day.
(All photos by Adam Pincus for The Real Deal)