The heat was intense poolside at the Wynn Las Vegas Saturday, and in the early afternoon there was still room to sidle up to the bar, or place a bet at the roulette table. Whether that was due to a shifting market or late arrivals to the show, real estate industry players were not sure.
But it seemed low-key, to some.
“There were no tenants,” said Adelaide Polsinelli, a commercial broker with Eastern Consolidated, who stopped by the Wynn Saturday. Normally, they would be a greater presence, she said.
Just the same, thousands of New York City’s most active retail owners, brokers and supporting professionals were arriving in town for the International Council of Shopping Centers’ 2017 RECon. They were swapping guestimates for revenue that would justify building a rental building ($80 per foot), predicting that the current market would bring “peace” and more joint ventures to retail ownership, and setting a time to meet up that night at the Encore’s XS Nightclub.
Retail players such as Stanley Chera and his son Haim of Crown Acquisitions were talking shop at a Wynn cabana with A&H Acquisitions’ Alex Adjmi. Next door, Aurora Capital Associates’ Bobby Cayre and Jared Epstein held court.
Brokers such as Ariel Schuster of RKF, Robin Abrams of Lansco (who recently announced she will be moving to Eastern Consolidated) and David Ash of Prince Realty Advisors mingled.
There were other, rowdier pool scenes, including at the Encore Beach Club, where WeWork’s Mark Lapidus, Daniel Gohari of Xerxes Group and attendees from PD Properties and Rosewood Property Group cut loose at cabanas.
In the evening, Eastern Consolidated hosted one of the few events Saturday night, at Tao Asian Bistro in the Venetian Las Vegas hotel. (The rush of parties does not go into overdrive until Sunday.) Guests included Jeff Pikus of Bluestar Properties, Ari Shalam of RWN Real Estate Partners, Danny Wrublin of Dalan Management and Hersel Torkian of the Torkian Group.
All that shoulder-rubbing leaves one hungry, though. Several groups got together for the first of what will be many intimate dinners over the next few days. Mizumi at the Wynn became macher central: spotted there were L & L Holding’s Robert Lapidus, Jack Terzi of JTRE Real Estate, Adam Doneger of Cushman & Wakefield, and Morris Bailey of Thor Equities.
(All photos by Adam Pincus for The Real Deal)