Three Takeaways from ICSC 2024

By: Masen Stamp, Office and Retail Leasing Senior Associate

If you’ve ever been to ICSC Las Vegas, you know it is an eventful, three-day gathering of the biggest retail CRE dealmakers and industry experts. These retail influencers and leaders are driving the innovation and evolution commercial real estate has to offer, specifically in the retail sector.

Younger Partners sent a team including Co-Managing Partners Moody Younger and Kathy Permenter, Investments-Land Division VP Renzo Cella, me and Retail Leasing Associate Carson Mitchell. And, if you even think about bringing heels, don’t!  We walked over 15,000 steps daily with back-to-back meetings on both Monday and Tuesday. I made some amazing contacts and although I returned tired from the day-in and day-out of the convention, I am also refreshed for the work!

If you haven’t been and are thinking about going next year, here are three of my takeaways:

  1. Set the meeting: Whether you’re nervous to call and ask or think someone won’t give you the time of day—try anyway. People appreciate the hustle and likely will fit you in. You can get something out of every single meeting. You never know what one meeting can lead to or what you can learn from somebody else in the industry just by taking the time to have a conversation.When scheduling meetings, make sure to put the calendar invite in the time zone of the location of your meeting to avoid confusion. The convention center is huge—give yourself plenty of time between meetings or group them in the same halls.
  2. Amp up the energy: With long days, it can be easy to succumb to fatigue, but bring your energy. Be the broker people look forward to running into at these events. Drink three cups of coffee if you must. A lot of energy can go a long way. It’s contagious!
  3.  Bring water and a snack: A pro tip for big events is to eat/drink water when you can. You don’t know when the next meal is going to happen. It’s also a good idea to bring a big water bottle as you hop from meeting to meeting. Bring electrolytes…you’re in Vegas!

ICSC showed me the importance of building relationships, especially in the commercial real estate industry. Networking and putting yourself in the room with decision-makers and other dealmakers is crucial. It’s much easier to negotiate deals with brokers and tenants you have a relationship with because you’ve built trust and camaraderie.  Moving forward in my role at Younger Partners, I plan on being more intentional with my relationship building.

As a group, we ventured through some of Vegas’ most iconic hotels, such as the Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Encore/Wynn, Caesars Palace and Paris. We proceeded to eat and drink our way through Vegas as well. Since the NBA playoffs were happening, we didn’t miss our chance to place a bet at the Wynn Sportsbook. We put $100 on the Dallas Mavericks winning the game— the Mavericks won, so we won!

We can’t wait to explore all the opportunities given, and we are already planning for ICSC 2025! Not everything that happens in Vegas has to stay in Vegas.