In the ICSC pecking order of see-and-be-seen events, the Wynn Las Vegas poolside Sunday is perhaps at the very top. New York’s biggest retail landlords brave the sun – there seems to be a correlation between how much of Fifth Avenue one owns and their tolerance for the heat – and come together with top brokers, lawyers and hundreds of young hopefuls.
Those holding court at cabanas and pool chairs included Jeff Sutton of Wharton Properties, Jeff Winick of Winick Realty Group, Crown Acquisitions‘ Stanley Chera, Bobby Cayre of Aurora Capital Associates, and Alex Adjmi of A&H Acquisitions. Mingling with them were Jonathan Mechanic of Fried Frank, the Feil Organization’s Jeffrey Feil (who recently settled a longstanding family battle over the firm’s $7 billion portfolio), United American Land’s Al Laboz, Zar Property NY’s David Zar, and many others.
The scions of the retail dynasties were also out in full force, such as Bobby Adjmi of A&H, and Haim Chera’s son Stanley.
The Real Deal also hit several parties last night, including RKF’s bash at the Marquee Nightclub & Dayclub at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas hotel and Shopping Center Group’s party at the Four Seasons Hotel Las Vegas Ballroom.
Stanley Chera, the Chera family patriarch, said he was unfazed about where the retail market is headed, noting that over his five decades in the business, market-defining tenants had regularly faded away, only to be replaced by a fresh crop of upstarts.
“I’ve been dealing with that question all day,” Chera said, when asked if younger brokers had shared their anxieties about the market with him. Though e-commerce has certainly disrupted the landscape, Chera believes that e-commerce players will only up their demand for brick-and-mortar stores, a la Bonobos, Warby Parker and others. Landlords who had bought their retail real estate needing to charge tenants $3,000 per square foot to make their numbers work might get burned while the market adjusts itself, Chera said, but noted, with a smile, that he was not one of them.
One particularly sprightly real estate player, who had partied the prior night away at XS Nightclub, yet showed no signs of wear and tear, revealed his secret: “banana bags” of IV fluids, administered by pros, “Billions” style. “Five minutes of that in the morning,” he said, “and I’m a new person.”
(All photos by Adam Pincus and Hiten Samtani)
(To view a selection of properties owned by Wharton Properties, click here)
(To view a selection of properties owned by United American Land, click here)
(To view a selection of retail leases from Winick Realty Group, click here)