In 2022 we are calling a few trends that will be prevalent and here to stay for quite some time and also are predicting a few things that we believe are bound to happen or at least to come to fruition.

And since I am Vegas girl, here’s my bet on it all

As a self-proclaimed “Retired Party Girl”. I have been able to eat and drink my way through Las Vegas. Growing up in the entertainment capital of the world will spoil you with the best of the best dining experiences and unmatched guest services. I was fortunate enough to live a block from the “Strip” for most of my 20’s, while single. Lots of first dates and an incredible husband later…

I give you, my dining guide to the city, as a local, for a local or a tourist on the Strip- ish edition.

Enjoy!

ICSC Las Vegas December Show – Brian’s Review

For the first time in 18 months, ICSC hosted a live event in my home city of Las Vegas.  That said, there’s a lot to unpack.  Let’s break it down into segments.

ICSC Name Change

Convention Center (New!)

Exhibitors/Vaccines/Omicron/Tesla Tunnel

Number of attendees – and please stop comparing numbers to the May ICSC!

Click Below to Read More!

While Las Vegas may not be the first place you think of when it comes to winter festivities, it sure has a lot to offer. In true Vegas fashion, there are plenty of over the top experiences offered to the locals and visitors this 2021 Holiday Season. We put together a list of attractions and experiences that will help kick off the holiday season. Enjoy!

Have you ever dreamt…”what Nevada needs to take things to the next step is about $6.7B. And, I’d really like a say as to where that money gets put to work.”

Well, thanks to The American Recovery Plan (ARP) that dream is now a reality. Just go to this website and share your ideas:

The American Recovery Plan (ARP) brings an unprecedented investment into Nevada from the federal government. The State will receive at least $6.7 billion in aid through a variety of programs to address the social, economic, community health and other effects of COVID-19.

Share Your Voice Here: https://nevadarecovers.com/

Since it is October and we are feeling spooky, we thought it would be fun to highlight on some of Nevada’s most haunted sites to visit. In researching this, we found some pretty creepy places that might be worth visiting, such as…

The Oasis Motel, Circus Circus, The Flamingo, The Luxor, Zak Bagans’ Haunted Museum, The Hoover Dam, Rhyolite Ghost Town, The Mizpah Hotel, Goldfield Hotel & Cemetery, The Clown Motel, Boot Hill Cemetery, Gold Hill Hotel & Saloon, Nye Hall, and Washoe Club & Haunted Museum

Click below to read more on how each place has been deemed haunted, but only if you dare…

The closest I had ever come to a hat trick” is when I threw my hat with all my might to the ice in support of William Karlsson of the Golden Knight’s on one of his many Hat Trick accomplishments.

In brokerage, I had been working hard on accomplishing what I deemed the “Hat Trick of Commercial Real Estate.”

• Goal 1: Represent the Buyer on the Land Acquisition

• Goal 2: Represent the Tenant in the Lease

• Goal 3: Represent the Seller in the Investment Sale

Click below to read more on how I achieved my “hat-trick.”

Now that everything is officially open in the main building of AREA15, it only seemed right to put together a guide on how to navigate through the experiences, restaurants, and bars.

Ideally, I would allot around 2 hours or more to visit a few things while you are here. Whether that be going to a ticketed attraction (MeowWolf, Dueling Axes, Lost Spirits, 5Iron, or Virtualis), attending a concert or event in one of their state of the art venues (the Portal or A-Lot), or grabbing drinks and a bite to eat (the Beast, Emack & Bolios, Oddwood, or Emporium).

In this blog, I have written a brief synopsis on the attractions throughout the project in hopes to help you arrange your stacking plan for when you go to visit next!

We are actually a little over halfway through 2021, but you get the idea. Where were we, and where are we now? Where to begin…Let’s flashback to July 2020 when we didn’t know much about COVID-19 and things were pretty scary and unknown.

This headline sets the mood: “The Impending Retail Apocalypse”1 It’s an inspirational piece that cites a report by UBS that 100,000 US brick and mortar stores will close by 2025, and tells us:

“Malls are going belly up. Familiar names like J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus and J. Crew have filed for bankruptcy. Increasingly, Americans' shopping choices will boil down to a handful of internet Everything Stores and survival-of-the-fittest national chains.”

Easy tiger!

To honor the fathers of our industry is to honor the men who have given women like me a chance to learn and flourish, not just beneath them, but alongside them, to lift us up, and cheer on our successes.

Angelica has had many mentors who are incredible fathers, working endless hours to support their families, but also brought her under their wings, showed her the ropes, and were always available when I needed additional advice or support.

She also writes a little about Brian and Isabella, a father daughter duo in Commercial Real Estate and how they work together.

We are officially a team of CCIMs!

Brian Sorrentino, Angelica Clemmer, and Isabella Sorrentino have all had to earn this designation. Each of them have their stories of how it went and what becoming a CCIM means to them.

Click the link above to read more…

A little blast from the past - here are some photos of my family at our Houlihan’s Restaurant (now occupied by Famous Dave’s) on SWC Lake Mead & Rainbow from 1997-2003.

Product, Staff, and Customers, Oh My!

Picking up where we left off, restaurants were not the only group who felt like they weren’t in Kansas anymore, but they maybe had the toughest journey home from Oz.

Here’s some of the things they had to deal with… Product Disruption, Staff Issues, and Customers - let’s get into this.

Now, before we get into this, I just need to clear the air and give you some advice. I am a former multi-unit restaurant owner/operator that spent over 20 years in the industry riding every scintillating high and then diving into the inevitable excruciating low that the industry has to offer and I have a high level of perspective on this next sentence…

DO NOT GET INTO THE RESTAURANT BUSINSESS!

Well, okay, you may want to do it if you have an unwavering passion to cook, create, and make people happy by seeing them eat the really good food you’ve created.

This trip we planned to visit two clients, the first being BrewDog, a revolutionary brewery from Scotland, with a base camp set up in Columbus, OH for their US distributions. The second was Truck Yard, a unique multi-generational, dog friendly, curated Beer Garden with food trucks, bands, and a bar that you can find yourself staying at for hours originating from Dallas, TX!

Let me tell you, these places are phenomenal.

Not to mention, we had quite a bit of fun here and there, surprising I know…

Women’s History Month celebrates the contributions women have made historically in science, law, politics, sports, arts, entertainment, culture, business, and more.

For over 34 years, the United States has honored and recognized women that have inspired our nation to use their voice and be the change that they wish to see in the world.

This year we wanted to take part in celebrating Women’s History Month by honoring a few of our exemplary clients. We asked them what it is like to be a woman working in the Real Estate industry. Here is what they had to say…

I have found great success in believing in my clients and in the services or products they offer. Consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of where they spend their money—frequently measuring their personal ethos against the statement of a given product, or company from which they are buying. Whereas in times past, convenience or getting the biggest bang-for-your-buck, were primary drivers of consumer spending.

A client that has accomplished aligning their core values into their brand and product, is Dutch Bros Coffee—the largest privately held coffee company in the United States, based out of Grants Pass, Oregon.

So, retail real estate has finally met its match with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, right? Here are some sobering facts…

• 30k +/- stores closed in the US in 2020

• Vacancy rates Q1 2020 – 9%

• Vacancy rates Q2 2020 – 20% (over 122% increase in 3 months!)

• Ecommerce total % of retail sales Q1 2020 – 11.8%

• Ecommerce total % of retail sales Q2 2020 – 16.1% (36% increase in 3 months!)

All of this means that people have finally stopped going to stores and are instead whipping out their smart phones and ordering whatever they want for a quick and easy home delivery. Retail shopping is dead!