Five days until @ICSC Las Vegas. The room has never had more data to work with — or more capital looking for a home. ICSC Las Vegas opens Monday, May 18. Five days from today. THE CAPITAL IN THE ROOM Almost $2 billion in dedicated institutional capital has been raised specifically for grocery-anchored retail in the past six months. Five separate private REITs and real estate funds collectively raised $720 million for necessity-based and neighborhood retail in just two recent weeks. Investor pools for single retail listings have grown from 50–75 to upward of 200 interested buyers. The institutions have not announced intentions to deploy. They have already deployed. The transactions in progress will be visible at ICSC. THE OPERATING DATA IN THE ROOM Grocery-anchored and open-air REIT portfolios reported Q1 results with occupancy at all-time peaks and new lease rents at all-time highs. Neighborhood retail tenants are accepting higher rents with less tenant allowance. A pipeline of over $100 million in signed-but-not-commenced annual base rent is building across major portfolios — contracted cash flow not yet in current earnings. The independent commercial property pricing index rose 3.1% over the past 12 months. The pricing description from the most credible researchers in the industry: buyers are "disciplined." That is what a functional, healthy market looks like. THE SUPPLY REALITY IN THE ROOM New retail construction deliveries are on pace for their lowest year in a generation. Retail supply represents just 0.7% of existing inventory in the development pipeline — and three-quarters of that is pre-leased. The assets that exist are the inventory. THE NEW CONVERSATIONS THIS YEAR ICSC PROPTECH debuts on the main show floor for the first time. AI-driven site selection, lease abstraction, and demand forecasting are no longer concepts — they are operational tools being demonstrated live. The firms integrating these are making better decisions than those that aren't. ICSC WOMEN IN CRE opens Sunday, May 17 at the Wynn Las Vegas. Keynotes include Coach K on leadership, Randi Zuckerberg on technology and innovation, and Erin Andrews on building a brand under pressure. And on Tuesday May 19, the ICSC Advancing Retail in Communities breakfast features retail executives speaking directly about site selection and investment — the most practical session for anyone deploying capital in retail real estate this year. The deals made at ICSC Las Vegas this month define transaction flow through Q4. Have a productive conference on May 18. Safe travels. #ICSC #ICSC2026 #ICSCPropTech #RetailRealEstate #CRE #LasVegas