ICSC Vegas 2026 Conference Trip Report

By Rachel Yuen, Community Manager, Proptech Collective

In May, I headed to Las Vegas for ICSC — the world's largest commercial real estate conference — to check out something new: their first-ever dedicated proptech section. Here's what I found.

ICSC started as a shopping centre industry conference and has steadily expanded its scope over the years. This year, they made a visible push toward proptech — a dedicated section, a dedicated stage, and curated programming — signalling that commercial real estate's interest in technology is now squarely on their radar.

The crowd here is different from what you'd see at Blueprint. The crowd reflects that CRE breadth: leasing agents, retail developers, brand executives, franchise operators, property managers, and retail brands — all here with a transactional mindset and they come to Las Vegas specifically to make deals. This is not a conference where people browse booths for inspiration.

This year marked the first time ICSC introduced a dedicated proptech section — and it was strategically placed right by the entrance of the exhibition hall. Approximately 20 booths, a dedicated stage, and a separate demo stage. It's modest in scale for now, but ICSC has plans to grow it in the coming years.

The attendees who made their way to the proptech area sought it out deliberately inside a massive convention hall (I'll admit I wandered for 30 minutes before I found it myself).That's a meaningful signal about buyer intent. ICSC is clearly placing more weight on technology — a dedicated stage programme, curated sessions, prime real estate by the entrance — and for proptech companies selling into commercial real estate, that's an opportunity worth paying attention to.

The companies exhibiting in the proptech section were largely building tools for commercial real estate — which makes sense given the audience. Products on display included: retail store and brand matching tools, commercial real estate accounting tools, EV charging solutions, floor plan scanning solutions.

Most exhibitors staffed their booths with two to three team members: one anchoring the booth while others took follow-up meetings with visitors who wanted to go deeper. If you're thinking about attending with your team, two people is a smart number — one to hold down the fort, one to divide and conquer on meetings.

ICSC ran a dedicated app for the proptech section with a 1:1 meeting matching function to specifically to connect proptech companies with interested attendees. It auto-assigned meeting tables for a seamless experience.

I spoke to a few people, and the show-up rates for scheduled meetings were between 50-75%, and the people who showed were qualified and most meetings came out with something positive.

ICSC operates across two main areas: the centre hall for commercial developers, and the south hall for retail brands. The proptech section sits in the centre hall, where technology companies exhibit, demo, and take meetings. Foot traffic was strong — notably so on day one of the exhibition — and the vendors I spoke with reported back-to-back meetings throughout.

The rest of floor is something else entirely. This is where the big players — CBRE, Cadillac Fairview, JLL, and others — set up what are essentially temporary offices: floor spaces with 40 to 50 leasing agents per company, receptions checking guests in, tables arranged for deal-making. It is appointment-only. You cannot simply walk in.

But you can still make it work. Do your research before you arrive — the big meeting areas are primarily occupied by large brokerages and developers, but the wider attendee mix skews heavily retail. If you're selling to retail brands, franchise operators, or property managers, those people are in the building too. Know who you're looking for, find out which hall they're in, and ask for them by name at reception.

I attended a session on the proptech stage called Global Proptech Trends: What’s Happening Outside of North America, which brought together European proptech buyers to share their experience working with North American companies. A few things stood out:

The single most important thing to know before you go: ICSC is a meetings conference. You are not there to walk the floor and see what you stumble into. You are there to execute a calendar — and that calendar needs to be built before you land in Vegas.

If your product sells to commercial real estate — leasing agents, commercial brokerage, retail developers, or retail brands themselves — then yes, ICSC deserves a serious look.

It's a different conference from Blueprint or Proptech Connect. The audience is more specialized, the dealmaking intent is higher. The quality of leads reported by exhibitors this year was consistently strong. The introduction of a dedicated proptech section is a clear signal that ICSC is investing in the category. The proptech section — while still growing — is positioned well.

Thank you for reading. As always, if you're thinking about attending ICSC next year and want to talk through whether it's the right fit for your company, feel free to reach out!