Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Urban Redevelopment Authority are sponsoring a booth at RECon, the annual Spring convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers scheduled for Sunday, May 20 to Wednesday, May 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
City officials believe it is the first time the city of Pittsburgh has established a booth at the convention, which is expected to draw more than 30,000 attendees for four days of panel discussions, networking and deal-making for new development and shopping centers throughout the country. In the past, members of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority have attended the ICSC convention as visitors without renting trade show space.
Ravenstahl is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion with a host of other mayors, an event former mayor Tom Murphy also participated in more than 10 years ago at the ICSC Spring Convention.
Yarone Zober, chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority the mayor’s chief of staff, said the idea to attend the event came out of the Downtown retail working group, which Ravenstahl started to find new ways to recruit retail into the urban core. The retail working group was established in the wake of Saks Fifth Avenue closing Downtown after decades in operation.
“The goal is to gain additional exposure for the city of Pittsburgh,” said Zober.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and the Urban Redevelopment Authority are sponsoring a booth at RECon, the annual Spring convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers scheduled for Sunday, May 20 to Wednesday, May 23 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
City officials believe it is the first time the city of Pittsburgh has established a booth at the convention, which is expected to draw more than 30,000 attendees for four days of panel discussions, networking and deal-making for new development and shopping centers throughout the country. In the past, members of the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority have attended the ICSC convention as visitors without renting trade show space.
Ravenstahl is scheduled to participate in a panel discussion with a host of other mayors, an event former mayor Tom Murphy also participated in more than 10 years ago at the ICSC Spring Convention.
Yarone Zober, chairman of the Urban Redevelopment Authority the mayor’s chief of staff, said the idea to attend the event came out of the Downtown retail working group, which Ravenstahl started to find new ways to recruit retail into the urban core. The retail working group was established in the wake of Saks Fifth Avenue closing Downtown after decades in operation.
“The goal is to gain additional exposure for the city of Pittsburgh,” said Zober.
The subject came up at the URA meeting on May 10 when the board voted to approve $20,000 in funding for marketing materials by Wall to Wall Studios. Zober did not provide details on what the convention would cost and did not indicate how many people would be attending as part of the Pittsburgh contingent. With URA funds expected to be used to pay for the trip in a city that's long faced budget challenges, Zober expects attending RECon will prove a good investment, describing not investing in such events as “penny-wise and pound foolish.”
The subject came up at the URA meeting on May 10 when the board voted to approve $20,000 in funding for marketing materials by Wall to Wall Studios. Zober did not provide details on what the convention would cost and did not indicate how many people would be attending as part of the Pittsburgh contingent. With URA funds expected to be used to pay for the trip in a city that's long faced budget challenges, Zober expects attending RECon will prove a good investment, describing not investing in such events as “penny-wise and pound foolish.”
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