Realtors Trade Windy City for Sin City

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 4/3/2006

The Natl. Assn. of Realtors has pulled its 2007 REALTORS Annual Conference & Expo out of Chicago's McCormick Place and moved it to the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. The association confirmed the location, as well as the Nov. 13–16 dates.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau expected the show to have a $27.9 million impact on the city. REALTORS drew 18,855 professional attendees and 626 exhibiting firms spanning 153,300 net square feet to San Francisco's Moscone Center last fall, according to Tradeshow Week research.

Greg Saunders, vice president and managing director of the Hyatt Regency Chicago, said he received a cancellation letter from the NAR following a disagreement over the use of a ballroom at the hotel, the meeting's headquarters.

The Hyatt had the opportunity to let another group use the ballroom during the realtors' stay, and wanted to take advantage of it, Saunders said. "We proposed the use of (the NAR's) stage and lighting by a prior group, which we would have paid for. When that group left by noon, (the NAR) could have started their rehearsal in the ballroom." The actual event in the ballroom would have taken place the following day.

According to Saunders, the Hyatt and Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, owner and operator of McCormick Place, offered several alternatives, including using the new McCormick Place West building, which unexpectedly became available due to the accelerated opening of that expansion.

"We reiterated that we were prepared to provide them with the space they need," said Saunders. "We only asked them to consider other options so that we could accommodate both groups."

The NAR declined comment on the situation.

Leticia Peralta-Davis, CEO of the MPEA, said she was stunned by the departure of REALTORS, which had been on the books for several years.

Peralta-Davis believed the NAR was still in negotiations with the Hyatt over the ballrooms when she received her letter from the association canceling its space at McCormick Place and breaking its contract.

Both she and Saunders said the letters cited no reason for the departure other than the ballroom dispute.

Linda Reinberger, president of the Greater Las Vegas Assn. of Realtors, said she thought the move to Las Vegas might have something to do with the incoming national president, Richard Gaylord.

"He's a friend of Las Vegas," said Reinberger, who is on the state and national boards of the realtors association, but was not speaking on their behalf. "He used to live here and teach real estate here. He's from California. We've been discussing why we don't have an event here, and he took the ball and ran with it, because he shares a passion for our city."

She added, "Out here in the West, we know how to put on a good convention."

At press time, the MPEA was looking into charging the NAR cancellation fees.

Saunders said, as far as the Hyatt is concerned, its contract with the association was still in place. "We have an agreement with them that all parties are willing to live up to."

The hotel, exposition authority and tourism bureau all expressed concern for the overarching impact on the city and its hospitality community.

The CCTB "hopes the Natl. Assn. of Realtors can celebrate its 100th anniversary in its hometown," said a bureau spokesperson in a statement. "Chicago's entire meetings and convention industry, including Mayor Richard M. Daley, believe this dispute between the association and the hotel will be resolved quickly and amicably."