Top Commercial Real Estate Events for 2026: CPE Recommends

After someone in our team attends a good event, ideas and pitches always hit differently. There’s a change in temperature. Notes are shared, new topics snowball, reading lists get rewritten.

Compelling commercial real estate events are in equal parts about networking, dealmaking and discovering new things. And since we’re always where the action is, we thought to give you a heads-up this year. A subjective, yet informed heads-up.

Here’s our list of 2026 CRE events you should save the date for, in this year’s first installment of CPE Recommends:

Suzann D. Silverman, Editorial Director

1. The CREW Network annual convention is such a special event, unlike any others in the industry. Everyone is warm, welcoming and easy to talk to, and there’s such a focus on mentorship and inclusion! And content is a wonderful mix of critical business issues and career development for women involved in the industry.

2. The Real Estate Roundtable performs such critical work for the industry, ensuring policymakers consider CRE-related issues. RER’s annual conference is always informative, and it’s such a good opportunity to catch up with the most active decisionmakers for the industry.

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Gabriel Frank, Senior Associate Editor

3. RETCON is one of my favorite real estate technology conferences, one that has unique tracks for many different asset classes and job functions. Despite being vendor-heavy, it doesn’t feel much like a trade show. It has lots of great networking opportunities and is very media-friendly.

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Mikayla Sciortino, Associate Editor

4. ICSC events are always a great chance for some one-on-one facetime with people in the industry. People set up booths across the show floor and get together to discuss all things retail. Trends, areas of opportunities and what they are expecting are talked about. Las Vegas and New York mark the biggest events, with some general sessions held throughout.

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Paul Rosta, Executive Editor

5. At BOMA’s International Conference & Expo, both general sessions and small-group discussions offer good takeaways on key issues. Just one example from last year’s event—I went to panels on topics ranging from policy and energy to sustainability and operations, such as a packed session on the future of Energy Star.

6. IREM’s PropertyCon gives me a valuable ground-level view of best practices and challenges for property managers. Lots of opportunities for fine-tuning your skills, plus insightful sessions on such topics as managing teams, career building and larger trends in the profession.

7. NAIOP’s East Coast industrial conference gives me insights into investment, development, finance, design, technology and analytics. Speakers tend to be senior executives and other industry veterans, so I’ve had good luck in making new contacts. You may also want to check out the Central and West events if they’re closer to you.

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Therese Fitzgerald, Executive Editor

8. When I attend the MBA-CREF convention, I get the feeling I’m “in the room where it happens.” The speakers are high level and you can tell there’s a lot of dealmaking going on. The weather in San Diego in February is a bonus.

9. I always learn a lot at the Greenbuild International event and leave inspired by all the intelligent people dedicated to making buildings and communities greener and more resilient.

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Matthew Kaufman, Associate Editor

10. As a self-professed tech nerd, I love going to OPTECH to hear about new multifamily-focused technology. The panels always contain a good mix of tech experts and multifamily professionals, and I leave with a fresh perspective on how the industry is rapidly changing and what’s coming next.