The first Deals & Dollars networking event drew more than 350 commercial real estate industry professionals to the new 3 Acres luxury apartment building in Jersey City. — Courtesy: Progress Capital
By Joshua Burd
A new networking series for New Jersey’s commercial real estate sector is off to a fast start, having drawn more than 350 industry professionals to a recent event in Jersey City.
Known as Deals & Dollars, the series is the brainchild of Leverage Cos., Progress Capital, Progress Realty Partners and Kelly Title Group, which are all based in the state. The group held its debut function on March 2, showcasing the event space at the new 3 Acres luxury apartment building on Claremont Avenue in Jersey City.
According to the organizers, the program featured a full wait staff, a DJ, a live violinist, two open bars, full catering and live magic.
“We wanted to throw the anti-networking networking event,” said Eric Panecki, managing partner of Leverage Cos. and a co-founder of Deals & Dollars. “Every event I’d ever been to had something wrong with it: wasn’t the right place, wasn’t the right time, wasn’t the right people. So we put on an event that we wish we were invited to
“It turns out a lot of people felt the same way. Over 350 of the area’s most influential commercial real estate professionals made it an unbelievable success.”
SLIDESHOW: Deals & Dollars
The organizers added that they expanded the number of available tickets in two separate instances.
“The energy in the room was electric,” said Kathy Anderson, founding partner of Progress Capital. “The takeaway from Deals & Dollars is that people are eager to collaborate with their peers in a fun relaxed atmosphere. We were very intentional about making this event exactly that.”
Deals & Dollars plans to host regularly scheduled functions.
“This event started with a phone call and ended up passing our wildest expectations,” said John Libretti, a managing director with Progress Capital. “There’s obviously a huge demand for a networking community of this caliber, so we will definitely be expanding Deals & Dollars to meet that need.”
