As summer fades and New Yorkers head back to the office, real estate events calendars are beginning to fill up.
On September 1st at 26 Bridge St in DUMBO, Powwow! Events will kick off the fall season with ARRA NY 2026, a fresh twist on the events company’s annual National Real Estate conference. We caught up with Joel Wolh, CEO and co-founder of Powwow! Events, to learn why real estate and finance professionals can’t afford to miss this year’s ARRA NY.
An event for working professionals
While most real estate conferences take place during the day and feature more panels and presentations than any one attendee can participate in, the ARRA NY team decided to schedule this year’s event after work and centralize the evening around a single speaker.
“It’s the end of summer vacation, people are just getting back to work, so we didn’t want to pull them out of the office,” explains Wolh. “We want to be the first event of the season that people actually go to.”
The venue, a loft-style space in DUMBO with original brick walls, was chosen to create a “gritty New York” vibe. While attendees will get a lanyard like any other conference, ARRA NY will be closer in feeling to an evening mixer, complete with an individually-approved guest list, bespoke cocktail and Kosher bites.
“We’re aiming for a hundred, maybe two hundred people max,” says Wolh. “We want to get the right people.”
AI: the topic on everyone’s mind
With this intimate scope comes the ability to host a single, meaningful speaker to spark discussion.
“AI is the number one thing people who come to our events want to know more about,” explains Wolh. “So we have Jake Heller giving an AI showcase at ARRA.”
Heller, Co-Founder of AI for CRE Collective, has been on the AI beat for a year, which is an eternity in the fast-moving space. His talk, titled “How AI Can 50x What Your CRE Team Can Accomplish,” will both educate attendees and pose thought-provoking questions that will keep the conversation flowing after his presentation.
“AI is a new layer that’s being built on top of everything,” says Wolh. “Jake’s talk should be very interesting for real estate and finance pros.”
Bringing power players together
In addition to getting the inside scoop on how AI is changing the CRE space, ARRA NY offers attendees an opportunity to get in the same room as executives and owners from the city’s Orthodox community.
“We’re from the community ourselves,” explains Wolh, “and our network includes a lot of owners and operators of management companies and developers, especially in multifamily.”
Because of its curated attendee list and emphasis on networking, ARRA NY is a great opportunity for NYC real estate and finance pros to make inroads into the Orthodox community, which has a longstanding presence in the world of NY real estate.
“There will be a lot of opportunities to do deals here for people that have not been exposed to this audience,” says Wolh. “We’ve got some serious folks.”
If you’re ready to get in the room with the best of NYC real estate and finance, register now.
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