A contingent of more than 30 Illinois REALTORS® served as ambassadors for commercial business in Illinois at the National Association of REALTORS® C5 + CCIM Global Summit in Atlanta last week.

The three-day event provided opportunities for commercial real estate networking, education and dealmaking, with speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and industry influencers gathered in the U.S. for the third consecutive year. C5, which some have compared to MIPIM in Cannes, France, also attracted state and local associations, economic development organizations, domestic investors and international investors.

This year NAR partnered with the CCIM Institute to elevate the summit’s educational offerings and to attract connected commercial practitioners, many of whom hold the CCIM designation, commercial real estate’s most coveted credential.

The 2023 keynote speaker was Basketball Hall of Famer and real estate and private equity investment management firm founder David Robinson. Other keynote speakers included former Brigadier General Bobbie “Flash” Doorenbos of the National Guard Bureau and International Crisis Negotiator for the Black Swan Group, LTD, Chris Voss.

Organizers of this year’s event hoped to build on the more than 225 companies and 20 economic development corporations involved in two previous summits. NAR reported that 93 percent of previous attendees reported annual transaction volume of more than $5 million.