Community Makers: Soomin Lee’s Leadership Retreat at Casa Luz

A New Yorker adjacent, three days a week

Soomin’s route into the New York events world runs through New Jersey. Here is how she tells it:

“I’d say I’m a New Yorker adjacent since I’ve been in Jersey for the last 10 years! Before Jersey, I was born and raised in South Korea, and moved to the States (in this case, NJ) after I got married. I’ve always wanted to work in New York and my current role is the first NYC-based job. I’ve been loving the role and being in the city 3 days a week!”

That fondness for the city turned out to matter for the retreat, as her team found out on their lunch break.

The best and hardest parts of the work

Ask Soomin what she loves about organising events and she points to the moment it all pays off:

“The best part about organizing events is seeing participants appreciate the aspects of the event – location, catering, staff, etc, and the time and effort I put in actually made a material impact in the success of the meeting.”

Soomin Lee, leading logistics for a leadership retreat hosted by a private foundation at  Casa Luz.

The hard part, she says, is staying ready for whatever the day throws at you:

“The most challenging part is always being ready to meet the last-minute demands and address unexpected circumstances that are bound to happen during the event. Staying flexible to impromptu change of plans is the name of the game, which can be also rewarding.”

Anyone who plans events for a living will nod along to that.

Three days at Casa Luz

The leadership retreat, hosted by a private foundation, ran at Casa Luz from July 7 to 9, with around 15 people in the room for strategy meetings and working sessions.Our team coordinated the full picture across the three days: catering, furniture and equipment rentals, custom meeting layouts, coffee breaks, AV and vendor management, with setup and breakdown handled and someone on site throughout.

The layout ran to a U-shaped meeting setup, lounge furniture, a circle of chairs, a projector, speakers and dedicated dining areas. Casa Luz’s Casa Manager, Roger, coordinated directly with the vendors across all three days, and Soomin had two setup windows, at 9am and 3pm, to get the rooms ready.                                                                                            

The retreat left her with a few favourite moments:

“Everyone particularly enjoyed the food AND the location, and they even went on a short shopping trip during their break, taking full advantage of being in SoHo 🙂 It was also nice to get to know Roger during our setup time (we had 9am and 3pm to set up). Vanesa from the caterer was so personable and kind as well!”

Inside Casa Luz

Ask Soomin what worked about the venue and she keeps it simple:

“Very wide open space, high ceiling, beautiful columns and large windows, complete privacy, and flexibility to organize space as we see fit.”

Casa Luz gives her all of that. It is a roughly 7,000 square foot loft at 45 Howard Street, set over two floors of a historical 1910 building. The ceilings run to 15 feet and the windows are large, so daylight fills both floors. Its open concept let her team lay out the U-shaped meeting and the dining areas however the sessions needed, and the exposed brick and ornate columns are original to the building.

Because the foundation had the loft to itself, the team worked with the privacy Soomin mentioned across all three days. For anyone who needs it, there is a passenger elevator between the floors and a street-level, ADA-compliant entrance.

The support around the booking stood out for her too:

“Everyone was VERY responsive to any of my requests/questions. They were also very flexible with meeting our needs. They were (Andres, Eduard, and Roger the Site Manager) all professional and kind throughout our process.”

That responsiveness is what our Casa Manager service and SuperConcierge coordination are there for, and it is part of why Soomin is already thinking about the next booking:

“We have this type of event about 3-4 times a year, so it’d be good for us to be paired with folks we’ve worked with this time, so we can ensure consistency in the future.”

What’s next for Soomin

That kind of continuity is something we are glad to build. The foundation runs these retreats several times a year, and pairing Soomin with the same team and the same kind of unconventional venue is an easy yes. If you are planning a multi-day retreat or offsite for your own team, you can see Casa Luz for yourself, or get in touch with our team to talk through your dates. Let’s make the next one just as good!

FAQs about hosting a retreat at Casa Luz