ICSC: International Council of Shopping Centers

2007 European Shopping Centre Awards winners announced

ICSC announced the winners of the 2007 European Shopping Centre Awards honoring the best new and refurbished or extended retail properties in Europe last week at the ICSC European Conference in Warsaw, Poland.

New this year is the ReSource recognition, honoring the industry’s commitment to sustainable development. Lisbon, Portugal–based development firm Sonae Sierra won the award for its work in particular on RioSul, in Seixal, Portugal, and Mediterranean Cosmos, in Thessaloniki, Greece. L’esplanade, an urban redevelopment in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, won the coveted ReStore award, which recognizes excellence in public private partnerships.

The Awards Jury consists of senior international figures within the shopping center industry and any retail or entertainment project opened or newly refurbished or extended between July 1st 2004 and June 30th 2006 was eligible to apply for an award. “This year we saw a record number of entrants, making the jury’s decisions extremely hard. The finalists represented 20 dynamic, cutting-edge shopping centers from 15 countries,” said awards jury chairman Stephen Pragnell. “The International Council of Shopping Centers’ prestigious 2007 European Awards are a cross-section of the best and brightest of their kind. They share common traits: they blend with and complement their communities, culturally, socially and economically. They reflect history whilst setting their own new standards and bring new life to their cities.”

The winners include Place d’Armes, Valenciennes, France, for the small new centers category; Dolce Vita Porto, Porto, Portugal for the medium new centers category; Forum Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal for the large new centers category; Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin, Ireland, for the very large new centers category; and Europark, Salzburg, Austria , for the refurbishments-extension category.

All European winners will be automatically submitted to the 2007 ICSC International Awards Program, to be announced at the CenterBuild Conference this December 2007.