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NEW YORK, December 6, 2013 – Throughout its history, the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) has recognized and honored the shopping center industry’s most cutting-edge properties, innovative solutions and creative responses to market trends, as well as outstanding examples of design and development throughout the world through its Global Awards programs. As part of the shopping center industry’s premier awards competition, ICSC is pleased to announce that Double Wide Grill, Mars, Pa., has been chosen as a Silver Design and Development Award winner in its annual U.S. Design and Development Awards. ICSC’s U.S. Design and Development Awards are designed to recognize outstanding projects for excellence in the creation of new retail projects, and in the expansion or redevelopment of existing projects, solely within the continental United States. [Editor’s note: For complete details on this awards and a list of all winners, visit ICSC’s global awards web gallery].

Double Wide Grill won its silver award in the Retail Store category which honors and recognizes how professional store design contributes to the success of the overall retail industry.  Entries may be from retailers, architects or design companies for new or renovated stores in a shopping center, power center or strip center.  Projects in this category may also include services or other non-retail uses.

Double Wide Grill was designed as a vintage gas station turned restaurant, offering an eclectic menu of barbeque, vegan, and vegetarian food. The design features airstream curves of a 1950’s filling station, complete with gas pumps and trailers. To further enhance the theme, the interior has a worn-in look, and features old road signs, gas station memorabilia, old tires hung on walls, lights made of car parts, and trucks on lifts. Diners eat in old trailers that pop out of the back of theestaurant, overlooking a ravine. The project was designed by Kenneth A. Gruskin and Joel Shulman, Gruskin Architecture + Design, P.C.

ICSC announced the winners of the 2013 U.S. Design and Development Awards during an awards ceremony at ICSC’s annual CenterBuild Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. The competition was open to shopping center owners, developers, management companies, architects, designers, retailers, or other professionals responsible for any retail project or retail store design that demonstrated unusual development or redevelopment characteristics with a high degree of creativity and uniqueness within the continental U.S.  The competition focused on four general categories: Innovative Design and Construction of a New Project; Renovation or Expansion of an Existing Project; Sustainable Design; and Retail Store Design.

In addition, all Gold U.S. Design and Development Award winners are automatically eligible to win ICSC's VIVA Best-of-the-Best Award.  The ICSC VIVA Best-of-the-Best Awards, which recognize the shopping centre industry’s most cutting-edge properties, innovative solutions and creative responses to market trends, throughout the world, will be presented during ICSC's annual convention, RECon, May 18-20, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nev. Founded in 1957, ICSC is the premier global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its more than 60,000 members in over 100 countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, retailers and brokers, as well as academics and public officials. As the global industry trade association, ICSC links with more than 25 national and regional shopping center councils throughout the world.  For more information, visit www.icsc.org.

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