Crystals draws recognition from RECon
At RECon 2012, one Las Vegas shopping center looked brighter than the rest.
Crystals at CityCenter won a VIVA Best-of-the-Best Award in the sustainability category from the International Council of Shopping Centers during the global retail real estate convention, which ended Wednesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
The VIVA - Vision, Innovation, Value and Achievement - awards honor shopping center design and development, sustainability, marketing, and community service worldwide.
"What an awards program like this does, it allows you to showcase the best examples of those categories from around the world," Jesse Tron, ICSC's spokesman, said. "It raises awareness of the best-of-the-best in front of the largest audience of people in the industry, and as a result, helps out the industry as a whole."
Crystals at CityCenter, which opened in December 2009, is owned by MGM Resorts International and Infinity World Development Corp.
The mall encompasses 500,000 square feet of luxury retailers including Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Christian Dior, Bottega Veneta, Bulgari, Fendi and Hermes.
CityCenter is one of the world's largest green developments, and Crystals is the world's largest retail district to be LEED Gold certified.
"Crystals is an integral part of CityCenter and was created with a vision to bring a new level of environmental consciousness to the world-famous Las Vegas Strip. As one of the world's largest sustainable developments, CityCenter's environmental responsibility spans the spectrum from design and construction to operations and guest amenities," said Jim Murren, chairman and CEO of MGM Resorts International in a statement.
In their award-review comments, contest judges said "Crystals is an architectural movement of sheer energy as the exterior architecture is a multi-faceted, glass canopy depicting the intricate beauty of a quartz crystal that welcomes an abundance of natural light into the stunning three-level experiential environment."
Other VIVA winners are the Westfield London for design and development, and Centro Oberhausen in Oberhausen, Germany for marketing.
Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@review
journal.com or 702-380-4588.
