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Quote:

Originally Posted by Rail>Auto (Post 6558561)

How is the IZOD Center holding up around the complex with both the mall being down and the Prudential Center being open? I hope it survives.

Its doing pretty well. Events occur at it all the time from basketball games to wrestling. I believe WWE is coming sometime this May aswell. Its a older sports complex, but I'm sure it will still stay in business. It might take a loss though when this is built, but there will always be sport events available that will keep it running as well as concerts.

New Jersey Mega-Mall Could be Chris Christie's Next Bridgegate

http://racked.com/uploads/american-d...rior-thumb.jpg

Quote:

Since news broke this month that Dubai is hellbent on building the biggest mall our planet has ever known, now's a good time to check in on the progress at America's own fabulously crazy mall development, New Jersey's American Dream Meadowlands. The $1.8 billion project, formerly named Meadowlands Xanadu, is slated to open in the fall of 2016, and proposed entertainment options include a ski slope, skydiving wind tunnels, an enormous ferris wheel, and the world's largest wave pool. USA, USA!

So what's going on with the construction at the American Dream site? In June, NorthJersey.com checked in and found no signs of construction activity. "Just because people aren't seeing activity doesn't mean there isn't activity," the site quotes New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority president Wayne Hasenbalg as saying. Developers and state officials say that the project remains on schedule and actual work on the mega-complex will be apparent soon.

Meanwhile, Chris Christie is under fire for his role in the project, thanks to a two-part investigative report by The Nation. The article alleges that the political dealing behind American Dream Meadowlands "could be the latest, and biggest, conflict-of-interest scandal in the tangle of scandals plaguing the New Jersey governor." The Nation reports that Christie's administration and Christie-connected New Jersey law firm Wolff & Samson pushed for the development at every opportunity, and that the funding for the American Dream Meadowland is an "incredibly convoluted and risky set of arrangements" including as much as $500 million in bonds issued by the town of East Rutherford, New Jersey. The mall's financing is causing pundits and taxpayers to wonder what will happen for the county, town and state if the project goes bust.

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July 9, 2014
http://racked.com/archives/2014/07/0...nstruction.php

so is any renovation going on??

Financing for American Dream Meadowlands gets state OK; project to open in 2017

http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2...eam_bonds.html

http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/...160-mmmain.jpg
Construction cranes stand near American Dream Meadowlands in East Rutherford in the May 2015 photo. The borough's plan to issue up to $675 million in bonds to help finance the stalled megamall project went before a state finance board on Wednesday.

Quote:

Part of the financing for an unfinished megamall in East Rutherford took another step forward on Wednesday, as a state finance board approved the borough's plan to sell up to $675 million in bonds for American Dream Meadowlands.

An official with the developer of the project, meanwhile, said the entire complex is expected to open in the summer of 2017.

The project formerly known as Xanadu first broke ground more than a decade ago but construction was never completed. Triple Five, the company that took control of the project in 2010, plans to invest $2.5 billion into the site, about $800 million of which will be raised through bond issuances.

....Construction crews on site have been focusing on the foundation for the indoor amusement park and water park, Armlin said.

"Construction is going very well and we're very pleased with the productivity on site and hope to continue to increase the level of production," he said. "Shortly you'll see not only hundreds of people on the site but thousands as we get the rest of the building shell up in the fall."

Armlin said the entire project is expected to open in the summer of 2017

Old article, but mentions the stores that have committed so far....

Retail giants lining up, American Dream says
December 7, 2014

http://www.northjersey.com/news/reta...48277?page=all

http://www.northjersey.com/polopoly_...120814mall.jpg
The developer, Triple Five, circulated a promotional brochure with renderings showcasing many high-end retailers.

Quote:

FAO Schwarz will leave its iconic Manhattan location for the Meadowlands, Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor department stores will anchor a collection of luxury boutiques, and Cirque du Soleil will establish a permanent theater for Las Vegas-style shows at the American Dream project, according to information the developer of the long-delayed project is circulating as it holds meetings this week to woo retail tenants.

Triple Five, the developer of the project, is telling prospective tenants that more than 50 major retailers, including such mall mainstays as Victoria’s Secret and Gap, have committed to renting space at American Dream, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2016. More than a dozen restaurants and a permanent Cirque du Soleil theater are also committed, according to a 67-page leasing brochure and the project’s monthly status update for November.

While a developer’s promotional materials about prospective tenants should be viewed skeptically until the project’s opening day, the list of tenants Triple Five has lined up shows that parts of the American Dream will compete directly with North Jersey’s existing malls for tenants.

American Dream, with its planned indoor water and amusement parks, aquarium and other entertainment components, will be unlike any other North Jersey mall, but it is looking to fill its retail wings with many of the retailers that already have stores at North Jersey shopping centers. The project could succeed in luring retailers entering the market for the first time away from Westfield Garden State Plaza and other Paramus malls.

The leasing brochure, which includes several dozen multicolored renderings of the interior and exterior portions of the project, shows Triple Five is moving forward to court tenants even though the financing for the project still relies on public bond offerings that have not been finalized. American Dream’s financing is being backed in part by state tax breaks and municipal bonds.

Triple Five, like all developers of shopping malls, must walk a tightrope: It does not want to announce deals until they are signed, but needs to spread the word about big-name tenants to persuade other retailers to get on board.

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.... The project status update says that Saks Fifth Avenue plans to open a 140,000-square-foot store at American Dream and that Lord & Taylor will open a 110,000-square-foot store. Drawings for the project show those department stores flanking a hotel.

The document also says FAO Schwarz will relocate its flagship New York store from Fifth Avenue to the new Meadowlands project, and that the American Dream FAO store will be the only FAO location in the world.

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.... Saks and Lord & Taylor are described as being part of a luxury wing that would be called “The Collections at American Dream.” The luxury wing would have valet parking, overseas shipping for international customers, a concierge desk, and package storage and delivery for “hands-free shopping.” Those are similar to customer service amenities that other North Jersey malls have implemented recently.

The mall, in its leasing brochure, also says it will have a particular focus on attracting Chinese tourists.

According to the Triple Five promotional materials, the developer is in active negotiations with five department store outlet brands — Bloomingdale’s Outlet, Lord & Taylor Outlet, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth, and Century 21* — for space in the project.

Triple Five’s project status update also says it has “active sit-down restaurant deals” with several classic New York restaurants, including the Carnegie Deli and El Vez, part of the Stephen Starr Restaurant Group, the upscale Bice Ristorante, as well as a deal with the upscale Manhattan steakhouse chain STK.

This isn’t the first time in the long history of the Meadowlands shopping and entertainment project that names of high-profile retail tenants have surfaced. The original developer, Mills Corp., was issuing press releases about signed tenants as it was running out of money to complete the project.

The project has been in the works for more than a dozen years. After years of considering proposals for the Meadowlands site, the Meadowlands sports authority selected Mills Corp. as the developer in 2003. Work began on the complex in 2005, but hit a snag when Mills bailed out and was replaced by Colony Capital. In 2010 the chief lenders on the project ousted Colony as the developer and Triple Five was chosen as the new developer in May 2011.

*for those outside the NYC area, Century 21 is department store chain based in lower Manhattan (across from the WTC) that is known for it's off-price designer brands and huge crowds.:yes: They have a collection of stores in NYC, North Jersey, and Long Island, have recently opened a store in Center City Philadelphia, and have a store planned for Florida

That is allot of cranes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SJPhillyBoy (Post 7092616)

That is allot of cranes!

why so many cranes??

^^^^

Big project with lots of square footage over a large area. Many components to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by eleven=11 (Post 7119689)

why so many cranes??

I thought it was just minor fixes and paint
what about the ferris wheel??

Sports Authority executive pledges to promote Meadowlands as tourist destination

http://www.northjersey.com/polopoly_...ican-dream.jpg

AUGUST 4, 2015, 6:23 PM BY LINDA MOSS

Quote:

Wayne Hasenbalg, the Sports Authority’s president and chief executive officer, told attendees at a business breakfast that his agency has established a new marketing and communications unit to spearhead efforts to draw visitors to North Jersey. Four people have been assigned to that unit, in what Hasenbalg described as just one of the moves the authority has made since it absorbed the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission in February.

The executive’s comments at the event, sponsored by the Meadowlands Regional Chamber, marked one of his first public speeches since the consolidation. About 130 people attended the breakfast at the Graycliff in Moonachie.

Hasenbalg said that the Sports Authority — which will retain its name after absorbing the commission and its control of zoning and development in the 30-square-mile wetlands district — is working closely with Jim Kirkos, the Meadowlands Chamber’s president and chief executive officer, to showcase the Meadowlands as a destination for tourism and major sporting and entertainment events.

“We need to create some opportunities, public and private, as a partnership to really promote tourism in this part of the state,” Hasenbalg said.

That effort includes working with the chamber to compete and submit bids for marquee events on the scale of the Super Bowl and Wrestlemania, both of which recently came to the Meadowlands.

“There’s one [bid] that’s literally going on as we speak,” Hasenbalg said. “It’s on my desk to read and file forms for this afternoon for a very big event. And there are some others that I can’t talk about right now.”

After the breakfast, he declined to identify the event.

MetLife Stadium and its staff are also in the loop in terms of attempts to bring marquee attractions to the area, Hasenbalg said.

During a question-and-answer session with the audience, Hasenbalg said that the Sports Authority hasn’t received any additional funding from the state for its tourism initiative.

At the breakfast he also said that the merger of the Sports Authority and the Meadowlands Commission, though it took place at breakneck speed, ultimately made sense. The commission was responsible for land-use planning and environmental issues for nearly half a century in a marshland district that includes parts of 14 Bergen and Hudson county towns.

But Hasenbalg said, “It’s important to have one unified agency … a single source of reference from the state government perspective as the advocate for the Meadowlands region, because of the future and all that’s going to potentially go on here.”

He mentioned American Dream Meadowlands, the retail and entertainment complex under construction at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford.

“In the very near future you’re going to see some incredible activity taking place at that site that will in fact show people that that project is going to happen,” Hasenbalg said. “As an agency, we’re being involved really as a landlord at that site to make sure that project happens.”

Acknowledging concerns from the real estate community, Hasenbalg said the Sports Authority has been speedily processing land-use applications since absorbing the Meadowlands Commission. He added that he expects that the process for managing land-use applications will improve due to a reorganization of the Sports Authority that followed its absorption of the Meadowlands Commission.

Hasenbalg also mentioned the Sports Authority’s recent agreements to have Rutgers University-Newark take over a state lab that conducts scientific research in the Meadowlands, and for Bergen Community College to take control of the William D. McDowell Observatory at DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst, where the Sports Authority is now located.

“All those naysayers who thought the big, bad Sports Authority was going to come onboard and undermine” the Meadowlands Commission’s past mission of “environmental stewardship” were wrong, Hasenbalg said, adding that the merged agency is actually expanding opportunities in the region.

Asked about the future of the now-closed Izod Center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, Hasenbalg said he was optimistic that it will eventually reopen.

“What I don’t know is by whom, and for what purpose,” he said.

I had to go to Lodi,NJ today for some site work, and I passed by the complex when I got off the Turnpike. Lots of cranes, and lots of construction going on. Big chunk of it is finishing up. Facade looks wicked, and they are working on the elements for the parking lots. Also, some interior work as there where trucks loading stuff in and it was somewhat exposed. Kinda surprised at the army of workers that they had. Really pushing for the 2017 opening.

For now, looks like a big part of the exterior is finished. Seems like its mostly interior work that will take most of the effort for 2016.

Breaking News!

http://www.northjersey.com/news/busi...lers-1.1415006

"Ten more retailers were announced for American Dream Meadowlands on Monday by developer Triple Five, which has set fall 2017 as the opening for the shopping and entertainment complex.

Familiar women's clothing retailers Victoria's Secret and Lulelemon are joined by venerable mall stores Banana Republic and The Gap; MAC cosmetics; and a Microsoft computer store. Also on the latest list are Aritzia, Uniqlo, Zara, and Pink."

"The new signups follow last week's announcement of Hermes as well as news earlier this month that a Saks Fifth OFF Fifth outlet store as well as 100,000-square-foot anchor tenants Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue. Ghermezian said the latter two stores would be the largest at the site."

Any chance they can get IZOD reopened?

I think what could really set this center off would be extending the HBLR the 3 miles to here. That would make access much easier to those without cars. The NJ Transit station is usually only open during Football games or special events right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rail>Auto (Post 7172353)

Any chance they can get IZOD reopened?

Izod is closed. to be demolished??

what are the new mall colors??
the old blue/white and orange.......

I'm salivating at the prospect of yet another flop at Xanadu American Dream Mall. The concept of yet another mega mall just seems so 1990s. Personally, all this development in the Medowlands has led to an ecological disaster. It should not have been developed, but greed won out. Plus it's a headache to get to without a car.

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