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American Dream adding 10 more retailers

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SEPTEMBER 21, 2015    LAST UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015, 5:49 PM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

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.

Triple Five president Don Ghermezian called the latest round of announcements “just the beginning” of a rollout that he said would set a new standard for “the New York metropolitan market.” Ghermezian recently promised to make deals with “SoHo boutique-style” retailers that traditionally have not been found in malls.

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.

The 2.9-million-square-foot American Dream shopping and entertainment project is to include a 639,000-square-foot indoor water and amusement park currently under construction, as well as a 22-screen movie complex, an indoor snowdome, a 286-foot observation wheel, and other attractions.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/american-dream-adding-10-more-retailers-1.1415006

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Big bet on Dream project; risk, reward weighed on $1B bond sale

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SEPTEMBER 5, 2015, 10:58 PM    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2015, 12:16 AM
BY CHRISTOPHER MAAG, LINDA MOSS AND JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

What does it take for a developer to borrow a billion dollars to build a mall in New Jersey?

It takes winning over people like Lyle Fitterer, an investor in Menomonee Falls, Wis., who controls $17.5 billion in other people’s money. He invests only in government bonds, including the type that Triple Five, a Canada-based conglomerate, expects to sell soon to complete American Dream, the long-stalled shopping and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.

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So what does Fitterer think of American Dream? Well, it’s complicated.

Demand for such high-risk, high-profit bonds is stronger now than it was two years ago, when Triple Five first received government support for a bond sale, Fitterer said, but the market remains weak. Whereas the original deal offered only tax-free bonds, the revised proposal includes both taxable and tax-free bonds, a mix that he said will broaden the pool of potential investors.

But because the bonds are not backed by taxpayers in New Jersey or the borough of East Rutherford, where the project sits, Fitterer would avoid losing money on the deal only if American Dream succeeds.

And since few have ever attempted a project quite like American Dream, that makes Fitterer and many of his deep-pocketed peers nervous.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/big-bet-on-dream-project-risk-reward-weighed-on-1b-bond-sale-1.1404658

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With unions pleading, East Rutherford moves on American Dream commitment

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MAY 19, 2015, 10:14 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2015, 10:42 AM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Around 150 members of Bergen County building trades unions attended an East Rutherford Council meeting on Tuesday urging the borough to pass a resolution and introduce an ordinance for the bonds necessary to pave the way for completion of the American Dream project. The Council passed the resolution.

EAST RUTHERFORD — About 150 members of area trade unions came to Borough Hall on Tuesday evening to urge the Borough Council to take the next steps necessary so the American Dream project can get fully under way, and the governing body did just that.

Taking action before a standing-room-only audience that overflowed into the halls, the council — despite several dissenting members — passed a resolution revising terms of its bond agreement with developer Triple Five for the shopping and entertainment complex. In addition, the council introduced an ordinance relating to the Payment-In-Lieu-of-Taxes, or PILOT program, associated with the development.

With those actions, part of a plan to have the borough act as a no-risk conduit for construction loans, the state Local Finance Board will now be able to review the amended finance agreement for approval. The goal is to get the ordinance on the agenda for the board’s June meeting.

The actions came as Rick Sabato, president of the Bergen County Building and Construction Trades Councils, implored the local governing body to support the project so that many of the area’s unemployed union members can get back to work. A year ago, Sabato estimated that American Dream will create jobs for 9,000 of his members over the next three years and beyond.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/with-unions-pleading-east-rutherford-moves-on-american-dream-commitment-1.1338013