Tag: Xanadu

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NJSEA knows it ‘goofed’ on $1.15B Meadowlands megamall deal, group says

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By Myles Ma | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on September 13, 2016 at 2:45 PM, updated September 13, 2016 at 3:29 PM

EAST RUTHERFORD — The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority plans to address a host of legal issues raised by a group opposed to its plans to issue $1.15 billion in public bonds on behalf of American Dream Meadowlands.

The Sports Authority agreed on Aug. 25 to issue the bonds to help finance the stalled retail and entertainment center.

On Sept. 6, an attorney for the New Jersey Alliance for Fiscal Integrity wrote a letter to the authority claiming the deal was flawed. Thomas Calcagni, an attorney for the alliance, criticized the bond sale in the 11-page document.

https://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2016/09/sports_authority_knows_they_goofed_on_115b_megamall_deal_group_says.html?utm_content=New%20Campaign&utm_campaign=Observer_NJ_Politics&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=New%20Jersey%20Politics#incart_river_home

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American Dream ongoing nightmare

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August 12, 2016

The state can’t scrape up the money to fix the state’s roads and bridges, fully fund its schools or pay for the pensions of retired state workers. But, somehow, it found a way this week to approve an $800 million bond after previously authorizing $350 million in tax breaks for a $3.1 billion megamall in the Meadowlands.

The state’s Local Finance Board, an arm of the state Department of Community Affairs, this week approved the bond for the massive Meadowland America Dream shopping and entertainment complex, known during a previous incarnation as Xanadu. After two false starts attributable to the project’s inability to get private financing, the project was taken over in 2011 by Triple Five, a Canadian firm, nearly a decade after it was first approved.

Last week’s approval by the Local Finance Board, and the approval of a financing agreement a day earlier by the mall’s landlord, the N.J. Sports & Exposition Authority, came unaccompanied by any outrage from state lawmakers other than Michael Doherty, R-Warren.

Why the silence? Perhaps legislators didn’t want to call further attention to the irony of their providing bonding for a private venture at a time they can’t scrape up enough money for the state’s basic needs, despite having the highest property taxes in the nation.

https://www.app.com/story/opinion/editorials/2016/08/12/american-dream-meadowlands-bond/88634812/

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State agency holding special meeting on American Dream Meadowlands financing

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BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The board of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has been called into session on Tuesday for a special meeting regarding the issuance $1 billion in bonds sale that would help fund the completion of the American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment project.

It is the second year that the board has been called into session in August for the same purpose. A year ago, the project’s developer, Triple Five, requested the meeting because its executives said the Bergen County Improvement Authority — which had been scheduled to issue a segment of the bonds — would not be able to finalize its approvals within the 30- to 60-day window in which they said the bonds needed to be issued.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/state-agency-holding-special-meeting-on-american-dream-meadowlands-financing-1.1641976

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American Dream developer looking to submit casino proposal, Senate president says

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Triple Five, the operator of the American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment project, would be eager to submit its own proposal for a North Jersey casino should the opportunity arise, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney saidMonday. John Brennan, The Record Read more

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American Dream funding may be delayed by Poor Planning and Incompetence

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NOVEMBER 25, 2015    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY JOHN BRENNAN
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The sale of $1 billion in government bonds — a key financing element to ensure there is sufficient funding to complete the American Dream Meadowlands shopping and entertainment complex — may not be issued until early next year, officials said.

Tony Armlin, vice president of development and construction for Triple Five, the Canada-based conglomerate that is building American Dream, had said in an interview in September that the bonds would be issued “in the next several weeks.” But Debbie Patire, a Triple Five spokeswoman, confirmed Tuesday a revised timeline for issuing the bonds that executives at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority first described last week.

That state agency is expected to issue about $350 million in bonds that will be repaid to institutional investors via the transfer of Triple Five’s annual tax savings through a state grant.

“We continue to work aggressively toward a sale of the bonds prior to the New Year — but, given the holidays, there is a potential that this could shift to after the new year,” Patire said.

Triple Five, which built and operates the Mall of America in Minnesota, was brought in to revive construction on the long-dormant American Dream project, then known as Meadowlands Xanadu, in mid-2011; company executives have projected as recently as September that it will open in the fall of 2017. It is unclear if that opening date will have to be pushed back in light of the revised timetable for issuing the bonds.

The sports authority agreed in August to replace the Bergen County Improvement Authority as the issuer of those bonds, with Armlin of Triple Five saying at the time that the sports authority was better positioned to issue them “within 30 to 60 days,” or by mid-October.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/american-dream-funding-delay-1.1462117

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Will American Dream overshadow the malls of North Jersey?

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SEPTEMBER 27, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2015, 1:20 AM
BY JOAN VERDON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Will American Dream Meadowlands be a nightmare for North Jersey malls?

With the recent news that the long-delayed shopping and entertainment complex had signed Hermes as a tenant and lured the luxury brand away from The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack, American Dream is looking more like a reality.

But retail experts are betting the existing malls in Bergen and Passaic counties will be able to hold their own against the untested newcomer. While North Jersey shopping centers may have to evolve, they said, there is enough spending power in the region to withstand competition from a new project, even one that claims it will be unlike any other mall.

North Jersey shopping centers — particularly top performers Westfield Garden State Plaza and The Outlets at Bergen Town Center, both in Paramus, and Willowbrook Mall in Wayne — have an advantage as known revenue producers, unlike a project that was stalled for more than a decade.

The developers of American Dream have said since taking over in 2011 that their project — with an indoor water park, amusement rides, ice rink and concert hall — is so different that it won’t compete with, or steal tenants, from traditional North Jersey malls, and that it will draw visitors from all over the world, rather than just New Jersey. However, the news that Hermes is leaving Hackensack for the Meadowlands raises the question of whether the the area’s malls should be concerned.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/dream-rivalry-brewing-1.1419585

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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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N.J. residents don’t want north Jersey casinos, poll finds

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TRENTON — Casinos in north Jersey? The odds are against it.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University PublicMind poll of 913 New Jersey residents released Tuesday found 56 percent oppose allowing casinos outside of Atlantic City, while just 37 percent support it.

“The public is questioning the logic behind allowing the spread of casino gambling,” said Krista Jenkins, a political science professor of political science and director of PublicMind. “They don’t seem to be sold on the idea of saving the gaming industry in the state by allowing it to spread.”

And despite a major push in recent months by politicians and business people who want to expand casino gaming, public opinion has not moved significantly from the last time FDU asked the question in February.

“This degree of attentiveness isn’t turning many people on to the idea. or the premise that the money can and should be rightfully used in places other than where the casinos are ultimately built,” said Jenkins

The polls are important because allowing gaming outside of Atlantic City would require an amendment to the state constitution. That requires voter approval.

North Jersey lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), want to put the question on the ballot this year. South Jersey lawmakers have resisted that, even though some – including Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) – have been open to allowing casino gambling in northern New Jersey if hundreds of millions in proceeds go towards helping Atlantic City rebuild.

Supporters of expanding casino gaming have proposed dedicating $100 million a year in north Jersey casino proceeds to the struggling resort, which saw four casinos close in 2012.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/06/nj_residents_dont_want_north_jersey_casinos_poll_f.html

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A Good Way to Wreck a Local Economy: Build Casinos

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If Casinos didn’t help Atlantic City what makes you think they can help North Jersey ?

No one should look to the gambling industry to revive cities, “because that’s not what casinos do.”

Baltimore is a troubled city, as you know from The Wire. Like many troubled cities, Baltimore has turned to casino gambling as its solution. On August 26, a new Caesar’s casino will open on the site of an old chemical factory, a little more than 2 miles from the famous Inner Harbor and Camden Yards baseball stadium. Yet there’s already reason to expect the casino to disappoint everyone involved: the city looking for tax revenues, the workers hoping for jobs, the investors expecting hefty returns.

Outside of Las Vegas—now home to only 20 percent of the nation’s casino industry—casino gambling has evolved into a downscale business. Affluent and educated people visit casinos less often than poorer people do for the same reasons that they smoke less and drink less and weigh less.

Unfortunately for the casino industry’s growth hopes, downscale America has less money to spend today than it did before 2007. Nor is downscale America sharing much in the post-2009 recovery. From a news report on the troubles of a recently opened Ohio casino:

Ameet Patel, general manager of the property, says the softness in casino revenue that he and other operators have seen has been driven by a key demographic: women older than 50 who used to bet $50 to $75 per visit. The weak recovery has squeezed their gambling budgets, and their trips to casinos are fewer, he says.

What’s true in Ohio applies nationwide. Casino revenues had still not recovered their 2007 peaks as of the spring of 2014, when again they went into reverse in most jurisdictions. Moody’s now projects that casino revenues will drop through the rest of 2014 and all of 2015, slicing industry earnings by as much as 7.5 percent.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/08/a-good-way-to-wreck-a-local-economy-build-casinos/375691/

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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

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Developer says Ferriero wasn’t the only consultant paid through Teaneck law firm

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Developer says Ferriero wasn’t the only consultant paid through Teaneck law firm

MARCH 11, 2015, 7:03 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2015, 9:56 PM
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Former Bergen County Democratic leader Joseph A. Ferriero was not the only consultant whom the Mills Corp., the original developer of the former Xanadu complex, paid through a Teaneck law firm, a retired Mills Corp. executive testified Wednesday at Ferriero’s racketeering trial.

Under cross-examination for a second day, James Dausch said that Kay LiCausi, a former staffer of Sen. Bob Menendez, and the late Rep. Robert Roe also were paid by the Virginia-based Mills Corp. for lobbying or consulting services through the DeCotiis law firm.

Dausch testified that he believed the firm’s founder, M. Robert “Bob” DeCotiis, “tried to manage the consultants working on political stuff through his office” in order to maintain coordination of their actions.

From Mills’ point of view, Dausch added, the consultants’ bills would be easier to review if they were all listed on one monthly invoice from the law firm.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/developer-says-ferriero-wasn-t-the-only-consultant-paid-through-teaneck-law-firm-1.1286772

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Emails show Bob Menendez as ‘amazing’ help to Xanadu project

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file photo REORG by Boyd Loving

Emails show Bob Menendez as ‘amazing’ help to Xanadu project

February 6, 2015, 11:15 PM    Last updated: Saturday, February 7, 2015, 9:35 AM
By JEFF PILLETS and HERB JACKSON
staff writers |
The Record

The developers of the entertainment and retail complex called Xanadu were frantic. It was March 2005, and permits they’d expected months earlier were still tied up with the Army Corps of Engineers.

“The Corps is playing games at the last minute,” executive James Dausch wrote in an email to his lobbyist, Kay LiCausi, a former top aide to then-Rep. Bob Menendez, the third-highest ranking Democrat in the House at that point. “Could you dial up Menendez on an urgent basis and tell these guys to lay off?”

A new trove of documents released this week as part of the trial of former Bergen Democratic leader Joseph Ferriero depicts Menendez jumping into action and winning a lucrative approval for jubilant Xanadu developers, who called the congressman “amazing.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/emails-show-bob-menendez-as-amazing-help-to-xanadu-project-1.1266548

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Xanadu exec says company was asked for Menendez contribution after key federal permit was issued

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Xanadu exec says company was asked for Menendez contribution after key federal permit was issued

FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:40 PM    LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2015, 4:47 PM
BY HERB JACKSON AND JEFF PILLETS
STAFF WRITERS |
THE RECORD

A top executive from the Virginia company that first proposed the failed Xanadu project in the Meadowlands said the firm was asked to raise $50,000 in 2005 for then-Rep. Bob Menendez after it received a critical permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, court documents show.

Jim Dausch said in testimony in 2008 he believed Menendez’s efforts led the Army Corps’ top manager in the New York area to hand-deliver the permit in March 2005, and within two months Menendez telephoned him — a call he assumed was about the contributions.

Related: Ferriero wants U.S. attorney disqualified from RICO case; prosecutors cite new evidence against ex-Democratic leader

Dausch said he could not remember if the initial request to raise $50,000 came directly from Menendez, or from two others working with the Mills Corp. on the project, Teaneck attorney Bob DeCotiis or lobbyist Kay LiCausi, who is a former member of Menendez’s staff.

“But one way or the other, it was clear that the request was coming from Menendez and, and it was in anticipation, we understood, of a run that he was planning to make for the Senate in 2006,” Dausch said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/xanadu-exec-says-company-was-asked-for-menendez-contribution-after-key-federal-permit-was-issued-1.1263676