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No surprise “Xanadu” seeks public aid
The new developers of a massive New Jersey amusement and retail project say they are looking for tax breaks and other public assistance worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
The stalled $3.8-billion project—formerly known as Xanadu and since renamed American Dream at Meadowlands—has bedeviled two previous teams of developers over eight years. The partially-constructed project now stands stalled.
Now, its new developers, Canada-based Triple Five, are looking to restart it with the help of three forms of tax-free financing that could raise as much as $800 million, the developers say. The financing deals would rely on bond sales tied to future revenues at the development.
Triple Five—which built the Mall of America in Minnesota—says it would use the funds to significantly enlarge the already huge project and make it a major tourist destination, complete with an indoor water park and an indoor ski slope. (Brown, The Wall Street Jounal)