'Most Expensive Retail Project On Earth' Coming To Meadowlands In 2017

Giant cranes tower over “the ugliest damn building in New Jersey and maybe America,” as Governor Chris Christie once called it, and are slowly transforming the ill-fated Xanadu project into the American Dream Meadowlands.

Now in its 12th year, the third developer in the project’s history, Triple Five Group, is promising something akin to two properties it already owns: The Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada.

But don’t call American Dream a mall.

“It is an entertainment, shopping, and dining destination. If you look at the success of the West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, you have to think about the consumers and the future and what their habits are and how online shopping has evolved,” said Debbie Patrie, senior vice president of marketing for American Dream. “We look at this building as a destination and not as a shopping center.”

When complete, the 91-acre complex will be broken up into five connected sections more than a half-mile long. Skylights and large windows will bathe the crisp, clean white walls and spaces with natural light. Fresh flowers, plants, and fountains will highlight the inside and provide what Triple Five says will be a warm, inviting atmosphere when it opens in the summer of 2017.

Nearly $5 billion will be invested in the project by the time it opens, Don Ghermezian, a principal with Triple Five, told The New York Times.

”I think that makes it the most expensive retail project on earth,” Ghermezian said.

And when complete, the project will feature several impressive amenities.

For starters, it will be home to North America’s largest indoor amusement park and biggest indoor waterpark, the latter of which is being developed with Dreamworks SKG and their movie properties. An 800-foot-long indoor ski hill will be the first in the Western Hemisphere. A 300-foot-tall Ferris wheel will offer a one-of-a-kind view of Manhattan, Triple Five says.

The 150,000-square-foot food hall will feature 15 restaurants, 50 grab-and-go offerings and the world’s first Kosher food court.

Moviegoers will be able to smell scents in the films they watch in Cinemex’s 1,400-seat, dine-in movie theater with X4D technology. A hotel is in the planning stages for American Dream and could open a year after American Dream, Patrie said. The hotel at the West Edmonton Mall runs at or near capacity year round.

For the kids, there will be a LEGOLAND discovery center with a 4-D cinema, brick pool, and rides for kids 3 to 10 years old. The first Sea Life aquarium in New Jersey will feature a walk-through underwater tunnel and some exotic animals, including seahorses and sharks.

Plus, Toys “R” Us’ three-level, 55,000-square-foot retail store will be one of the shopping center’s anchor locations. The Wayne-based company will vacate its Times Square flagship location next year due to high rent.

To date, the following retail tenants have been announced:

• Saks Fifth Avenue
• Lord & Taylor
• Off 5th
• Hermes
• Aritzia
• Banana Republic
• Gap
• Lululemon
• MAC
• Microsoft
• Pink
• Uniqlo
• Victoria’s Secret
• Zara

As malls continue to face growing competition from eCommerce, American Dream developers say the new retail project will attract customers because it will be more than just a shopping spot — it will be a destination.

The project should help the Garden State tap into a fiscal pipeline that, until now, has remained largely on one side of the Hudson River: New York City tourists, local businesspeople say.

“It makes the Meadowlands region a primary destination rather than us just playing second fiddle to New York City,” said Jim Kirkos, chief executive officer of the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce. “There are people who will come to see American Dream first and then go to New York City.”

But Bergen County Blue Laws will mean American Dream’s 500 retail stores will be closed on Sundays.

“You’ll probably see another six to 10 hotels built around here in the next three years,” Kirkos said. “The impact covers a wide spectrum of opportunities.”

Those opportunities could have a ripple effect on the North Jersey economy and add 20,000 jobs to a region where corporations and jobs are relocating to less taxed areas of the Garden State and the United States, Kirkos said. The effect could also be positive for the malls and shopping centers, including the Willowbrook Mall and Garden State Plaza, that have been North Jersey mainstays for decades.

Kirkos said the regional malls near the West Edmonton Mall have expanded three times in the last six years.

“The Garden State Plaza, the Willowbrook Mall, American Dream is not expected to put those places out of business,” Kirkos said.

Public transit intends to provide accommodations to make the gigantic destination accessible.

A commuter shuttle will run between the station NJ Transit operates at the Meadowlands and the Secaucus train station, Kirkos said. NJ Transit will also operate a direct bus line from the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City to American Dream.

New York Waterway is in talks to run a shuttle to take passengers to and from marinas along the Hudson River along the Gold Coast — Edgewater, Weehawken, and North Bergen — to American Dream.

“With the addition of private shuttles, we may not have as much traffic problems to worry about,” Kirkos said.

NJ Transit officials did not go into specifics about what its plans are for the site, but did say it plans to accommodate the increase in visitors to the area.

“The frequency and capacity of bus and rail service to the Meadowlands complex will be expanded, monitored, and adjusted if necessary to accommodate the influx of people to the area – including those visiting American Dream and MetLife Stadium on game days,” said Lisa Torbic, senior public information officer for NJ Transit. “Further discussions on the transit and traffic enhancements are continuing with the developer.”

Regardless of how people get there, developers are promising it will be worth the trip.

“It’s overwhelming when you think of what will be here,” Patrie said. “You can come here and make a day of it. It gives you the option of creating a personalized itinerary and an experience that’s your own.”

(Pictured: The American Dream complex being constructed in the Meadowlands and an artist‘s rendering of part of the inside of American Dream/Courtesy of Triple Five Group)