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Shopping Centers Today -> January 2004
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N.J. OKS MEADOWLANDS XANADU
BY IAN RITTER
The Mills Corp. is one step closer to building a giant retail-entertainment center within view of the New York City skyline. The developer and its partners got the green light last month from New Jersey officials for Meadowlands Xanadu, a 4.8 million-square-foot mixed-use project in the New Jersey Meadowlands.
The plan calls for redevelopment of the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J., just 13 miles west of New York, where the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils now play.
The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority approved the $1.3 billion development; it will include 2.6 million square feet of retail-entertainment space and an indoor ski resort like the one Mills opened last year in Madrid, Spain, as part of the Madrid Xanadœ project. Other planned entertainment features include a minor-league baseball stadium and a racetrack. Mills has yet to announce any potential retail tenants for the development.
“Meadowlands Xanadu will set a new standard for bringing lifestyle, recreation, sports and family entertainment offerings together in one location,” said Mills chairman and CEO Laurence C. Siegel.
New Jersey-based developer Mack-Cali Realty Corp., one of the project partners, will build offices and a 520-room hotel, for a total of 2.2 million square feet. German investment advisory firm Kan Am, a longtime Mills financial partner, will provide an undisclosed amount of funding.
Mills and its partners won the right to develop the site in February. The redevelopment will take place whether or not the Nets and Devils stay at Continental Arena, the developers have said. There was talk of the teams moving to a different city in New Jersey, but there has been no decision.
A news release put out by the partners says construction is to last two years and will begin as soon as the permit and approval process is completed. Ground-breaking could start as early as the spring, the company has said.
Mills and Mack-Cali will pay the sports authority, owner of the land, $160 million at the start of construction for the development rights.
A Merrill Lynch report on Meadowlands Xanadu said Mills has already spent $160 million on planning the project, which has been in the works for eight years. The report also estimates that the retail portion of the development will cost more than $650 million to build.
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