American Dream Mall Reopens Under Financial Cloud

Seventeen years after ground was first broken on the project, Triple Five Group has reopened the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J., outside New York City. Right from the start, the project has been a symbol of the mall format’s troubles as it has had to close with the pandemic, and now reopen in a retail environment in which shoppers are opting for eCommerce.

Everything about the project, which is located in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, is huge. It features 3 million square feet of retail and entertainment space. Trying to land on the experiential trend that many experts say will be necessary, the mall includes a Nickelodeon Universe theme park, DreamWorks water park, Angry Birds mini-golf, an NHL-sized ice-skating rink, and aquarium and an indoor ski park.

The reopening, officially held Thursday (Oct. 1), attracted crowds even though not all stores and attractions were open.

The project has also been under a microscope due to the financial problems of its owner, Canadian real estate investment trust Triple Five. It has struggled to pay its bills on American Dream as well as its other major property, the Mall of America. According to real estate research firm Trepp, the company is more than 90 days delinquent on its $1.4 billion mortgage for Mall of America. The book value of the mall was recently reduced to $1.94 billion from $2.3 billion. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Triple Five has used Mall of America as collateral against American Dream loans.

In a statement to NJ.com last month, a spokesperson for American Dream said, “We are aware of the liens and thank all project-related vendors for their patience during this global pandemic, and have been reaching out to those who have been affected. We are working with our tenants and vendors to ensure each of these payment items are addressed as the state continues to re-open, restart and resume business.”

Since its conception, American Dream, originally named Xanadu, has had a troubled history. Former Gov. Chris Christie said the site was “the ugliest damn building in New Jersey and maybe America.” According to real estate business site 6sqft, in 2003 the state signed a $160 million deal to lease the property for the project with Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali Realty with the expectation it would be operating in two years. “Construction kicked off in 2005, halted shortly after, and then stalled again in 2008 as the result of the financial recession. Triple Five took over the site in 2013,” according to a July report in 6sqft. “Construction started in 2015, bit was delayed yet again in 2016. A year later, work resumed, but the opening date continued to get pushed back further until partially opening last fall.”