The long and winding road that has been American Dream Meadowlands
Here is a look back at significant milestones in the history of the American Dream Meadowlands project, dating back to its predecessor Meadowlands Xanadu:
2002
June 30 - More than 150 requests for proposals are sent out to potential bidders for redevelopment of the 104-acre Continental Arena site.
Sept. 12 - Mack-Cali confirms its decision to join Mills Corp. as joint developers of Xanadu - an entertainment, office, and retail proposal. Mills had spent a decade trying in vain to build a mega-mall next door on the Empire Tract in Carlstadt.
Nov. 21 - The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority chooses three finalists: Mills/Mack-Cali's Xanadu, Hartz Mountain Industries' Expo Park and Westfield's Arena Place. Triple Five, operator of the Mall of America in Minnesota, is one of the three bidders that are rejected.
2003
Feb. 12 - The selection of the Xanadu project is approved by the sports authority board in a 9-2 vote. Dissenting voter Ray Bateman warns of the Meadowlands becoming "Gridlock City."
Dec. 3 - The sports authority board approves a developer's agreement after months of delays caused by technical and legal issues. Chairman Carl Goldberg says the vote is "one of the landmark events in the history of the sports authority." The vote again is 9-2.
Dec. 10 - Governor McGreevey announces that the Port Authority has agreed to pay for a $150 million rail link between the Pascack Valley Line and the Sports Complex.
2004
June 28 - A six-week, $72 million preliminary construction project begins at the arena site. The electrical, sewer and other utility work is designed to facilitate a fall 2004 groundbreaking.
Oct. 5 - A 75-year ground lease for Xanadu is signed by the sports authority, the developers and McGreevey at a gala press conference co-hosted by supermodel Christie Brinkley and Chris Harrison, the host of “The Bachelor” reality TV show. The entertainment and retail portions of the project are scheduled to open in mid-2007.
2005
March 16 – Approval is granted for the start of heavy construction activity. Work on a parking garage in the main arena parking lot begins almost immediately in spite of numerous lawsuits being filed against Xanadu.
June 28 - The sports authority board overwhelmingly approves the payment of $65 million by Xanadu developers as the first part of a promised $160 million in up-front rent to cover the first 15 years of operation.
2006
Jan. 9 – Mills’ well-documented recent financial troubles lead sports authority officials to ask Mills to provide documentation - including letters from its bank - showing the company's financial viability.
Jan. 25 – The owner of the would-be Bergen Cliff Hawks minor league baseball team files suit against Meadowlands Xanadu, alleging that the developers reneged on a deal to build a minor league park once state approval for the project had been granted in 2003.
Aug. 22 - Colony Capital Acquisitions announces plans to take over the project from Mills/Mack-Cali.
Nov. 22 – The Giants and Jets agree to a deal that allows for the simultaneous construction of both Xanadu and a new National Football League stadium during 2007-2009. A $108 million contract to Sanzari Creamer to build the 1.6-mile Pascack Valley rail link to the complex also is announced, as are new tenants such as a 2,200-seat AEG Live concert hall; a martini bar/bowling center hybrid called Strike MX; and a Wannado City role-playing center.
2007
Jan. 17 - Colony closes the deal to take control of Meadowlands Xanadu.
Feb. 13 - Simon Property Group buys Mills Corp., effectively putting Mills out of business.
July 19 - The proposed observation wheel is explained as a slow-moving gondola ride with enclosed cars, a la the London Eye attraction. A Legoland Discovery Center and Maqiquest role-playing center also are added to the tenant mix.
Oct. 25 - A Pennsylvania man is killed at the Xanadu site when a heavy hunk of metal crashes down on him as he drove sheets of a metal retaining wall into the ground, police said.
2008
Jan. 11 - A state Superior Court judge dismisses the fraud lawsuit by Cliff Hawks owner Steve Kalafer against the former Meadowlands Xanadu co-developers, Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali.
Mar. 27 – The Toronto-based architect of the multi-colored Xanadu design is summoned to meet with Meadowlands Sports Complex officials to explain himself. Numerous public officials and private citizens criticize him for his layout. "That's one of the ugliest buildings I've ever seen in my life,” State Sen. Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck. “It looks like something my 4-year-old granddaughter might build with old Legos.”
May 15 - Colony pushes back the opening from November to midsummer 2009.
2009
Feb. 19 – A rare media tour of the interior of the project reveals a vivid – and more well-received – color scheme, as well as a sampling of the 84 video screens and extensive LED lighting in the works. But plans for 20 restaurants are reduced almost by half, and the “ice bar” adjacent to the snowdome and the trout stream within Cabela’s are no longer in the plans. And in spite of Colony’s claims that the project is 70 percent leased, the scheduled mid-year opening is now being questioned by the developer given the economy.
March 23 – A key Xanadu construction lender is sued, with project attorneys telling a court that the entire project is “at grave risk of failure” if the money is not provided immediately. Construction at the project ceases.
April 17 – The 10-year effort to bring a minor league baseball team to Bergen County is over, says Steve Kalafer, erstwhile owner of the Bergen Cliff Hawks. "There was a moment in time for this, and that time has passed," Kalafer says.
July 20 – A $185 million Pascack Valley line rail extension into the Meadowlands Sports Complex - which was built in large part to transport thousands of Xanadu workers and customers from Secaucus Junction each day – takes its first passengers.
Nov. 13 – Governor-elect Chris Christie tours the interior of Xanadu and says, "I can assure you this, for those who haven't been inside - it's much nicer inside than it is on the outside.”
2010
Feb. 1 - Billionaire Stephen Ross -- whose Related Companies real estate firm is a major player in Manhattan development projects – is revealed to be considering taking over the Xanadu project from Colony Capital.
Aug. 10 – A group of five leading Xanadu lenders announce they have wrested control of the project from Colony, in spite of a claim by Colony that it had a “commitment” from Ross to take over. That ends the six-month flirtation by Ross, who had tentatively planned to rename the project “Meadowlands.”
2011
Feb. 3 - A 50- to 60-foot long horizontal section of a protective wall surrounding the Xanadu snow dome buckles – ironically – from accumulated snow and ice, causing a temporary closure of a service road near the Izod Center parking lot.
Apr. 28 – After months of negotiations, Triple Five - the parent company of the Mall of America in Minnesota – announces an agreement with the lenders to take over operations of Meadowlands Xanadu. A week later, Triple Five executives announce plans for a complete makeover of the exterior. The project is to be renamed “American Dream Meadowlands,” and a 638,000 square foot indoor amusement and water park complex is the major new addition. Christie reveals that he supports a tax break for the project that eventually grew to $390 million.
Nov. 9 - Triple Five unveils a complex financing plan to raise $1.8 billion to complete the project – nearly half coming from a bond offering related to the tax break and a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes partnership with East Rutherford. Private financing and $200 million in equity from Triple Five would produce the rest.
2012
Feb. 16 – Sports authority officials concede that Triple Five would not be able to open American Dream in time for the Meadowlands Super Bowl 24 months later.
Oct. 10 – Traffic experts for American Dream Meadowlands and for the Giants and Jets paint wildly different pictures of conditions that would arise on football Sundays should the shopping and entertainment project open on those days. In the hour after a 1 p.m. game, an expert for the teams claimed that 7,700 additional cars from American Dream would intertwine with more than 20,000 vehicles driven by football fans. But the sports authority’s expert estimated the added tally at just 63 cars. Both sides called the opposing estimate “absurd.”
2013
July 9 – Triple Five sues the Giants and the Jets, seeking damages stemming from what they called "an ongoing campaign to delay, thwart and ultimately prevent this project from ever opening."
Nov. 1 – A state agency approves the tax break plan, one day after another agency had endorsed the complex bonding plan.
2014
March 11 – A settlement is reached in the two-year legal battle between the Giants and Triple Five, although details are not revealed.
Sept. 12 – After more than five years of virtual dormancy, cranes and heavy machinery as well as construction workers return to the American Dream site.
2015
March 5 – Triple Five announces plans for “American Dream Miami,” a cousin to the Meadowlands project but also a bit larger.
June 10 - A state panel on Wednesday approves an amended $2.5 billion financing plan for American Dream Meadowlands, even as its developer acknowledged that the long-stalled complex would not open before mid-2017.
Sept. 11 – Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor are announced as American Dream’s department store anchors, and plans are announced to open a 800-room hotel on the grounds less than a year after the project opens.
2016
May 17 – East Rutherford votes to have the sports authority take over its role in issuance of $675 million in bonds. The vote comes in the middle of the third year in which issuance of the bonds repeatedly has been delayed.
Aug. 5 – The sports authority calls for a special meeting in what appears to be a sign that issuance of the bonds again is imminent.
Sept. 13 – Nickelodeon is announced as the theming partner for the indoor amusement park, joining DreamWorks Animation - which already has a deal for its characters to be the theme for the indoor water park.
Dec. 28 – A recent absence of construction workers on the site is said to be due to the holidays, with work resuming in Jan. 2017.
2017
April 13 – KidZania USA announces plans to bring what it calls "the world's fastest-growing experiential learning center for children" to American Dream, although the $1 billion bond package has yet to be sold and construction remains dormant since late 2016.