Xanadu Opening To Be Delayed Again?

The bleak economic outlook is pushing back the opening of the massive Xanadu project in the Meadowlands once again.

The chairman of the authority in charge of the Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex said he expects "within the next 10 days" to meet with developer Colony Capital to discuss recent leasing activity and make a decision on whether to stick with the scheduled August opening, or delaying opening until November or even next year, according to a report in The Record.

According to the report, after the monthly meeting of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, Chairman Carl Goldberg discussed with a local television station a "March or April" 2010 opening. The beleaguered Xanadu project has been under construction since 2004, after an 18-month delay in groundbreaking from when the board first approved the project. Xanadu officials have said as many as 200 stores and kiosks may open at the 2-million-square-foot entertainment and retail complex.

This oft-delayed mega-mall (there's no other way to describe it other than a mall despite the fact that the project includes the nation's first indoor ski slope and other entertainment options) was scheduled to open last year, but delays have piled up and businesses are not exactly pushing to open new outlets in to the teeth of a recessionary environment. One of the anchor tenants, Cabelas, has said that they would delay opening their store as well.

This stands in contrast with the reopening of the Bergen Town Center, which has 90% occupancy with Whole Foods, Target, and Century 21 and other major designer discount chains taking space in the newly remodeled mall.