American Dream Developers Propose Significant Mass Transit Improvements

American Dream is the new name for the former Xanadu project in the Meadowlands across from the new MetLife Stadium where the World Champion New York Giants share the field with the New York Jets. American Dream is now run by the same developers, Triple Five Worldwide, who operate the massive Mall of America and were brought in to rescue the bankrupt developers who pushed the hideous Xanadu project.

One of the major impediments to getting the project completed is dealing with the millions of people who are expected to come to this destination center. Existing highways are maxed out in capacity, particularly on game or event days at MetLife stadium. That means that mass transit has to be a central feature of bringing in people to the area.

NJ Transit built a spur line between the Meadowlands Stadium and Secaucus Junction, which currently operates only during event periods. I've used this service to go to concerts there, and it does a fairly good job of getting people to the Stadium, though it wasn't nearly as efficient as it could have been; it was designed as a spur stop, rather than a through stop, meaning that trains would have to backtrack to Secaucus for commuters or customers seeking to run up the Pascack Valley Line adding an unnecessary delay. One of the justifications for this was the added cost of cleaning up contaminated land on a route allowing a through stop.

However, this is a stop that has potential for significant growth and would add value to the existing Secaucus Junction location (both as a customer transfer point and development of parking and business opportunities there).

Triple Five Worldwide says that they're going to boost mass transit, but one has to wonder how they're going to achieve this. Are they going to pay for the 7-day rail service, or expanded bus service to the site particularly when NJ Transit just cut four bus lines to save costs.

Janna Chernetz, the New Jersey advocate for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, an organization dedicated to reducing car dependency, questioned how NJ Transit would pay for increased service to American Dream. The public transport corporation cut four bus routes in July.

Seven bus routes make regular stops at Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, the current titleholder for biggest mall in the county. The Plaza draws about 20 million shoppers a year, less than half of the expected annual turnout at American Dream.

"There's a lot of concerns as to whether or not or how New Jersey Transit's going to fund this," Chernetz said.

John Durso, a spokesman for NJ Transit, would not comment beyond one statement:
"Right now we're still in the process of finalizing our plan to provide robust bus and rail service to support this important economic development project."

Transportation advocates and officials from neighboring municipalities have questioned whether the region can handle the traffic that American Dream is expected to generate. Triple Five says on the American Dream website that the center will draw between 40 and 55 million annual visitors.

In July, Triple Five announced that it would partner with DreamWorks Animation company to create an indoor theme park at American Dream. Don Ghermezian, the president of Triple Five, said he expected the park to become a worldwide attraction.

The Giants and Jets have sued to block Triple Five's plans, claiming that they didn't consult the teams on the traffic plans, since it could affect game days.

Triple Five's American Dream Already Turning Into A Nightmare

Triple Five, which operates the Mall of America entered into an agreement to take over the moribund and never-opened Xanadu project that is full of the stench of failed development policies in New Jersey. The company is likely to benefit from a number of tax measures to entice the company to take over the project, but the whole enterprise seems to be a money pit just waiting to happen. One can only hope that Triple Five can turn things around but they're going to have to overcome issues with the design and structure itself.

In fact, it looks like some of the work done on the original project was shoddy and will need significant repair before the site can be readied for an open (a date has still not been set for when that will happen). Costs were cut in order to attempt to open the project, and when the money ran out, everything was left as it was.

Elevators and escalators that have been installed on site will need to be refurbished or replaced because of rust or corrosion.

Perhaps more costly is the fact that one of the parking garage decks is sinking and needs to be stabilized. Triple Five says that the structures are stable, but soil underneath needs to be compacted and brought up to level. This particular issue appears to be similar to one that faced the developers for Palisades Center in Nyack, New York, where the underground garage was shut down for months as the developers worked to repair the garage levels because it became impossible to safely navigate the area due to potholes, sinkholes, and subsidence.

The company also plans on completely revamping interior and exterior finishes. Those changes to the exterior can't come fast enough as everyone recognizes just how ugly and awful the design was.

Changing Its Name Wont Help Xanadu

What should someone make of the idea that the long-stalled Xanadu project will get a name change?

Xanadu, the mega-mall project in the Meadowlands that Gov. Chris Christie has called the ugliest building in New Jersey, will be getting a new name.

Jon Hanson, who headed a committee appointed by Christie to study the future of casinos, racetracks and Xanadu, told a gambling forum Thursday that the project will shed its Kubla Khan-inspired name.

Hanson says he met with the latest developers, Triple-Five, and told them the project does not mean anything to the average New Jerseyan.

"Nobody in New Jersey knows what a Xanadu is, so you have to change the name," Hanson says he told the developers. "I can report to you there will be a name change."

A new name has yet to be picked out.

It doesn't matter what it will be called.

Taxpayers will still be on the hook for a significant portion of its development and until the new developers (Triple-Five, which operates Minnesota's Mall of America among others) get it opened, this will not only be an ongoing eyesore, but a drain on the state and local economy.

Triple-Five has said that it would redo the exterior (which is yet another cost that the new developer will bear in order to get this project underway).

There's no word on what exactly retailers will come to the location. Cabelas scrapped its intention to build a megastore there, and other entertainment options are being evaluated. The ski area was also damaged during this past winter's storms, but that's manageable compared to finding leases on all the space and wooing visitors to come to the site.

Christmas Comes Early For NJ Taxpayers and Xanadu?

Mall of America is one of the world's largest shopping malls. Its developer has signed a letter of intent to finish and operate the long delayed Xanadu project in the Meadowlands.

Triple Five, which owns the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada, announced Thursday that it has signed a letter of intent with the lenders of Xanadu to develop the 2.3 million square-foot complex in the Meadowlands.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie welcomed the move, saying he has delivered on a promise to revitalize the sprawling $2 billion complex originally slated to open in late 2007.

Two other companies have previously had control of the project.

If there's any mall operator that can turn this project and white elephant around, it's going to be Triple Five, which had the ability and foresight to do wonders with Mall of America. However, there are significant challenges remaining, including the fact that Xanadu is located within minutes of one of the densest retail shopping corridors in the nation - the Route 4-17 corridor, which already has four major shopping malls and hundreds of major retailers.

The ongoing gloomy retail market means that businesses may not be as willing to expand into what they may perceive as a risky venture, but it also means that secondary retailers or ones that are looking to expand into new markets and are willing to take a chance, might take a flier on the Xanadu project. Triple Five might convince Cabelas to take another look at Northern New Jersey; the outdoor outfitter had originally intended to open one of its largest outlets in Xanadu but pulled out after delays by the prior developers pushed the completion and opening dates beyond what anyone would expect - and it remains shuttered to this day.

Gov. Christie Proposing Major Changes To Atlantic City and Meadowlands

Coming off the budget battle to start righting the New Jersey fiscal ship, Gov. Chris Christie has set his sights on the horrible governance at the Meadowlands and Atlantic City. He's proposed a state takeover of the casino and harbor gaming districts and disbanding the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, which oversees the Meadowlands racetrack, IZOD Center, and the stalled Xanadu project.

The key points are as follows:

 The state would seek to transform Atlantic City into a convention and family friendly resort, including a major expansion of the boardwalk that would include amusement rides. The entertainment areas would be placed under the control of a new state authority, essentially turning it into an independent city within a city.

• Money from the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, now shared throughout the state, would stay in Atlantic City for projects and improvements there.

• The Meadowlands Racetrack could be sold for a token $1, or turned into an off-track wagering facility without live horse racing.

• The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority would be all but disbanded, becoming simply a landlord for the facilities it now operates. The Izod Center arena in the Meadowlands could be privatized or sold.

• The state would help re-finance the long-stalled Xanadu project in the Meadowlands, enabling a new developer to take control of the garish, high-visibility retail and entertainment complex alongside the New Jersey Turnpike that many consider an embarrassment.

Atlantic City has fallen well behind other casino destinations, particularly Las Vegas in attracting business. It couldn't keep up with the glitz and glamor and local corruption didn't help. Mismanagement in the local government meant that money that should have gone to improving the city ended up in the pockets of bureaucrats. Yet, the fault isn't solely on the city's political structure. The casinos themselves bear culpability too. They've failed to entice customers to Atlantic City in a way that can compete with Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun and other nearby casinos. When was the last time you saw advertisements for Caesars Palace or the Borgata? Combine that with paltry comps and excessive pricing for rooms and you end up with daytrippers who aren't going to spend a whole lot of time or money on the casino floor.

The casinos themselves need to rethink how to better market themselves just as surely as the city and casino district have to clean up their act. A state takeover may help accomplish this, but it should never have come to that sorry state in the first place.

Eliminating the public authorities is a good first step to cutting down the bureaucracy and cronyism that dominates the local politics in the state. Yet, the Meadowlands portion of the proposal is troublesome because of how it might refinance the Xanadu project, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the tab even as it was a project that should have kept the risk on the developers - not taxpayers.

So, according to the Record, who wins with this proposal?

Winners
The casino industry: Casino owners believe anything that increases state investment in Atlantic City is good for business.
Gamblers: Atlantic City becomes more inviting.
State Sen. Stephen Sweeney and South Jersey legislators: Held the line on gaming outside of Atlantic City.
Xanadu: Gets a new lease on life.
Stephen Ross: New York real estate developer could get state financing.
Construction industry: Proposals could lead to massive construction in Atlantic City and Xanadu.
Prudential Center: Arena in Newark could see less competition from Izod Center.

Who loses?

Sports and Exposition Authority: To close up shop.
Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority: Also would close.
Harness racing: Would no longer be state-subsidized. The Meadowlands Racetrack could close.
Monmouth Park: Track attendance is up with new shortened race schedule, but state may privatize track, leaving its future uncertain.
Atlantic City municipal government: Gets a vote of no confidence. Loses control of the casino and entertainment district to the state.
Xanadu: If no deal is reached, the state will foreclose.

It isn't clear whether the Bergen County political delegation wins or loses since it depends on how much money ends up being generated from the rejiggering of the Meadowlands enterprise (the racetrack, IZOD Center, and Xanadu). While some people are critical of the racetrack venture and think it may end up shutting down the track along with the loss of jobs, the state needs to seriously consider whether horse racing is a venture that it should be spending and losing money on when there are more critical needs. Bear in mind that the NJSEA was meant to generate money for the state through investing in the sports venues in the Meadowlands and around the state. It's turned into a money-losing operation that can't sustain itself. That has to change.

UPDATE:
To prove my point about the casinos themselves being part of the problem, note that Travelzoo has a list of hot deals. Among them is a deal to get a room at the Luxor for all of $38 bucks for a room on the Vegas Strip. That's significantly cheaper than comparable rooms in Atlantic City's casinos and it can potentially be cheaper to fly to Vegas than to drive to Atlantic City. Airfare from NYC can run $350 or so to Vegas. If you plan on going for a week, you could end up spending less for a room in Vegas. The cheapest rooms in an Atlantic City casino are from $115 a night at the Trump Marina. That doesn't compare favorably to Vegas casinos on the strip at all.

Xanadu is a Xanadont

Xanadu is looking more and more like a Xanadont. It was conceived at a time when money was flush and the idea of a sports and recreation-centric shopping center (but don't call it a shopping mall) was plausible. Yet, an all too cozy political relationship and an economic downturn has rendered the multibillion dollar facility a monument to folly and excess.

The place is yet to open, and its operators have no date set for when it will do so. One of  its anchor tenants, Cabelas, has withdrawn from the project entirely. Cabelas, an outdoors chain that would have seen Xanadu as its first foray into New Jersey, tucked tail and ran as the project remains mired in limbo. I don't blame them. Had it opened as promised, Xanadu would have given Cabelas a high profile location in the NY metro region and let people realize that it is more than just an outdoors store; it's a destination unto itself. The Xanadu store would have been something to behold:

* A huge mountain replica, the centerpiece of the store's open showroom, with running waterfalls and streams, and trophy animals in re-creations of their distinct habitats. Similar mountains, each called Conservation Mountain, have been built in other Cabela's stores as monuments to wildlife and salutes to the sportsmen and women who support wildlife conservation.
* A 9,000-gallon freshwater aquarium stocked with fish native to the area.
* Museum-quality representations of many wild-game species, including an expansive diorama devoted to African game animals.
* World-class Gun Library™, providing gun collectors and aficionados the opportunity to browse through a collection of examples of the gun-making art.
* Full-service fly-fishing shop, much like a store within a store, with the products - and helpful, experienced staff - for all fly-casters from novice to expert.
* Indoor archery range where archers can test and fine-tune their equipment.
* Bargain Cave, featuring discount prices on returned and discontinued merchandise.

Now, no one knows what to do with the place.

It's exterior design has been ridiculed and it took thousands of parking spots away from those hoping to tailgate before football games or concerts.

It was supposed to open the first indoor ski area, and yet no one has clipped on their skis.

Now, people are wondering whether it would be better to just tear down the whole thing rather than let it sit as a hulking ruin. It is also a huge political liability for anyone connected with the project, and now sits in the lap of Gov. Christie, who has to figure out what to do with the place.

I figure it will eventually open, and its operators may eventually figure out a way to lure other businesses to open there. It might even get the Pepsi Wheel (a 287 foot high Ferris wheel that would be the largest in the US).

NJ Transportation Has Good, Bad, and Ugly

Here's the good. NJ Transit is currently renovating the Ridgewood, New Jersey station, providing high level platforms and elevators to provide accessibility to the disabled. It will also speed embarkation and debarkation at the station, which is a major stop on the Bergen/Main line. Canopies will also be installed to protect commuters from the elements.

Work also includes making restrooms at the station building accessible. The station work will be completed by 2011. The overall project is to cost $41 million, and the current work is part of a $23.6 million contract.

Also good is that money has been set aside to replace the decrepit Fair Lawn Avenue bridge over the Passaic River connecting Paterson with Fair Lawn. It is functionally obsolete, has a weight limit, and no room for error due to the narrow conditions. The replacement of the span had been held up since Fair Lawn rebuilt a span down river at Morlot Avenue and Fair Lawn hoped that Paterson would pick up the tab on the Fair Lawn Avenue span. Several other notable projects are also picked up in the multiyear capital spending plan. However, the state is spending a fraction of what's needed to replace obsolete spans:

The proposed four-year transportation plan includes $21 million toward bridge replacement next year, nearly $66 million in 2011, $73 million in 2012 and nearly $80 million in 2013.

The state has 675 structurally deficient bridges, including 315 owned by the state and 312 operated by counties or municipalities. That's bad.

Now, the ugly. NJ Transit expects to run trains to the Meadowlands/Giants Stadium a total of 30 times this year. The reason for the limited service is mainly due to the delays in the opening of the Xanadu project, which now looks like it's not going to open anytime soon (although reports seem to indicate a late 2010 opening). The spur line operated by NJ Transit cost $200 million, and it will be years before it pays for itself through the user fees.

The spur line wont operate during Nets games, but will operate for major concerts at Giants Stadium, as well as for the football games. I used the spur line to attend the AC/DC concert at the end of July, and found it somewhat useful, particularly if you live near a station that has terminating service beyond midnight. If you live at or near a station that has limited service, the spur line service isn't going to get you out of your car and onto mass transit.

So, for now, the spur line is a boondoggle, not unlike the Secaucus Transfer. That NJ Transit project remains a white elephant that hasn't met traffic expectations but now may see additional users because of the construction of a parking lot adjacent to the station. That station sees a fraction of the figures NJ Transit used to justify the station's exorbitant costs. As of 2004, the station remained seriously underutilized:

Since the project was begun two decades ago, planners have been making lofty claims about the number of people who would pass through the station. In 1992, developers boasted that eventually 70,000 riders a day would use the station. Throughout the 1990's, transit officials said that by 2010, about 32,000 passengers would make their way to the station. Two years ago, that figure was scaled back even more, to 16,500. For the first six months of this year, the number of riders was projected to be 7,500. But in May, after six months of operation, the number stood at a mere 5,600. By way of comparison, Pennsylvania Station in Newark handles 12,000 commuters on an average weekday, and Hoboken 19,000.

In fact, NJ Transit continued to decrease its figures, even as the costs rose out of control.

Currently, the station gets around 6,000 commuters a day.

In fact, taking a current usage of 7,500 per day, you'd still find that the estimates were off by a magnitude of nine (7,500 versus 70,000; or a factor of four with the later estimates of 32,000 versus 7,500 per day.

The sunk costs into building Secaucus means that the system lacks the capability to upgrade services where its actually needed, particularly if NJ Transit had constructed a bare bones transfer setting with parking from the outset.

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.

NJ Transit Does It Again

I've railed on about the Secaucus boondoggle for years now. That white elephant cost taxpayers and commuters hundreds of millions more than originally estimated because NJ Transit had to build a gold plated facility that is severely underutilized.

Now, we learn that NJ Transit spur line to the new Giants Stadium/Xanadu complex is costing far more than it should have, and that had NJ Transit opted for a different route it could not only have saved millions of dollars, but it would have avoided purchasing land that is part of a Superfund site.

But that did not stop the state from making the site the cornerstone of a $182 million project to bring rail service to Giants Stadium, Xanadu and the rest of the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

A review of the rail project shows that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority in December 2006 spent $6.2 million to buy 56 acres of the site from its current owner, Honeywell International.

At about $108,000 an acre, that's roughly five times the price the state charged a private developer for 785 acres of contaminated land at the nearby EnCap Golf project site.

Six alternative routes considered for the rail line, built as a spur off NJ Transit's Pascack Valley Line, would have allowed the state to buy much less land — only about 3 acres — and avoid Superfund-style contamination.

Additionally, all of the competing rail alternatives would have been built off the much more widely used Bergen Line, which also would have served Pascack Valley riders.

The state says the Honeywell option, with its proximity to the Pascack Valley Line, was the most cost-effective and useful for New Jersey mass-transit users. They also note that their deal with Honeywell makes the Morristown-based conglomerate solely responsible for the costs of the cleanup.

Someone was profiting from that choice, despite the fact that it makes little sense for the trains to operate from the Pascack Valley line and not the Bergen line.

The link project was originally supposed to cost $150 million. Its current cost is $182 million, and growing. Here are the alternatives.

Even as the project was being debated in 2005, there were questions over how and why this particular right of way was chosen.

This is the way NJ Transit does business. They are not fiscally responsible, and despite their claims that the route chosen was the best and most cost effective choice and that alternative routes might have not been cost effective for obtaining easements and/or necessitated construction of elevated rail lines, the cost for obtaining the easements is significantly higher than it should have been. Why did the state pay far more for the Honeywell land purchases, than private developers received for the Encap deal? That raises questions about both deals; namely that the developer in Encap got a sweetheart deal and/or NJ Transit got gouged in the Honeywell deal.

UPDATE:
EnCap has declared bankruptcy after failing to reorganize. It also means a boon to lawyers:

The end of the bankruptcy case, EnCap attorneys have warned, could lead to years of expensive and time-consuming litigation among more than a dozen entities, with at least 200 unsecured creditors now left to look to parties other than EnCap for compensation.

The hearing began with attorneys for the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission and insurance giant AIG telling Winfield that negotiations had broken down over a disputed $148 million insurance policy to finish cleanup of the landfills at the EnCap site. That led the commission for the first time to side with Wachovia Bank — which wants to foreclosure on the property — in asking the judge to dismiss the case.

USS Ling Needs New Home

Malcolm A. Borg, chairman of North Jersey Media Group, The Record's parent company, has asked that the World War II submarine be moved from his River Street property. The tract, which the newspaper company leases to the New Jersey Naval Museum for $1 a year, is across the parking lot from The Record.

Last year, NJMG moved its manufacturing operations from its Hackensack headquarters to its Rockaway Township plant, leaving a large portion of the company's building vacant. Borg said the building is no longer suitable for office space, so he is in discussions to sell or develop the company's property, about 25 acres off River Street.

"We are looking at various options including building a new building on this property or either perhaps selling or leasing the rest of the property," Borg, who is honorary chairman of the museum, said Tuesday. "If the Ling were to leave, that would clear a couple of acres of land, so there are a lot of possibilities as to what could happen to this piece of property."

Figuring out where to move the 2,500-ton submarine and related artifacts is proving difficult for members of the Submarine Memorial Association, the non-profit group that runs the museum.

Some propose that the Ling be moved to Camden where it can join the USS New Jersey museum. I have two other suggestions that might be suitable.

1) Find another location in Northern New Jersey that would be suitable and close enough to its present location. The Meadowlands and the Xanadu project might be one such possibility. Putting the Ling in the Meadowlands would definitely increase its visibility and access to the submarine, which received one battle star during World War II.

2) See about partnering with the Intrepid Sea Air Space Museum. The Intrepid is currently undergoing renovations and will reopen to the public in 2008. The pier where the Intrepid was berthed is being rebuilt, and the museum already has another submarine in its collection, though it is of more recent vintage - the USS Growler, which patrolled during the 1950s and early 1960s. The Ling was launched during World War II and has been restored to that condition.

Giants/Jets Stadium Unveiled

The Giants and Jets are splitting construction costs that could reach $1 billion, with the state providing the teams with the land and up to $30 million in infrastructure improvements. Construction is to start in early 2007.

The new stadium will be part of the larger Xanadu complex being built on adjacent land. Hopefully they'll figure out the transportation infrastructure in the area, or it will be an unmanageable mess. The renderings show a new NJ Transit station next to the stadium, and that would be a tremendous improvement over the lack of rail access to the stadium complex.

Let's see if it gets realized.