Xanadu complex

[GoogleJC]

Xanadu complex gets the go-ahead

Thursday, December 04, 2003

By Matthew Futterman
Newhouse News Service

The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority yesterday overwhelmingly approved a plan to build a $1.3 billion entertainment and retail center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. The move clears the way for the transformation of one of the state's most recognized landmarks.

The agreement with Virginia-based Mills Corp. and its partner, Mack-Cali Realty of Cranford, will bring North America its first indoor ski mountain, northern New Jersey another regional mall, and Bergen County a minor league ball park.

Critics say the 4 million square-foot development will ultimately choke traffic in an already clogged region, will produce a $200 million windfall for the sports authority and create a new identity for the 27-year-old sports complex.

"This is a landmark day for the sports authority," said Carl Goldberg, the agency's chairman, after the 11-2 vote. "We think it really defines an entirely new land use concept."

The development at the 104-acre Continental Airlines Arena site would become one of the signature achievements of Gov. James E. McGreevey's first-term, which has been dominated by ethics scandals and battles over the budget.

"It's one of the most important pieces of property and to not keep up with the times and use it would not have been right," said Joseph Buckelew, a leading Republican and a sports authority commissioner. "I never thought we would get to this point."

Developers plan to break ground in the spring. Just two obstacles now stand in the way of a project that many predicted would never be built.

The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission must approve the project after an environmental hearing that will like take place early next year.

Also, the sports authority must prevail in a lawsuit filed by rival developer Hartz Mountain Industries alleging the agency violated its charter and the state's open public meetings law when it awarded Mills/Mack-Cali the right to build on its property. However, the momentum Xanadu has generated now appears nearly insurmountable, and Hartz President Emanuel Stern declined comment yesterday.

The future of the Continental Airlines Arena itself won't be known until investors in the Nets and Devils decide whether to sell the teams. If they do, and the new owners want to stay, the arena will likely be renovated and connected to Xanadu. If the teams move, the arena may be demolished.

Regardless, critics of Xanadu, led by the dissenting commissioners, former chairman Raymond Bateman and financial consultant Candace Straight, said pursuing a project the size of Xanadu was a major mistake.

Bateman said Xanadu will create a "traffic nightmare" every day in an area where bumper-to-bumper traffic jams the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3 every rush hour.

Competition from Xanadu will certainly be substantial. The project includes: 600,000 square feet of retail space; 1.7 million square feet of for entertainment, such as movie theaters, restaurants, an extreme sports park and a surfing pool with man-made waves. The plans also call for the construction of four office towers, a 500-room hotel and conference center; and 12,500 parking spaces in garages.

[Kris]

April 28, 2004

Meadowlands Bid Process Is Challenged in State Court

By RONALD SMOTHERS

HACKENSACK, N.J., April 27 - Groups challenging a $1.3 billion redevelopment of the Continental Arena site charged in a state appellate court on Tuesday that state officials improperly ignored their own bid specifications by picking the only proposal that left the arena intact.

The appellate panel is being asked by Hartz Mountain Industries and Westfield Group - two of the unsuccessful bidders - a taxpayer group and at least one Bergen County municipality to invalidate the bidding as unfair and in violation of state law.

Five of the six groups that bid to redevelop the 106-acre Meadowlands site submitted plans that called for demolishing or radically altering the Continental Arena based on specifications from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. The specifications required that any reuse of the building had to respect the "anticipated noncompete agreement'' with a planned Newark arena.

The entire approach, said Justin P. Walder, one of the lawyers for Hartz Mountain, was predicated on the demolition of the Continental Arena.

However, the successful bidder, Meadowlands Xanadu, a sports and family entertainment project of the Mills Corporation and Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, was the only one that left the arena untouched in its proposal.

"There was unequal footing," Mr. Walder said.

Michael Cole, the lawyer for the Meadowlands Xanadu partnership, said that just before the bid specifications were issued in 2002, the authority sent an addendum that indicated that the Newark arena's fate was no longer a crucial element.

After 90 minutes of oral arguments Tuesday, the judges reserved decision.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

May 15, 2004

Suit Over Meadowlands Bids Yields Mixed Ruling

By RONALD SMOTHERS

NEWARK, MAY 14 - A state appellate panel ruled on Friday that the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority was within its rights in awarding a $1.4 billion contract to develop a huge entertainment complex at the Continental Arena site at the Meadowlands.

But the court also said that the authority may have improperly withheld documents from unsuccessful bidders who are challenging the bidding process.

The panel said that a Superior Court judge must review the documents and, if new information is found, losing bidders should get another chance to challenge the process. The contract to develop the project at the 104-acre site was awarded to the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, in partnership with the Mills Corporation. Their proposal, unlike the other bids, left the Continental Arena untouched.

Other bidders said they believed that the arena's demolition was required to meet bid specifications, and sued on those and other grounds.

The panel said that the authority had properly left details of the development to the imagination of the bidders, including whether to incorporate the arena into their plans.

The plan's retail component was also in line with the bid specifications, the court ruled. One challenger, a mall operator, said the project was essentially a mall and not a family entertainment venue.

The losing bidders had asked for a variety of documents related to the process from the authority, but the panel did not spell out exactly what documents had been withheld.

Both sides in the dispute claimed a measure of victory in the ruling.

Mitchell Hersh, president and chief executive officer of Mack-Cali, said the ruling validated "the integrity of the process."

James F. Dausch, president of the development division of the Mills Corporation, said the ruling means work can begin this summer.

But a spokesman for Hartz Mountain Industries, one of the plaintiffs, said the ruling provided a second chance to losing bidders. It allows the company to "establish that the selection and process was flawed," said Ron Simoncini, the spokesman.

Within 15 days of the Superior Court judge's review of the documents sought by the losing bidders, the panel ruled, the authority must hold a hearing on their challenge to the bidding process.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

November 19, 2004

Codey's Plans Leave Project in Meadows in Doubt

By LAURA MANSNERUS and JOSH BENSON

TRENTON, Nov. 18 - Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey's plan to revitalize the sports complex in the New Jersey Meadowlands has raised questions about the future of the huge shopping and entertainment development that former Gov. James E. McGreevey's administration approved for the site.

The $1.3 billion development project, called Meadowlands Xanadu, has been under attack by environmentalists and local opponents who contend that it will be little more than a big shopping mall. The main developer, which has promoted similar projects around the nation as "shoppertainment," won approval for the project from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority earlier this fall.

The project has significant support from important political figures, including United States Representative Robert Menendez and former State Senator John Lynch. At the groundbreaking Oct. 5, Mr. McGreevey spoke effusively about the entertainment and shopping "destination" that he said would bring crowds back to the site of the sagging sports complex.

But while Mr. McGreevey wanted the state to get out of the sports business, Mr. Codey wants to resuscitate it, using state money if necessary. Mr. Codey, who became acting governor on Tuesday, has asked the chairman of the sports authority, Carl Goldberg, to review the plan for the sports complex site. Mr. Codey "wants to be thoroughly debriefed within the next couple weeks," Mr. Goldberg said.

As for the Xanadu development team, the Mills Corporation and the Mack-Cali Realty Corporation, Mr. Goldberg said: "There are significant agreements in place, but that doesn't mean the land plan can't be refined going forward. If we have to go back to Mills and Mack-Cali and request some modifications to their land plan in order to accommodate what Governor Codey wants over the years, we will."

The sports complex includes Giants Stadium, where the New York Giants, the New York Jets and the MetroStars soccer team play, the Meadowlands Racetrack and the Continental Airlines Arena, shared by the New Jersey Nets and the New Jersey Devils. Of the five sports teams, four have proposed new homes: the Jets in a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, the Nets in Brooklyn, the Devils in an arena in Newark and the MetroStars in Harrison, N.J.

What the sports-friendly Mr. Codey wants is a new stadium for the Giants, a separate arena for the MetroStars and video slot machines at the racetrack. He also wants to keep the Jets and the Nets. But some sports industry experts and environmental advocates say that the 400-acre site cannot accommodate all that and Xanadu, with 5 million square feet of retail, entertainment and office space.

The state chapter of the Sierra Club has sued the sports authority over Xanadu, arguing that the state failed to conduct the required environmental impact studies. Jeff Tittel, the club president, said the project would bring 100,000 to 125,000 additional cars a day. If the sports complex is expanded as well, he said, "it's going to burst at the seams."

Michael Rowe, a sports industry consultant who is advising Mr. Codey on the sports complex, said, "I think everything is in play."

"To say we want to de-emphasize sports and look at making it a retail-entertainment-office-housing-sports complex, I believe he has earned the right to double-check whether that's the solution to what the Meadowlands needs to be in the 2000's," Mr. Rowe said.

Still, the site preparation for Xanadu is under way and the developers need just one more approval, from the Army Corps of Engineers.

"We've got our state permits and a contract with the state, and are looking forward to building this project," said Robert Sommer, a spokesman for Mills and Mack-Cali. "The new governor has lot of exciting proposals that would potentially enhance Meadowlands Xanadu."

George Zoffinger, the sports authority president, also says the projects are compatible. "We feel pretty strongly that the Xanadu project works well with the site," Mr. Zoffinger said. "It's going to take planning. It's going to take creativity. But I'm very pleased that the governor realized we have real opportunities here."

Officials of at least some of the teams now at the Meadowlands are not so sure. The Giants, Jets and Devils all sent letters in recent weeks to the sports authority expressing concerns over how Xanadu would affect parking and traffic for their fans. The parking is a special concern to the football teams because garage parking is slower to empty out than surface parking, and makes tailgating all but impossible.

The Giants have been negotiating with the sports authority for several years, reaching an agreement last year for a $375 million renovation of the 28-year-old stadium when what the team really wanted was a new stadium. While Mr. Zoffinger has a history of friction with the team management, Mr. Codey's statement last week that he favored a new stadium clearly encouraged the Giants.

"I think that Richard Codey has expressed to us that he wants to make a deal with us, and we're very optimistic that we will be able to accomplish that," said John Mara, the Giants' executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Mr. Mara said his team was conducting its own review of Xanadu's effects. "We're working with them to make sure it's possible to coexist," he said. "I'm not sure that it is, but we're keeping an open mind."

Lou Lamoriello, the Devils' chief executive and general manager, said, "It's about how our fans will be affected when they come to the game, whether it has to do with parking, or egress or entrance."

Mr. Lamoriello continued, "From what I can tell, none of the teams have been satisfied to the point where they're comfortable."

Mr. Codey, while declining to discuss the Xanadu project, said in an interview that he was committed to improving relations with the teams. If the Jets, Nets and Devils leave, Mr. Codey said, "that leaves what is now an old football stadium but a good one, and a racetrack that like all other racetracks every year loses attendance."

He said he wanted to keep the complex's position as the premier sports center in the New York region. "It should still be a mecca for sports," not a center in decline, he said. Mr. Codey also voiced doubts about New York's succeeding in luring the Nets and Jets, despite Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's fervent campaigning. "There's only so much Bloomberg can spend on sports teams," he said.

The courting of sports teams is also an issue with New Jersey voters, however. Polls have shown that most supported Mr. McGreevey's refusal to spend any state money on the teams, and efforts to build an arena in Newark, which is to be financed by the Devils and the city, have barely moved in three years.

But Mr. Rowe said polls also showed that New Jersey residents are enthusiastic about the sports complex. "When New Jerseyans were polled in the 1980's about what they were most proud of in New Jersey, they listed the Meadowlands as the top thing," he said. "They were proud for the Meadowlands to be hosting in excess of seven or eight million people a year, and to have five professional sports teams."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

November 20, 2004

Project in Meadowlands Wins Backing of the Acting Governor

By LAURA MANSNERUS

Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey expressed his support yesterday for the Meadowlands Xanadu project, saying the plans for the large shopping and entertainment complex were consistent with his vision for the neighboring Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Mr. Codey has asked the chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to review the plan for the sports complex, where he wants a new stadium for the New York Giants and a new soccer arena. Mr. Codey also supports video slot machines at the racetrack to reverse years of declining attendance.

Xanadu, a $1.3 billion development, with 5 million square feet of retail, entertainment and office space, broke ground on Oct. 5.

Yesterday, after The New York Times reported that Mr. Codey had asked Carl J. Goldberg, chairman of the sports authority, to conduct a review of the overall plan and report to him within a few weeks, the acting governor issued a statement through the sports authority, saying he supported the Xanadu project.

"He looks forward to working with the developers of the Xanadu project to assure that his goals, that of the Meadowlands developers, the franchise tenants and the people of the State of New Jersey are met,'' the statement said.

Mr. Codey had expressed interest in looking anew at the Meadowlands site before, telling The Star-Ledger of Newark earlier this month: "If we don't do anything, what does the place become? Is it just a dying football stadium, a racetrack and a place for shopping? I don't think that's right."

Yesterday, he attended the sports authority's meeting and asked the board to try to keep the Jets and the Nets at the Meadowlands, Mr. Goldberg told The Associated Press. The teams are planning moves to New York.

"What he has said is let's take a step back and look at what we're doing here and make sure we can do it all," Mr. Goldberg said.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

May 25, 2006
Delays and Higher Costs Expected for Xanadu
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI and LAURA MANSNERUS

TRENTON, May 24 — The developer building the sprawling Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands has acknowledged that the project will take longer, cost more and earn less money than originally projected, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

That disclosure — which comes as the developer, the Mills Corporation, is being pressured by lenders who want to force a sale of the company or its most important assets — rekindled fears on Wednesday that New Jersey may be spending hundreds of millions in tax dollars to provide infrastructure improvements for what could turn out to be little more than a shopping mall.

But Mills executives and state officials say that there are no plans to curtail construction of the elaborate assortment of entertainment and extreme sports facilities intended to make the complex as much of a tourist destination as a shopping center.

Mills, based in Arlington, Va., won the right to develop the coveted 104-acre site in East Rutherford by proposing an ambitious complex: retail stores surrounded by a hotel, office space and an assortment of indoor recreational facilities like a trout stream, a surfing wave and a ski slope.

Construction began in 2004, but in recent months Mills has faced an assortment of financial and legal problems, including shareholder lawsuits, an investigation by the S.E.C. and demands from creditors that the company be sold. As the price of the stock dropped — in eight months, Mills fell to below $27 a share from higher than $66 a share, closing on Wednesday at $30.70 — the company fired top executives, slashed its work force and abandoned 10 other projects.

In its filing with the S.E.C., the company said that Xanadu's opening would be delayed six months to a year beyond the recently announced date of the fall of 2007, and its cost would be higher than anticipated.

David Douglass, a spokesman for the company, said Mills remained committed to building the snow dome and other entertainment parts of the project, though the company had previously said that plans for a mile-long roller coaster and go-cart track had been abandoned.

Carl J. Goldberg, chairman of the New Jersey Sports and Exhibition Authority, said he had been assured that Mills has no intention of trying to renege on its commitment to build the more distinctive but less profitable recreational parts of Xanadu.

"There's been no conversation whatsoever that they have any intent to in any way materially change the scope of the project from the approved plan," Mr. Goldberg said.

Mills officials declined to provide an estimate of the expected cost overruns for Xanadu, which was originally projected at $1.2 billion. But Rich Moore, a financial analyst for RBC Capital, said that despite its recent problems, he upgraded his assessment of Mills because the company's record had convinced him that Xanadu would be built as planned.

The Xanadu project dates to the administration of Gov. James E. McGreevey. As part of the deal with Mills, the state promised utilities and road improvements, a new rail spur to the sports complex, tax exemptions, economic development grants and more, at a cost that could reach $1 billion.

Robert Sommer, a spokesman for the Xanadu project, said that Mills had already invested hundreds of millions of dollars, including $160 million in rent paid to the state, and intends to see it completed as planned.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

[TeddyJ]

Maybe the Nets will be coming to Newark after all:) With all the problems Ratner is having in BK and the now Xanadu it seems like a good shot now.

[pianoman11686]

GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/631_631/newjersey/147347-1.html)

UPDATE Last updated: July 14, 2006 01:28pm

Mills Seeking Xanadu ‘White Knight’

By Eric Peterson

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-The chosen developer for has signed just three retail tenants for its massive Xanadu retail/entertainment project and uncertainty abounds, so officials of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, the state agency that owns the site in the Meadowlands, this week called in officials of the Arlington, VA-based Mills Corp. to explain.
According to published reports, NJSEA chairman Carl Goldberg and CEO George Zoffinger sat down this week with chairman Laurence Siegel and COO Mark Ordan of the troubled Mills for a meeting that lasted several hours.

According to reports, what came out of that meeting was Mills’ stated intention to find a buyer for a major portion of its stake in the project, with the aim being a cash infusion to get the $1.5 billion project completed. A Mills spokesman confirmed the details of the meeting but declined further comment. Officials of the NJSEA could not be reached for comment.

For Mills, which already has the Cranford, NJ-based Mack-Cali Realty Corp. as a partner in Xanadu, with financial backing from the German fund KanAm, the obvious problem is cash flow. The loan route has dried up, according to sources, because Mills signed just the three retail leases for the massive project, and therefore has very little to work with as collateral. In the meeting, according to reports, Siegel and Ordan told NJSEA officials that they’re close to signing some 800,000 sf of retail leases—the project will total some two million sf. To date has signed deals only the Cabela’s sporting goods chain, Children’s Place and Muvico, the latter for a multiplex cinema. Mills has also yet to line up operators for the project’s recreational features, including a proposed indoor ski mountain.

The alternative, Siegel and Ordan told NJSEA officials this week, will be for Mills to find a buyer for a major portion of its stake in the project that’s said to be costing the company upwards of $10 million a week at this early-construction stage.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[ablarc]

The developer building the sprawling Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands has acknowledged that the project will take longer, cost more and earn less money than originally projected...

That disclosure...rekindled fears on Wednesday that New Jersey may be spending hundreds of millions in tax dollars to provide infrastructure improvements for what could turn out to be little more than a shopping mall.

But Mills executives and state officials say that there are no plans to curtail construction of the elaborate assortment of entertainment and extreme sports facilities intended to make the complex as much of a tourist destination as a shopping center.

Mills...won the right to develop the coveted 104-acre site in East Rutherford by proposing an ambitious complex: retail stores surrounded by a hotel, office space and an assortment of indoor recreational facilities like a trout stream, a surfing wave and a ski slope.
Ambitious complex?? More like a collection of stupid ideas.

How could anyone have gone for this tepid pile of crap to begin with? And with public funds?

Some people are just dumb.

[Ninjahedge]

KEEP IT SIMPLE!!!!

A trout stream is dumb and kitchy. A ski slope is equally unfeasable. Things liek a driving range, bowling alley and other recreational facilities might be more useful (something liek Chelsea Piers) than a bunch of space-stealing eye catchers that will be a beast to maintain.

Hell, a small lake in the main foyer would look nicer and be more pleasing than having a fake trout stream running by your Paragon Sporting Goods store.

[pianoman11686]

GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/671_671/newjersey/148138-1.html)

Last updated: August 11, 2006 11:17am

Meadowlands Xanadu Costs Rise

By Ian Ritter

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-Troubled retail-REIT Mills Corp. has filed a document with the SEC stating that its Meadowlands Xanadu project here will cost $2 billion to construct, $500 million more than it had previously reported. The company, which has been exploring a sale after heavy losses and accounting flaws, had announced last month that it was looking for a joint-venture partner on the two-million-sf retail-entertainment project.

Mills has not obtained construction financing for Meadowlands Xanadu, and management says the funds are not likely to come in unless it is able to execute “significant remaining leasing activity,” according to the filing. Last month Mills management told the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, the agency that owns the site, that it were close to signing 800,000 sf of leases for the project.

If financing for the project is not obtained, Mills is required to provide the financing itself, which could lead to a write down on the development. So far, Mills has spent $380 million on Meadowlands Xanadu.

“In our view, Mills should cease construction at the Meadowlands and write off the equity,” says a Bank Of America analyst report, which assumes that the firm will take a write off on the full $380 million they have spent so far. The best-case scenario would be for Mills to find a buyer for the development, the report says, but given rising construction costs in the industry, “Mills would need to give away its investment for the project to make sense economically to a potential buyer.”

If that situation doesn’t work, Bank of America says that Mills would have to seek recapitalization in order to pay a $2.2-billion long-term loan it previously received from Goldman Sachs that is due by the end of the year. That could lead to an investor eventually coming in and taking control of the entire firm, the report says.

In June, Mills, the owner of 42 centers in North America and Europe, announced that it had received “interest from a variety of parties” in acquiring the company. Most recently management said that it has started work on the construction of the 265,000-sf retail portion of 108 North State St., a mixed-use development in Chicago.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[Ninjahedge]

Looks like they missed the window.

Maybe they should build condos... ;)

[TimmyG]

From NJ.com

Colony Capital to take over Xanadu project
The troubled Mills Corp. announced this morning that Colony Capital has invested $500 million in Xanadu, the massive retails and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands, according to three people involved with the discussions.
In an announcement released this morning just after the start of trading, Mills portrayed the investment by Colony as nothing short of a takeover of the Xanadu project.

According to the letter of intent signed by Mills, Colony, and the German investment fund KanAm, Colony will take over all the obligations to complete Xanadu, the $2 billion project at the sports complex that is expected to include North america's first indoor ski mountain, a minor league ballpark and dozens of high-end shops and restaurants.

"Our transaction with Kan Am and Colony would allow The Mills to achieve its goals of reducing the Company's financial obligations and facilitating our exploration of strategic alternatives," said Larry Siegel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Mills. "Colony is an experienced and well respected real estate investor and its participation attests to the potential long-term economic benefits of the Meadowlands Xanadu development. This transaction, when completed, will enable the realization of Meadowlands Xanadu for the people of New Jersey and the metropolitan area."

The investment by Colony is a major victory for Mills, whose stock price has plummetted in recent days as investors lost confidence in a company that had to reduce its earnings by some $200 million and warned Wall street analysts that its overall value would drop by some $300 million.

Mills executives have worked virtually non-stop the past week to iron out the agreement with Colony, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm led by Tom Barrick.

Colony President Richard Saltzman said Colony is committed to "the completion and success of this landmark entertainment and retail development project."

Mills will be a minority investor in Xanadu, having invested $485 million. Colony will provide $500 million and secure additional construction financing. Kan Am will spend $342 million. Mack-Cali Realty Corporation has invested an additional $32.5 million in the Project through a separate partnership. Mills said it is unlikely the company will recoup any of its investment in Xanadu for years. Mills said it expects to write off its full investment in Xanadu during the quarter in which the deal with Colony is finanlized.

Founded in 1991 by Thomas J. Barrack Jr., Colony is a private, international investment firm focusing primarily on real estate-related assets, securities and operating companies. The firm has invested approximately $20 billion in over 8,000 assets through various corporate, portfolio and complex property transactions. Colony has a staff of more than 160 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Beirut, Boston, Hawaii, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, and Tokyo.

Contributed Matthew Futterman

[pianoman11686]

GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/news/727_727/newjersey/149219-1.html)

Last updated: September 21, 2006 10:51am

Mills’ Xanadu Financing Date Delayed

By Ian Ritter

(Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL (http://www.globestretail.com/).)

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-Today’s expected closing date of construction financing for the Mills Corp.’s Meadowlands Xanadu project here is delayed until Sept. 27. Los Angeles-based Colony Capital Acquisitions and Germany’s Kan Am USA Management are providing the funds for the $2-billion retail-entertainment center.

Under the terms of the deal, Colony will invest up to $500 million in equity capital and arrange for construction financing for the rest of the projected $2-billion cost. Kan Am is Mills’ long-term financial joint-venture partner on projects around the country.

Chevy Chase, MD-based Mills’ management also says it expect to close a deal by the end of the month to sell its foreign holdings to Canada-based mall owner Ivanhoe Cambridge during or before the first week of next month. That $981-million deal involves the sale of Vaughan (Ontario) Mills; St. Enoch Centre, in Glasgow, Scotland; and Madrid (Spain) Xanadú.

Mills has been selling assets since the company came under fire last year for accounting irregularities, an SEC investigation, higher-than-projected development costs, and other issues. Since that time, the firm has put itself up for sale and let go about 160 employees.

In June, Mills, the owner of 42 centers in North America and Europe, announced that it had received “interest from a variety of parties” in acquiring the company. Most recently management said that it has started work on the construction of the 265,000-sf retail portion of 108 North State St., a mixed-use development in Chicago.

Copyright © 2006 ALM Properties, Inc.

[investordude]

Looks like Colony Capital has a larger share of the project now.

http://www.globest.com/news/776_776/newjersey/150416-1.html

[JCexpert558]

When will the project be built?

[66nexus]

When will the project be built?

Go Turnpike N and you'll see that HUGE skeleton up.

[JCMAN320]

Xanadu is moving along swiftly now and I can't wait to check it out onces its finished. They have been starting to put the exterior up finally.

[Eugenious]

http://www.herrmann-vermoegen.de/xanadu1.jpg

[Ninjahedge]

Not saying that wetland is more scenic, but EWWWWWW!!!!

I am looking at the skeliton as it goes up and can only see the gross consumerism that is what looks to be the proposed indoor skiing ramp.

Something about that just sickens me.... :(

[millertime83]

Here's a picture from about 3 weeks ago.

[JCMAN320]

Secaucus firm gets Xanadu systems contract

Friday, September 28, 2007

SECAUCUS - Developers of the Xanadu entertainment complex have awarded a $3.9 million contract for security and building management systems integration to a Secaucus firm.

TAC, which specializes in building automation, security systems and energy services, will install the building systems, which will include access control, video surveillance and indoor climate control.

Meadowlands Xanadu is a 4.8 million-square-foot family entertainment, sports, retail, office and hotel complex in East Rutherford, adjacent to Giants Stadium. The entertainment and retail center is to open late next year.

In a news release, TAC said it will be responsible for incorporating a complex surveillance system protecting the parking areas, entrances, elevators, escalators, employee and back office areas, and the large public spaces inside the venue. TAC will also install an access control system.

JOURNAL STAFF

[millertime83]

FAA objects to Ferris wheel at Xanadu
Friday, October 19, 2007

By NICK CLUNN
STAFF WRITER
A giant Ferris wheel that would provide a view of the Manhattan skyline from the Xanadu entertainment complex would jeopardize air travel around Teterboro Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration has determined.
The ruling leaves Xanadu's developer with two choices -- make the 33-story wheel smaller or prove that the proposed height would not interfere with flights in or out of the airport.
Engineers for developer Colony Capital Acquisitions will work with regulators so the wheel complies with safety standards, even if it means a smaller one, Tim White, a spokesman for the complex, said Thursday. But he said that even with the height of the wheel in question, New Jerseyans should expect to see it spinning when the $2 billion shopping and entertainment complex opens in November 2008.
The FAA told Colony that it would approve a wheel no taller than 190 feet, but would consider one taller than 286 feet to have a "substantial adverse effect" on air safety around Teterboro, which is about three miles away from Xanadu.
"We don't have any legal authority to stop a company from building a structure, but the majority of the time, they take our determinations very seriously," Arlene Salac, an FAA spokeswoman, said.
Regulators also deemed hazardous the prospect of a 289-foot-tall roller coaster on the Xanadu site. Xanadu officials in January 2006 said they had deleted a coaster from their plans, but public documents show that Colony asked the FAA in July to study a plan for one.
Carl Goldberg, chairman of New Jersey Sports Authority and Exposition, which allowed Xanadu's construction, said Thursday he was not aware of any FAA notices.
"There is no doubt that if the FAA has concerns about the height of anything at Xanadu, then that has to be looked at and addressed," Goldberg said.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the nation's largest advocacy group of its kind, opposes any Xanadu structure that fails to meet FAA standards, said Chris Dancy, an association spokesman.
Such structures would likely alter how aircraft approach and depart Teterboro, which might lead to a reduction in the amount of traffic. Less traffic at Teterboro would mean more landings and takeoffs at the metropolitan area's major hubs, which are already stressed, Dancy said.
"There is really not a lot of leeway in reconfiguring departures and arrivals," he said.
When Xanadu developers proposed a 400-foot wheel in 2004, the association told regulators to consider the amusement's impact on national airspace due to Xanadu's proximity to three of the country's busiest airports.
Xanadu's developers have billed the wheel as the largest in North America, and have touted it as one of the attractions that help distinguish the complex from a megamall.
Passengers would board the ride from one of Xanadu's buildings along the New Jersey Turnpike. Once on it, they would ride in one of 27 enclosed gondolas with climate control and enough room to hold about 20 people, giving passengers an outside view without having to step outdoors.
One time around the wheel would take about 25 minutes. The cost of a ticket has not been announced.
The FAA's ruling was cheered by Lane Biviano, who can see the Manhattan skyline from his Rutherford condominium, but might lose the view if the wheel is built at 333 feet.
"They want to pollute the sky with this structural graffiti," he said. "It's another form of air pollution, if you think about it.
Staff Writer John Brennan contributed to this article. E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com

[66nexus]

FAA objects to Ferris wheel at Xanadu
Friday, October 19, 2007

By NICK CLUNN
STAFF WRITER
A giant Ferris wheel that would provide a view of the Manhattan skyline from the Xanadu entertainment complex would jeopardize air travel around Teterboro Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration has determined.
The ruling leaves Xanadu's developer with two choices -- make the 33-story wheel smaller or prove that the proposed height would not interfere with flights in or out of the airport.
Engineers for developer Colony Capital Acquisitions will work with regulators so the wheel complies with safety standards, even if it means a smaller one, Tim White, a spokesman for the complex, said Thursday. But he said that even with the height of the wheel in question, New Jerseyans should expect to see it spinning when the $2 billion shopping and entertainment complex opens in November 2008.
The FAA told Colony that it would approve a wheel no taller than 190 feet, but would consider one taller than 286 feet to have a "substantial adverse effect" on air safety around Teterboro, which is about three miles away from Xanadu.
"We don't have any legal authority to stop a company from building a structure, but the majority of the time, they take our determinations very seriously," Arlene Salac, an FAA spokeswoman, said.
Regulators also deemed hazardous the prospect of a 289-foot-tall roller coaster on the Xanadu site. Xanadu officials in January 2006 said they had deleted a coaster from their plans, but public documents show that Colony asked the FAA in July to study a plan for one.
Carl Goldberg, chairman of New Jersey Sports Authority and Exposition, which allowed Xanadu's construction, said Thursday he was not aware of any FAA notices.
"There is no doubt that if the FAA has concerns about the height of anything at Xanadu, then that has to be looked at and addressed," Goldberg said.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the nation's largest advocacy group of its kind, opposes any Xanadu structure that fails to meet FAA standards, said Chris Dancy, an association spokesman.
Such structures would likely alter how aircraft approach and depart Teterboro, which might lead to a reduction in the amount of traffic. Less traffic at Teterboro would mean more landings and takeoffs at the metropolitan area's major hubs, which are already stressed, Dancy said.
"There is really not a lot of leeway in reconfiguring departures and arrivals," he said.
When Xanadu developers proposed a 400-foot wheel in 2004, the association told regulators to consider the amusement's impact on national airspace due to Xanadu's proximity to three of the country's busiest airports.
Xanadu's developers have billed the wheel as the largest in North America, and have touted it as one of the attractions that help distinguish the complex from a megamall.
Passengers would board the ride from one of Xanadu's buildings along the New Jersey Turnpike. Once on it, they would ride in one of 27 enclosed gondolas with climate control and enough room to hold about 20 people, giving passengers an outside view without having to step outdoors.
One time around the wheel would take about 25 minutes. The cost of a ticket has not been announced.
The FAA's ruling was cheered by Lane Biviano, who can see the Manhattan skyline from his Rutherford condominium, but might lose the view if the wheel is built at 333 feet.
"They want to pollute the sky with this structural graffiti," he said. "It's another form of air pollution, if you think about it.
Staff Writer John Brennan contributed to this article. E-mail: clunn@northjersey.com



Why don't they set it in the ground so it can still be largest but not have to protrude too much into the sky?

[investordude]

Isn't the point of this thing to enable views of Manhattan for out of towners watching a game? I'd think a shorter one is no good.

Seems like a no-brainer that the airport safety is more important than this Ferris Wheel - just put in another attraction that's shorter and less dependent on Manhattan views (maybe a roller coaster or something)

[unknown memory]

Ahhh. Darn it, Teterboro. It's always Teterboro... That airport always plagues of some kind of problem. Whether a plane crash, a lost former president's son, or something else.... >__< I'm hoping for the ferris wheel. I've been dreaming of one for ages that gives you nice Manhattan views and the changing colors of the wheel is fascinating. In Tokyo, that city has two ferris wheels which are so pretty when passing them on the highway (but the narrator speaker is a bit distracting).

I hope they do come to a resolution that'll keep the wheel. I don't care if they make it a bit smaller but still sight-see-able. It would be the closest ferris wheel near me and I was happy for that.

[Ninjahedge]

I do not know how a wheel there would pose that much of a problem.

I think they are pushing it when they are saying that that will somehow impringe on the takeoff/landing safety envelope.

As for a roller coaster? This is a MALL, not an amusement park! It is weird and decadent enough that there will be indoor skiing, but a roller coaster? What's next, a water park? :p

[millertime83]

the roller coaster was dropped from the final design.

As for it being a mall... Actually it's state mandated that it's not a mall. That's it's an "entertainment center."

[Ninjahedge]

It's a mall.

[Zoe]

I think Teterboro is a waste of space. It just clogs up the airways around the city. To me its the same as people who insist on driving their car (with no business reason) into the city instead of taking public transportation like everyone else. Buy a plane ticket and get over yourself. (ok, my rant is done)...

[66nexus]

It's a mall.

It really makes me wonder what the Meadowlands is trying to be. I mean, not how we now see it, but what they envision for it...and then I wonder why they bother (no offense Bergenites):confused:

[JCMAN320]

Trump takes over golf, housing plan for Meadowlands

Thursday, November 08, 2007
By JUDY DeHAVEN
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

Real estate developer and casino boss Donald Trump said yesterday he has inked a deal to rescue the troubled EnCap development project in the Meadowlands.

Trump will now hire a master developer, but he said he already envisions a world-class golf course designed by golf course architect Tom Fazio - akin to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster - as well as residential housing, open space and perhaps a hotel.

"I look forward to working on the development," Trump said yesterday, hours after signing the agreement. "When completed, it will be one of the finest of its kind anywhere in the world."

The deal is a major step forward for a project long stalled amid financial difficulties. Developers had hoped to replace dumps in the Meadowlands with two golf courses and luxury housing. But it quickly became mired in debt. The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission declared Encap in default in May.

The project's 785-acre footprint includes portions of Kearny, Rutherford, Lyndhurst and North Arlington - and called for two golf course and 2,000 residences. One of the golf courses in the plan would have been in Kearny.

But Trump said he will scrap those plans and start fresh.

"I'd rather do one great championship course than two mediocre or lesser ones," he said.

Within the next 120 days, Trump said, he will get a recommendation from three master planners now evaluating the property. He said he is looking at anywhere "from a $5-10 billion project, depending on what we come up with."

[unknown memory]

^ Trump....Geeze. >_> Didn't actually realize there was going to be a golf course center at Meadowlands. (But why did it have to be Trump although, not really surprise.)

It really makes me wonder what the Meadowlands is trying to be. I mean, not how we now see it, but what they envision for it...and then I wonder why they bother (no offense Bergenites):confused:
None taken. ^_^ Haha.

Their vision for Xanadu is to make it a tourist destination. The first indoor ski slope in the U.S. Largest movie theater in the country. Live cooking demonstration show. An indoor car racing track. A bowling alley... But yeah, part of it is still a mall. They believe that by having a ferris wheel next to the building, it will not be defined as a "mall". I don't quite get that as having ferris wheels next to a shopping center is very common in Asia.
Example: These Chinese tourists are in Japan which is the ferris wheel capital of the world. So pretty... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy2AH8q6TJw

And I'm still hoping for the Xanadu ferris wheel. Although, I'm not quite use to thinking of how it is going to be modeled after the British wheel. Can't really imagine more than 15 people per cart as oppose to the four-five person seater cart that I'm use to.

[JCMAN320]

Xanadu no pleasure to behold, Codey complains of complex
Sports authority defends design Senate leader calls 'yucky-looking'

Thursday, February 14, 2008
BY MAURA McDERMOTT
Star-Ledger Staff

Architect David Rockwell promised the $2 billion Xanadu complex's colored exterior, indoor ski slope and Ferris wheel would "create its own skyline."

Well, it has. And state Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) doesn't like it one bit. The former governor criticized Xanadu yesterday, saying the "yucky-looking" complex rising along the New Jersey Turnpike has drawn complaints from passers-by.

"People say to me, 'Hey, Gov, I drove by the Meadowlands -- what the hell is that thing?'" Codey said. "You say to yourself, is this the sports authority or is it Coney Island or the old Asbury Park, or is this some mall?"

Xanadu is set to open at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in November, with a ski slope, skydiving wind tunnels and nearly 50 football fields' worth of storefronts. Its exterior boasts blue-and-white rectangular boxes as well as pink-and-orange stripes.

"It's a work in progress by a distinguished and acclaimed architect," said Lloyd Kaplan, a spokesman for the development. "We think most people will find the finished development attractive, delightful and a positive contribution to the Meadowlands and the metropolitan region."

Rockwell designed the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood as well as two W Hotels in New York City.

Codey also yesterday criticized Xanadu for not signing up tenants faster. The complex has signed leases for about one-third of its space, according to a report last month by lead developer Colony Capital. The developer said "serious negotiations" are under way for 95 percent of the complex.

One of the original developers, the Mills Corp., sold its stake to Colony in 2006 after sustaining heavy financial losses on it.

"Pretty soon we would have to start calling this thing 'the mistake at the Meadowlands,'" Codey said.

George Zoffinger, who was the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority's chief executive when Xanadu was approved, said the project will benefit the state.

"Once again, Dick Codey misses the point," Zoffinger said. "There are 20,000 jobs being created by this facility for people who need the work."

Zoffinger added, in a shot at his longtime adversary, "People driving down the Turnpike will be a lot more concerned about the tolls they're paying than what Xanadu looks like."

Codey has suggested discounts on Gov. Jon Corzine's proposed toll hikes.

Zoffinger's successor, Dennis Robinson, also spoke up for Xanadu.

"I think it's premature to judge it when we haven't even opened the doors," Robinson said. "We think it's going to be a tremendous addition to the sports complex."

Staff writer Maura McDermott may be reached at (973) 392-7964 or

mmcdermott@starledger.com.

[MidtownGuy]

Its exterior boasts blue-and-white rectangular boxes as well as pink-and-orange stripes.

Yikes.:eek: That does sound yucky.

Zoffinger added, in a shot at his longtime adversary, "People driving down the Turnpike will be a lot more concerned about the tolls they're paying than what Xanadu looks like."

They can and should be worried about both.

This thing could have been a tremendous addition to the sports complex AND looked great. Now it's just one more gigantic hunk of ugly plopped on New Jersey alongside the turnpike. In a long history of ugly. The landscape of the "garden" state along the turnpike looks like it has suffered a catastrophe. It must have been a pretty state at one time(especially the unmolested wetlands); I'm sure it still is in places, but all along the turnpike it's a post-industrial poop hole. They just made it worse.

[arcman210]

a link to the main rendering... the final product that is built so far looks pretty accurate compared to this:

http://www.meadowlandsxanadu.com/stellent01/groups/public/documents/mx_webassets/056910.jpg

dont know why they thought it would look good.

[Ninjahedge]

Looks like a giant bowling alley.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/images/icons/icon13.gif

The whole idea of an indoor SKI SLOPE was a tremendous waste of $$ in my opinion. If you want a crappy little crowded slope, there are plenty of ski resorts around NYC that give you just that. Mountain Creek being one of them!

Why do we need this? Who thought that that would bring in more revenue and make more people happy?

[NYatKNIGHT]

There's going to be a Cabela's? I love that store.

I guess I'm ambivalent about this Xanadu, at least for now. I don't think it helps or hurts anything much. I'm sort of glad all that concrete and pavement that usually sits dorment will actually be usefull year round. There will be a train stop there, which reduces some traffic. It may not be my cup of tea, but it's hard to believe that drivers on the turnpike are so offended by the gaudy, clashing colors when otherwise mile after mile they are bombarded with environmental raping. Really, this is so offensive? Why not complain about the tires and fallen powerlines that haven't been dredged from the wetlands for decades. People once drove by a vast parking lot and now it will be an entertainment spectacle. Whatever. I don't care if people want to actually pay to ski a 200' ski slope, nor do I care if people shop in a giant suburban mall. Neither affects me. Time will tell how successful it is.

[Ninjahedge]

Have you been on the TP/Parkway recently NYK?

It is interesting to see the wetlands "reclaiming" a lot of the stuff that was once there. I see old power towers and the like slowly rusting away and being claimed by the reeds. You can even kayack around them if you want, although I would still wash afterwards!!! (some garbage clumps still remain).


The worst parts are still the shipping depos and stuff. Semi trailers stacked 6-10 high out in teh middle of a flat wetland are not a good statement no matter what you are looking at.

But, still, you would think that maybe they would try for something a bit more modern and reserved OR a bit more rustic? I think the mall would look MUCH better as a faux-frontier type setup. Ski-lodgey would probably suit it for its environment, if not for its neighbors. But this 1950's layout and 1960's paint job make it look like something that is trying to be something it really can't be.

What that is, I am just not sure, but it does not make me think "entertainment" or even "mall". It makes me think "warehouse" or "cheap midwestern toursit attraction".

Too late now to say anything about it, but it is still disappointing.

As for "people on the turnpike" and all this crap about tolls, what about the thousands of us that travel along route 3 into the city? (I have family in the Burbs!). You think everyone that is voicing concerns are riding the pike?

And that classic line "People driving down the Turnpike will be a lot more concerned about the tolls they're paying than what Xanadu looks like." is just that. A line. Like MTG said, I think most people can be concerned about more than one thing at a time... :P

Oh, don't you love this?:

"It's a work in progress by a distinguished and acclaimed architect,"

Geez. We all know that a 5 star chef can never serve shoot on a shingle, how could a "distinguished and acclaimed" architect, who is so distinguished that he seems to have forgotten their name, produce anything but an ABBA paradise in the NJ wetlands of the NJTP? :p

[giselehaslice]

right now, probably not so good..but let's wait for the whole project to be finished. (the office towers, the hotel towers), Even though the design is somewhat Coney Island-ish, I sure think it is better than a muddy dead marshland area that was surrounded all sides by an abysmal parking lot.

just my 2 cents.

[Ninjahedge]

SO long as tehre is no dumping in the marsh, it is not that bad. It was when there was raw sewerage and industrial waste in there that it was at its worst.


The parking lot? Yeah. That's NJ for you! (Hell, that is most of the US for you!!)

[arcman210]

it will be interesting to see how the new meadowlands stadium fits in with the look of xanadu in a few years.

[66nexus]

I can't understand why such a dreary/marshy place is so revered by this state. I know it's close to NY but aren't there other, more desirable places that are just as close to NY if not closer?

[JCMAN320]

Sameway Florida revers Everglades and New Jersey revers the Pine Barrens for their natural wonder, the Meadowlands are revered because it is a large swath of wetlands outside major cities and the industrial heritage of it is almost boggling and its just amazing that it is still capable of turning around. The Meadowlands has been abused since colonial times and they are trying to salvage it and turn it around.

Most major costal cities were built on landfill that filled in former wetlands such as major parts of Boston, parts of NYC, parts JC, D.C., parts of Baltimore, etc.. They were filled in because wetlands around the turn of the 20th century was looked as natural blight and wasn't appreciated and wasn't understood as natural flood prevention.

The New Jersey Meadowlands was attempted to be filled in over and over over the last century. The Meadowlands use to be a vast white ceder forrest/wetland that was cut down and used for building of homes, churches, etc.. during the colonial period in NY and NJ. Stump of those trees can still be seen in some areas at low tide. Then there huge attempts to drain it and build on it, but those were unsucessful because of the strong river currents. There use to be bid in newspapers in the late 19th and early 20th century to buy acerage to drain and build on it. Like it said it was looked as natural blight for many reasons but one of the many was that mosquitos nested there and they carried maliria.

The Meadowlands is just a record history of what the civilization of the NY/NJ area has done over the last couple hundred years to the wetlands. At one point an idea was floated that was the first idea before the Sport Complex, was to build a giant city over the entire Meadowlands for NJ to have a brand new city that would rival NYC. That never happened obviously, but the next proposal was sports and entertainment on a much much smaller parcel of land.

Now people are realizing how important the Meadowlands are and are working to reverse hundreds of years of abuse and neglect. Flopdgates are being repaired, landfills are being capped and turned into golf courses, large sections have been rehabbed and declared perserves and open space and parks; more are still to come, and there is even and enviormental center and kyaking tours rpmoting eco tourism. The Meadowlands are coming back with the most wildlife seen there in many decades.

On the Xanadu, I will wait to judge it for myself when its finished. I've been to 8 NJ Nets games this year and have seen my air share of it u/c. I think this will add to more of a 24/7 atmosphere there. There will be an indoor ski slope, ferris wheel, f1 sponsored cart track, an entertainment area with clubs, bars, etc., fashion district with fashion shows, etc.....Couple all that with a on site hotel, two Class A office buildings, a new minor league ballpark for the Bergen Cliffhawks, and the Izod Center which will be configured somehow most likely just strictly as a performance venue once my Nets depart for whereever the hell they are going. Couple all that with the train staion, new Meadowlands Stadium and Racetrack and new development on Paterson Plank Road, it really should do very and make the Sports Complex into a Sports and truly Entertainment Complex.

Here are renderings of what the Xanadu and Meadowlands Stadium will look compared to each other:
http://www.nynjfootball.com/images/pool/TRANSITPLAZA.jpg

http://meadowlandsxanadu.com/stellent01/groups/public/documents/mx_webassets/056910.jpg

http://meadowlandsxanadu.com/stellent01/groups/public/@mallmeadow/documents/webassets/056893.jpg

[ASchwarz]

LOL, this has nothing to do with the Meadowlands being "revered". Nobody would compare the Meadowlands to the Everglades. It isn't even NIMBYism; it's just politicans doing their thing.

Dick Codey (the politician criticizing the development) was a big supporter of the alternative development plan (which was, BTW, even bigger), so he's mad that his megadevelopment wasn't selected.

He's been complaining about the project since day one.

[unknown memory]

I'm still looking forward to seeing how this will come out. ^_^ I don't care about the color design and I don't care about Codey's view on the project. I also don't actually see how the wheel can distract several residents of their view of Manhattan. It doesn't actually look to be blocking too much in any of the conceptual art that I've seen. *sighs*

Well, here's the article from NYPost.


BIG WHEEL RIDES HIGH IN JERSEY

By TODD VENEZIA

http://www.nypost.com/seven/02132008/photos/news023.jpg


February 13, 2008 -- There's some wheely big news across the Hudson - the largest Ferris wheel in the nation is about to be built in New Jersey.

The massive ride will rise 286 feet into the sky, easily topping Dallas' Texas Start Ferris wheel, which stands tall at 213 feet. It will be part of Meadowlands Xanadu, a $2 billion entertainment center being built near Giants Stadium in East Rutherford.

The wheel will rise alongside a shopping and entertainment megacomplex that will house such attractions as a 780-foot indoor ski slope and a manmade lake stocked with fish for anglers.

The 2-million-square-foot center is slated for completion in November, which might be all well and good - except for the Ferris wheel, critics say.
Attorney Lane Biviano, a resident of Rutherford, is leading a fight against the giant ride, complaining that it will block the view of Manhattan by residents of his town.

He says the builders have given no consideration to the people who live near the Meadowlands.

"It's like bullies from another neighborhood have come in and decided to take over your neighborhood," he said. "It's someone coming over to our turf."
Biviano says he lives in a condo on a hillside west of the Meadowlands, and will have to stare at the Ferris wheel instead of marveling at the view of New York. He started a Web site to get the protest going: savetheskyline.com.
Biviano's only consolation is that the FAA forced the developers to scrap plans to make the wheel nearly 400 feet tall - because it might have interfered with traffic from Teterboro Airport.

The developers didn't return calls for comment yesterday.

[66nexus]

By revered I meant all this development in a swamp area when you have perfectly good cities nearby i.e. JC. (I'm sure they could find a way to assimilate the new space)

And class A office space? Why?

[mykingdomlisa]

appreciate it well done

[giselehaslice]

Meadowlands Xanadu and Pepsi Announce “The Pepsi Globe,” America’s Largest Ferris Wheel


NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE (http://www.businesswire.com/))--Meadowlands Xanadu, a unique sports, leisure, shopping and family entertainment destination in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and Pepsi announced a 10-year tenant/naming rights agreement to create a Pepsi-branded experience featuring America’s largest Ferris, or observation, wheel, the 287-foot-tall “Pepsi Globe.”
“The Pepsi Globe is an iconic symbol that is reflective of our brand’s identity– it’s bold, it’s contemporary, and it’s fun,” said Cie Nicholson, SVP and CMO, Pepsi-Cola North America. “Having a visionary partner like Meadowlands Xanadu, who is delivering an unprecedented consumer experience that is environmentally responsible, makes this a tremendous collaboration that fits perfectly with our Performance with Purpose mission.”
The Pepsi Globe will be green powered year round, with energy obtained through the purchase of wind power credits from a Texas generating plant, and it will be at least partially made from recycled materials.
“The Pepsi Globe will be an instant landmark – the signature attraction heralding the premiere entertainment and shopping destination in the country,” said Laurence Siegel, President, Meadowlands Development, the creators of Meadowlands Xanadu. “The great wheel is also a colossal branding opportunity and we are delighted that a company with the power, reach and prestige of Pepsi has joined forces with us to promote their brand and Meadowlands Xanadu. We look forward to an extremely productive and successful relationship.”
Pepsi will offer unique interactive experiences during the Pepsi Globe ride, which will last approximately 25 minutes for a full revolution and offer sweeping vistas of the New York skyline and the Hudson River. Groups of up to 20 visitors each will enter 26 glass-enclosed, climate controlled capsules for the ride of a lifetime.
Travelers approaching Meadowlands Xanadu will identify it by its signature Ferris wheel. The iconic Pepsi Globe will be as recognizable and visible a symbol as St. Louis’ Gateway Arch, Seattle’s Space Needle or the London Eye.
As part of the 10-year tenant/naming rights agreement, Pepsi will implement a series of promotional activities and tie-ins, including the nationwide distribution of 450 million beverage cans featuring the Pepsi Globe at Meadowlands Xanadu, commemorating the wheel’s grand opening event, and designed by Rodrigo Bilbao, VP – Development Director for Meadowlands Xanadu, and an avid Pepsi drinker. Each year thereafter, Pepsi will distribute millions of Meadowlands Xanadu co-branded cans throughout the metropolitan area.
Michael Kassan of Media Link, an advisor to Meadowlands Xanadu, said, “This unprecedented agreement with Pepsi is the first of many for Meadowlands Xanadu. It sets the stage for all our future sponsorships, and we look forward to welcoming additional brand partners.”
The Xanadu opportunity was brought to Pepsi by brand energy agency Protagonist, led by Matti Leshem. "Matti's been a terrific partner. He didn't just make the introduction, he's an integral part of developing the ride, from creating an interactive experience inside the capsules to building Globe-shaped recycling bins for placement throughout the venue," said Kristina Mangelsdorf, director of marketing for Pepsi.
When complete, Meadowlands Xanadu will encompass 94 acres and will feature five distinct Lifestyle Districts: sports, entertainment, youth culture, food and home, and fashion. The project will offer Pepsi an opportunity to build the Pepsi experience and will also provide a host of other significant branding opportunities for other sponsors throughout the development.

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080221005671&newsLang=en

[Ninjahedge]

I can't wait!

When is the Coke Slide coming?!?!? Maybe the Dorito-go round or the Twinkie Teacups??!?!?

It would be like combining an amusement park with the snack food aisle at Duane Reed!!! ;)



In all seriousness, though. I hope I am not "treated" to a large "Pepsi" sign every time I run down route 3.

Billboards are bad enough (Like Budwiser supports the NJ devils any more than any other team), I do not need a 100' tall rotating flashing Pepsi ad.... :(

[arcman210]

Large scale advertisements have proven to be successful and also have become local landmarks which people love and treat like monuments.

http://www.labnol.org/wp/images/2007/07/colgate-clock.jpg

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061107/061107_chavez_citgo_vmed1p.widec.jpg

[giselehaslice]

^agree. This actually could be really awesome in my opinion.

For some reason this site seems to host alot of NIMBY's, even though it might not be exactly in their back yard....

[arcman210]

didn't realize the rendering hadn't been posted here yet

http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/2008/02/large_pepsi.jpg

[scrollhectic]

Considering how unattractive the rest of Xanadu is, this is the coolest component of the design. I think it will add that "WOW" factor that a large project like this needs to really be profitable. This project would have been cool in Newark near the airport. High visibility for Pepsi and Xanadu given the airports high traffic count. Nonetheless, this is a brilliant advertising strategy. Bravo Xanadu!

[MidtownGuy]

For some reason this site seems to host alot of NIMBY's, even though it might not be exactly in their back yard....

The site hosts people who are engaged, pay attention to details, and are rightfully critical when something doesn't look right. Just because this isn't a cheerleader site for any and every project, does not mean we are a congregation of NIMBY's.:p
We question things, pull them apart, and look at the underside. Many of us are architects, artists, designers, and engineers. If the preference is for unconditional gushing and unqualified praise for everything developers decide to build, you might feel more in tune with the posts at some of the other architecture forums.
I don't mind the Colgate Clock, but that picture of the giant CITGO sign is not exactly convincing evidence that huge advertisements are somehow worthy of universal love.:rolleyes:
That said, the ferris wheel does't say the name "Pepsi", just uses the colorful logo(Which is round anyway, like a ferris wheel) so I don't have any big objection.

[arcman210]

I don't mind the Colgate Clock, but that picture of the giant CITGO sign is not exactly convincing evidence that huge advertisements are somehow worthy of universal love.

People in Boston went absolutely crazy when a local politician tried to start an effort a year or two ago to have the sign taken down because if its link to the Venezuelan government... the people of Boston just wouldn't let it happen. They love the sign too much, it has become their landmark the area it's in. You might not love it, nor do I, but Bostonians sure as hell do.

[MidtownGuy]

because if its link to the Venezuelan government

THAT's why? Well that's just about the most idiotic reason I've ever heard to take something down. I would have protested too. Not because I love the sign, but because that "politician" sounds like a grandstanding jerk.
Was he also one of the geniuses trying to outlaw "French" fries?

[arcman210]

I agree, that was a BS excuse to try to take the sign down.

I just dont like it because I'm Yankees fan I always see it looming over the back of Fenway Park's green monster when the Yankees play the Red Sox.

[JCMAN320]

I look forward to it. This is just going to be more reason for tourists to come to New Jersey. Jersey City, Hoboken, Prudential Center in Newark, New Giants Stadium, Xanadu, Pepsi Globe, Jersey Shore, Princeton, Rutgers, etc.... This will boost the states dollars like nothing and will become a landmark for New Jersey

[Peteynyc1]

God I'm thirsty.

[66nexus]

I look forward to it. This is just going to be more reason for tourists to come to New Jersey. Jersey City, Hoboken, Prudential Center in Newark, New Giants Stadium, Xanadu, Pepsi Globe, Jersey Shore, Princeton, Rutgers, etc.... This will boost the states dollars like nothing and will become a landmark for New Jersey


That's very true. I didn't even look at it that way, so thus, I feel better about it lol

[millertime83]

so will each car of the ferris wheel resemble a giant pepsi can?

[JCMAN320]

Lol good question

[Ninjahedge]

The only thing is, if I wanted a "times square" kind of feeling, I would, I don't know, GO TO TIMES SQUARE!.

As long as they do not putthe Pepsi Name on it, next to the formerly Contenental AIRLINES and now Izod Arena, it will be tolerable. But from the pepsi circle, to the nike swoosh, to the Coke swish, to the target bullseye, etc etc etc, it gets to be a little much.

I am just tired of being subliminally programmed.


Man I am getting thirsty!

[lofter1]

If done well with a company name attached it could be following in the footsteps of some big winners ...

What about the WOOLWORTH Building?

And ROCKEFELLER Center?

And TIMES Square?

And DISNEY Land?

Plus GHIRADELLI Square, and on and on ...

[Ninjahedge]

If done well with a company name attached it could be following in the footsteps of some big winners ...

What about the WOOLWORTH Building?

And ROCKEFELLER Center?

And TIMES Square?

And DISNEY Land?

Plus GHIRADELLI Square, and on and on ...

1. I do not see logos on those buildings in much the same way as this.

Woolworth does not have washing machines attached to it, Rockerfeller looks liek a building (where are his logo's?), and Times Square does not have the NYT logo all over it. Maybe it is hidden undfer all the other logos.

2. The key to naming is just that, names. We have always named things after people. So Ghiradelli sounds more like an Italian name to me than a chocolate square.

IZOD? Coke? PNC BANK? There is no question where those come from and what product they are attached to. Small things, such as removing the word "Bank" from the "PNC BANK Arts center" would make them less obvious and flow better.

But flow is not what they are concerned about. They want name recognition and advertisment.

I think that was somehow different from the names of some of the bigger buildings/developments of yesteryear. No doubt Rockerfeller wanted to be known, but I don't think he built the center as a specific ad for his products, but more as his baby. A huge development with his name on it. The feelings are similar, but different enough to change how things are seen by others.



Bottom line is, they have kind have gotten away from even trying to be subtle about this kind of thing. Now, instead of a ferris wheel that would be called the Pepsi wheel, and maybe have little logos on the chairs and entrance gate, they are making a huge 100' tall (I don't know, how tall?) lit, rotating Pepsi logo.


I guess the spinning teacups just weren't good enough for them. I hear Pepto was thinking about them though. Them and the Tilt-a-Whirl.......

[arcman210]

1. I do not see logos on those buildings in much the same way as this.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Walter_Gropius_photo_MetLife_Building_fassade_New_ York_USA_2005-10-03.jpg/450px-Walter_Gropius_photo_MetLife_Building_fassade_New_ York_USA_2005-10-03.jpg

http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/food/07/09/18_newyorktimes_lgl.jpg

http://en.structurae.de/files/photos/1/100km023/pict7044.jpg

http://phillyskyline.com/bldgs/psfs/psfs1_fromcityhall.jpg

there are a number of skyscrapers that are known for or have a prominent logo on them. in the case of psfs, it is such an important part of the building that it remained even after psfs was no longer the name of the company.

this wheel, although not a building, will be a landmark... and we can assume pepsi will be around as a brand for a long time. people will grow to love it (or at least tolerate it).

[giselehaslice]

^Very true.

Of course there will be some haters of the project, but for most people driving thru the ugliest part of the turnpike, it will be a shining beacon, and could very well become an international icon for the NewYork metro region.

[66nexus]

^Oh I'm def a hater of it, but much more in terms of the look and the location

[z22]

...and could very well become an international icon for the NewYork metro region.

It will be in Jersey. So, there is no way to create an international icon there.

[Ninjahedge]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Walter_Gropius_photo_MetLife_Building_fassade_New_ York_USA_2005-10-03.jpg/450px-Walter_Gropius_photo_MetLife_Building_fassade_New_ York_USA_2005-10-03.jpg

I do not like the "Met Life" on the top of this. I think it is clunky-chunky.

http://nymag.com/images/2/daily/food/07/09/18_newyorktimes_lgl.jpg

This is at the bottom of the bulding. If it was emblazoned up all 4 sides so that you could see it from NJ I would object to it.

http://en.structurae.de/files/photos/1/100km023/pict7044.jpg

I just do not LIKE this building, you are trying to prove a point with this one?

http://phillyskyline.com/bldgs/psfs/psfs1_fromcityhall.jpg

And this ugly one is trying to prove another point???

there are a number of skyscrapers that are known for or have a prominent logo on them. in the case of psfs, it is such an important part of the building that it remained even after psfs was no longer the name of the company.

And I do not like a lot of them. Please show me the logo on the Chrystler Building. How about the Woolworth Building? ESB? picking a few out that have a logo, some not very prominantly displayed either (NYT) does not change my argument.

this wheel, although not a building, will be a landmark... and we can assume pepsi will be around as a brand for a long time. people will grow to love it (or at least tolerate it).

What??!? he whole "landmark to pepsi" is what I am objecting to! You do it subtly an dyou get a longer standing approval and name. Something that people can see and not be bludgeoned with.

[Ninjahedge]

It will be in Jersey. So, there is no way to create an international icon there.

Please post somethnig worth reading, not flame bait.

[kevin]

And I do not like a lot of them. Please show me the logo on the Chrystler Building. How about the Woolworth Building? ESB? picking a few out that have a logo, some not very prominantly displayed either (NYT) does not change my argument.


The Chrysler, Woolworth, Citibank, etc. buildings all became logos of their respective corporations. You still persist in calling 405 Lexington Avenue the Chrysler building, yet Chrysler hasn't owned it since 1957. The building itself was designed as a beacon for the automobile giant.

from wikipedia:
The distinctive ornamentation of the building is based on features that were then being used on Chrysler automobiles. The corners of the 61st floor are graced with eagles, replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments. On the 31st floor, the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps.One of the most endearing structures in the NYC skyline is nothing more than a corporate icon. Then again, most of the structures in the skyline are, since it's the corporations who generally foot the bill for the buildings.

Another, 233 Broadway, is one where the original owner's intent was to build something glorious and synonymous with the corporate name that would stand the test of time. Woolworth's is defunct, but you still call the building by its old corporate name, not by its respective address.

153 E. 53rd Street is very much an icon in the skyline, and has served its purpose well since most people identify it by the corporation that owns or built it, the Citigroup Center.

And finally, many still refer to 200 Park Avenue as the Pan Am building, but today we refer to it by the corporate name that now adorns its facade, the Met Life building.

These are all important landmarks, made famous not because they were buildings corporations purchased naming rights to, but landmarks built so that corporations could affix their names to them and be associated with the greatest and tallest buildings in the world. The roles may have reversed a bit, where the sponsor corporation isn't directly building the icon, but by paying for the naming rights, they're indirectly financing its completion, and thus its possibility to attain icon status.

[arcman210]

I do not like the "Met Life" on the top of this. I think it is clunky-chunky.

I just do not LIKE this building, you are trying to prove a point with this one?

And this ugly one is trying to prove another point???

Its not about whether or not you LIKE the building for its design or architecture, its that a logo or name on the building can become an important feature of the building if done right. What I'm trying to show is that these buildings are known by the name or logo on them. The names and logos on some skyscrapers and buildings are one of the most important features of the building. There are still plenty of people who refer to the Metlife Building as the Pan Am Building, simply because they associate it with the name that was atop it for so many years.

And its only a ferris wheel in New Jersey were talking about here, so its not something to get too crazy about.

[Ninjahedge]

Its not about whether or not you LIKE the building for its design or architecture, its that a logo or name on the building can become an important feature of the building if done right. What I'm trying to show is that these buildings are known by the name or logo on them. The names and logos on some skyscrapers and buildings are one of the most important features of the building. There are still plenty of people who refer to the Metlife Building as the Pan Am Building, simply because they associate it with the name that was atop it for so many years.

And its only a ferris wheel in New Jersey were talking about here, so its not something to get too crazy about.


Actually Arc, it is the whole thing. I have been watching this as driving by, and the rendering reminds me of a giant 1950's bowling alley.

I am not surprised, but I am disappointed that they did not try something that fit a little more with the environment it was located, the marshland. Instead of blending and making it something like a modern log-construction resort/mall they turned it into a bowling alley/mall/advertisement for Pepsi.

Is it worse than the stadiums? A bit. But no worse than the large lit billboard for the stadiums. It just does not improve the area at all, and I am disappointed with what they spent so much time, money, and legislation to get built.

[arcman210]

I agree with you, the whole complex overall is absolutely hideous. Its absurd that the color scheme and pattern was approved let alone even concieved by human brains.

On the other hand, I think the Pepsi logo on the wheel will take away from some of that, and draw peoples attention away from the ugliness of the entire project itself.

[giselehaslice]

This whole thing is getting completely blown out of proportion!

[z22]

Please post somethnig worth reading, not flame bait.
It's not the intention to be a flame bait. I just personally don't see a way that it will be an international icon there at that location. You may see it differently. It's good to keep the hope up, I guess. Anyway, no more comment from me on this subject.

[millertime83]

It will be in Jersey. So, there is no way to create an international icon there.

yay we have a troll

[Ninjahedge]

It's not the intention to be a flame bait. I just personally don't see a way that it will be an international icon there at that location. You may see it differently. It's good to keep the hope up, I guess. Anyway, no more comment from me on this subject.


Yeah, Liberty State Park is such an eyesore...... ;)

I know what you are saying, but NYC can only get so big. NJ has the blessing and curse of being so close, but if the transportation system is networked and expanded a bit better, maybe we can get a genuine development rather than a NYC spiderweb.......

[millertime83]

Iniside of the "Snow Dome." I don't know why it's called a dome.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2218/2304965926_79e763b4eb.jpg

You can only see about halfway up the slope due to the line of sight.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2147/2304166807_eb221f3032_b.jpg
Outside of the Snow Dome. What an ugly color scheme
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2075/2304964742_60a3433615_b.jpg

Cabellos

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2322/2304169679_6d6c2abbd4_b.jpg

[scrollhectic]

Last updated: March 11, 2008 10:39am
By Eric Peterson


http://www.globest.com/newspics/nej_meadowlandsxanadu.jpg
Meadowlands Xanadu

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-Merlin Entertainments has signed a deal with Meadowlands Development to operate a 44,000-sf Legoland Discovery Centre at Meadowlands Xanadu, the $2-billion, 2.3-million-sf retail and entertainment complex currently under construction within the Meadowlands Sports Complex here. Terms of the deal were not released.

“Merlin Entertainments has a gift for attractions that combine fun and learning for children and families,” says Larry Siegel, president of Meadowlands Development.

“We are currently opening five or six new attractions every year around the world,” says Nick Varney, CEO of the London-based Merlin. “The attractions at Meadowlands Xanadu will be important additions to our portfolio.”

The new location, Merlin’s second and largest Legoland Discovery Centre in the US--the other is in Carlsbad, CA--will feature a central structure fashioned out of the iconic interlocking colored bricks. Also part of the plan are rides, an adventure trail, a cinema, play area, party rooms, café and a room for rotating exhibitions.

Also as part of the deal, Merlin will operate Meadowlands Xanadu’s Pepsi Globe (http://www.globest.com/news/1099_1099/newjersey/168489-1.html), a 287-foot-high Ferris wheel. Meadowlands Development and Pepsi revealed the wheel’s naming rights deal, said to be valued at $100 million, in February.

“Merlin Entertainments marked the centennial for the world with the opening of the London Eye,” Siegel says. “They will make their mark here operating the Pepsi Globe and the Legoland Discovery Centre.”

[Ninjahedge]

Legoland Coming to Meadowlands Xanadu

Funny.

I thought they were the original designers of the complex..... :confused:

[JCMAN320]

Sports authority demanding a review of Xanadu appearance

by Maura McDermott/The Star-Ledger Tuesday March 18, 2008, 4:04 PM

Responding to complaints about the look of the Xanadu complex rising in the Meadowlands, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority is demanding a show-and-tell by the project's architects.

The authority's board "has widespread concern with the current appearance" of Xanadu, and expects a presentation by the project's architects at a public meeting on March 27, according to a letter from Carl Goldberg, chair of the board, to Larry Siegel, president of Meadowlands Xanadu.

Local residents and officials have complained about the project's blue-and-orange exterior, with state Senate President Richard Codey calling it "yucky-looking."

The developers also must submit plans for the proposed Pepsi-branded Ferris wheel, Goldberg wrote. The nearly 300-foot wheel would bear a 150-foot, electronic Pepsi sign, according to a $100 million sponsorship deal reached by developers and the soft-drink company.

However, the Pepsi deal cannot go forward unless the authority approves the design of the wheel and the sponsorship terms, Goldberg said today.

"We'll deal with the Ferris wheel and the sponsorship of the Ferris wheel as we've dealt with every other aspect of the project, with a thorough and complete review to make sure it's consistent with the original conceptual presentation," he said.

The $2 billion, two million-square-foot Xanadu retail and entertainment complex is expected to open in November. It is funded by Colony Capital, a private equity firm.

Richard Edmonds, a spokesman for the developer expressed confidence in the project's design today.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Edmonds said. "There were probably people who thought the Eiffel Tower was really ugly when it was being built. We love the design. Plus, it's a work in progress."

[arcman210]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Edmonds said. "There were probably people who thought the Eiffel Tower was really ugly when it was being built. We love the design. Plus, it's a work in progress."

Could be the worst possible comparison I've ever heard in my life. The Eiffel Tower wasnt covered in scraps of different colored plastic. The exterior of this complex is absolutely horrendus. The renderings are ugly, the appearance of whats already up is ugly. Its probably much too late now to change anything, lets hope it looks better when its done... but I have doubts this will become a landmark known for its beauty. The giant Pepsi Wheel will hopefully take the attention away from the rest of the building.

[millertime83]

don't forget the latest additional to the color pallet: Green

[Peter Quennell]

Great that you guys here are already onto this crazy stuff. Publicity could really make a difference to the outcome here.

I took shots of the Xanadu color schemes yesterday, and posted them here today - click and they will expand into Acrobats, so you can see the ha ha finer points:

http://galaxyrising.com/ee/index.php?/trifecta/comments/xanadu_look_emerges_big_reaction_now_to_the_tacky_ eyesore/

[I hate to post raw links like that; if Edward drops by, perhaps he can explain why my href's never work here.]

Two reporters just emailed me that the NJSEA meeting Thursday is open to we the public.

It is at 10:00 am in the conference room on the ground floor of the horse-racing facility.

I'm looking forward to this meeting more than to any other in years.

I sure hope the Times and Sun and Observer and the news channels are feeling the same way. This really is a great emerging story for them.

Any good tips for getting them to be there?

[66nexus]

Maybe they were going for the Newark/Elizabeth seaport look: that color scheme looks like a bunch of stacked blue/white boxcar trailers

[Ninjahedge]

http://galaxyrising.com/ee/images/photoshows/Developmentswest/xanadu/59.jpg

Ugh! Talk about conflict!

I also agree that there is too much exposed steel under the ski ramp. That will cost more in the summer to keep it insulated. Who the hell thought that all that dead space would be fine?

The place looks like a giant bowling alley. Same tacky bathroom-like color schemes. Just BAD!

Unfortunately, instead of any real feedback or info on this, all we get is a picture of a dancer getting into a bizarre x-shape that we see silhouetted on an ad as we drive along route 3 to the Lincoln Tunnel.

I have not liked this idea since day one, and its implimentation does nothing to change my feelings towards it.


Just wait until Route 3 starts getting the mall traffic! Whoopie! Giants Gameday Traffic EVERY DAY!!!!!!

[lofter1]

And, besides ... it hardly fits in with the stunning architecture in the near vicinity :cool:

[OmegaNYC]

Maybe they were going for the Newark/Elizabeth seaport look: that color scheme looks like a bunch of stacked blue/white boxcar trailers

you know, I was thinking the samething. That color does look like the seaport. ;) There is no other way to put it: this thing looks like something out of the 60's

[Ninjahedge]

And, besides ... it hardly fits in with the stunning architecture in the near vicinity :cool:

Pointless rebuttal and you know it Loft!! ;)

Just because everyone around you is a child molester does not mean people should not be mad that you are.

Not YOU you of course, but I think you know what I mean......


.erk.

[lofter1]

In some instances context is everything. :cool:

[66nexus]

you know, I was thinking the samething. That color does look like the seaport. ;) There is no other way to put it: this thing looks like something out of the 60's

lol. At the very least they could have made the color consistent, but the colors appear to range the full spectrum on the color palette.

[Ninjahedge]

lol. At the very least they could have made the color consistent, but the colors appear to range the full spectrum on the color palette.

From Avacado Green to Arizona Sunset. Yep, that covers all of them!!!

Where's the giant Lava Lamp?

[JCMAN320]

The Pepsi Globe is your lava lamp, the Pepsi logo looks swirly like the goo in a lava lamp. ;)

[Peter Quennell]

Good evening everybody.

Re the color scheme, I knew you'd enjoy that.

One journalist found some color specialist who said the clashing colors could be quite intentional to draw in the under-25 crowd; laboratory rats have proven conclusively that... you know.

Sort of an update on that one here, and I'll post anything else I pick up:

http://galaxyrising.com/ee/index.php?/trifecta/comments/heads_up_on_xanadu_watch_tonights_local_news/

Also here are about 40 shots of the interior, taken on the "press tour" on thursday afternoon. Being a poster here on Edward's show did the trick of getting me in (just kidding!)

http://galaxyrising.com/ee/index.php?/trifecta/comments/inside_xanadus_vast_interior_just_eight_months_to_ opening/

Please click on any you might want to see larger images of.

This was one very exciting walk-through, and much of the raw construction looked very beautiful in the low light (really).

It was also a very fast walk-though; we seemed to be walking at 5 miles an hour the whole time.

I wouldn"t object to doing it monthly from now on, at a slower clip. Maybe somebody should, to make sure they dont get carried away again...!!

Actually both the Xanadu crowd mand the press crowd were really goof fun to mix with. Press folks clearly check here and some had seen the "colors post".

The best reporting I'm seeing is by Maura McDermott of the Star-Ledger. She really is holding their feet to the fire.

[JCMAN320]

Gunman is at large in Xanadu site

by The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
Thursday April 10, 2008, 9:25 AM

A gunman today forced his way into the Meadowlands Xanadu Mall construction site, police said.

The man approached a security guard at 8:30 a.m., asked to enter the site, then drew a gun, said State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones.

The guard allowed the man to enter, and he remained at large at 9:30 a.m., Jones said.

State Police and East Rutherford police were searching the site.

[JCMAN320]

Private tour of Xanadu leaves Corzine 'impressed,' aide says

Thursday, April 24, 2008
BY MAURA McDERMOTT
Star-Ledger Staff

The Xanadu megamall's 18-screen movie theater, 800-foot indoor ski slope and skydiving wind tunnels aren't open for business yet, but Gov. Jon Corzine couldn't resist taking a look around yesterday.

Corzine walked through the half-mile-long, 2 million-square-foot complex with an entourage of state officials at the invitation of developer Larry Siegel.

The governor "was impressed with the site as a destination place, not just a mall," Corzine spokesman Jim Gardner said afterward. "He found the facility very impressive, with some exciting venues."

The private tour started with an hourlong presentation about the $2 billion retail and entertainment complex, which is due to open in November.

Dennis Robinson, chief executive of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said, "We thought it was very timely for him to get a feel for himself, exactly what it looks like now and what it's going to look like in the future, and the incredible potential for jobs and economic activity." The sports authority owns the Meadowlands property where Xanadu is being built.

The discussion at the sports authority's offices touched briefly on other projects rising at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, including the new football stadium for the Giants and Jets, a new rail station and road improvements, according to John Samerjan, a spokesman for the authority.

Corzine was joined on the tour by the state's economic growth czar, Gary Rose; Carl Goldberg, the sports authority's board chairman; and Joseph Buckelew, who heads the authority's planning committee.

Xanadu has drawn ridicule for its exterior mishmash of orange, blue and green, but the governor declined to judge the structure's looks while it was still under construction, according to those who attended the private showing.

Siegel said: "You can walk through the project and get an understanding of what's going to be there and why it's going to be the terrific destination we think it's going to be. Hopefully he was impressed by the amount and the kinds of entertainment that we're going to have."

The project has generated 25,000 long-term construction jobs, and there will be 9,000 full-time employees and 4,000 part-timers at the complex once it opens, Siegel said. It is being funded by Colony Capital, a private equity firm.


Maura McDermott may be reached at (973) 392-7964 or

mmcdermott@starledger.com.

[Ninjahedge]

but the governor declined to judge the structure's looks while it was still under construction

Which means he thinks it is ugly too.

If you do not offer compliments on the aesthetics of a project that large, or opt out of 'judging it before it is finished', chances are pretty good that you do not like it either.

I have no doubt that it will probably have a lot of neat stuff, but there have been very few, if any, supporters of its exterior design.

[JCMAN320]

Bill would clear way for aquarium at Xanadu

Wednesday, May 07, 2008
BY MAURA McDERMOTT
Star-Ledger Staff

The Meadowlands Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex could include a massive aquarium if state law is changed to allow it, according to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

A bill permitting an aquarium at the Meadowlands Sports Complex was introduced by state Assemblymen Fred Scalera (D-Essex) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), and referred to the Assembly's tourism and gaming committee.

No state money would be used to build or operate it, according to Schaer and Carl Goldberg, the sports authority's chair.

"The first question that everyone is going to ask is the financial consequences," Schaer said yesterday. "I'm not willing to join in with a bill that's going to cost the state money in a time when we don't have money."

The developers of the $2 billion Xanadu complex are in talks with an undisclosed private company that runs aquariums, Goldberg said. Xanadu's main backer is Colony Capital, a private equity firm.

The state law that now prohibits an aquarium at the sports complex was designed to prevent competition with the aquarium in Camden, but Xanadu is about a two-hour drive away, so it shouldn't hurt that facility's business, Goldberg said.

"Hopefully people will come to the conclusion that there shouldn't be any disruption," he said.

The Camden attraction, known as Adventure Aquarium, is run by Herschend Family Entertainment, which took over the facility in December. Its previous operator was Steiner + Associates.

Greg Charbeneau, executive director of the aquarium, said Camden's facility is "extremely successful," with nearly a million visitors a year, and it stopped receiving state subsidies in 2005.

He said he wasn't aware of the state law banning an aquarium at the Meadowlands. But he cautioned that Xanadu's aquarium would face intense competition from other attractions in the metropolitan area, including the aquariums in Camden and Brooklyn.

"They've got to take a look at the market and make sure that business would be viable," he said. "In this industry there's only so many expenses you can trim or shave."

The animals need high-quality food and careful attention to their living conditions, and the staff needs to be top-notch, he said.

He added, there is a "tremendous amount of water circulating around a building that has miles of electrical conduits. It takes a certain level of expertise."

Goldberg said the aquarium operator negotiating with Xanadu "is really world renowned for ecologically sensitive and very well structured aquarium experiences."

The enormous tank would be visible both from outside and inside the complex, acting as a wall of the building, according to the developer's plans, Goldberg said.

Lloyd Kaplan, a spokesman for Xanadu, declined to give any details about the aquarium plans, but he said developers "are pleased that consideration is being given to the possible addition of an aquarium to the array of entertainment and retail attractions" at the complex

Xanadu has been criticized as a mega-mall that would compete with all the other shopping centers in North Jersey, an image developers have sought to dispel.

The complex, due to open in November, will include an indoor ski slope, skydiving wind tunnels and an 18-screen cinema.

An aquarium would be yet another entertainment attraction at Xanadu, Goldberg said.

"The sports authority was pleased with the proposal," Goldberg said, "because it clearly is indicative of Meadowlands Xanadu and Colony's commitment to making this fully an entertainment and retail destination."

[unknown memory]

Hmm. I would actually like that very much. I never went to the Camden Aquarium as it's pretty far. When I go to Coney Island, I keep forgetting that there's an aquarium there. I've only been to the aquarium in Pt. Pleasant. That's my only NJ aquarium experience. :) I've been to other aquariums across the country and the world. Most impressed with Australia's unlimited amount of zoos and aquariums.

Plus, having competition is actually very good if they're aiming for tourism. If it wasn't for competition for attractions, Florida would not have tourism as its number 1 drive. Same goes for Southern California. Every day, they have competition among theme parks since they're so close in proximity. Two hours is nothing compared to So Cal's. Start with Universal Studios in Hollywood. Fifteen minutes drive later, you're in Knotts' Berry Farm. Fifteen minutes after that, you got Disney. One hour away from Disney is Six Flags. :rolleyes:

But the goal... "Entertainment and retail" destination. They just had to add the "r" word. Grr.. Enough of retail! >__< I live in retail...

[scrollhectic]

Start with Universal Studios in Hollywood. Fifteen minutes drive later, you're in Knotts' Berry Farm

What freeway are u taking? Obviously not the 5

[unknown memory]

^ I don't remember. ^^; Haha.. Went to So Cal in March. Spent most of the time in Ontario but managed to stay in the Anahiem/Anahiem Hills area a little before that. How I got those estimated times was through the GPS. Used the GPS for all of our crazy freeway trips. U-turned a lot too. ^__^ But I remember distinctively timing the distance between Disneyland and Knotts. The GPS wasn't too far off except the time I got was more like 13 minutes.

[Nick Mango]

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[Ninjahedge]

UGLY!!!!!



As for the aquarium? Good idea up front, but bad in the long run. People lose interest in Aquariums an dthey do not pull in a hell of a lot of revenue.

Thy are also a BEAST to maintain (between filtering and circulation systems and just plain holding that much water for that long!).

I went on an inspection of the Brooklyn Aquarium a while back, and they are having problems with some of the tanks, especially the salt water ones. Putting in an aquarium sounds great until you realize how much it actually turns out to cost.

What would be the incentive to do this? They have obviously researched it themselves. tax break maybe? Why would an equity firm be anxious to build something that is not known for its $$$?

[unknown memory]

^ That's the Brooklyn Aquarium that you base your observation on. (When it comes to some attractions in NYC, you don't expect the same quality that you'd find elsewhere. Which is why, Astroland isn't that appealing either.) Have you been to other aquariums though? I've been to the one in Boston several years ago, and they maintain it very well. Don't think the visitors in Boston lose much interest when going to the aquarium.

And the only incentive I can think of is "tourism". Why else would you build an aquarium? For the locals' interest only? NJ's third largest industry is tourism.

[Ninjahedge]

I do not believe the Boston Aquarium is 100% profitable, but I do not have any numbers on this.

It would be good to see them though. I believe that Aquariums are one of those items that find it hard to turn a profit. They have large expenses and not as devoted followings as other entertainment venues.

It seems more like an education venue, albeit entertaining. I have not heard of many being moneymakers based on their entrance fees alone.

Oh, as for Brooklyn, my point was not to talk about the condition, but the fact that it takes a LOT of maintainance to keep one of these guys running. That costs money. So using that much cash on something that may not be able to support itself.........

It is not a BAD thing, I just don't think it would be a practical venue.

[giselehaslice]

While Aquariums are not profitable, I'm sure that isnt the sole purpose of them. They are for education and sometimes for conservation.

Museums are not profitable either, but they still get built.

[injcsince81]

UGLY!!!!!





What he said.

What's with this epileptic seizure-inducing, multicolor container look?

What genius designed THAT?

[unknown memory]

I do not believe the Boston Aquarium is 100% profitable, but I do not have any numbers on this.

It would be good to see them though. I believe that Aquariums are one of those items that find it hard to turn a profit. They have large expenses and not as devoted followings as other entertainment venues.

It seems more like an education venue, albeit ent