The long-stalled American Dream Meadowlands project in East Rutherford
By Joshua Burd
The developer seeking to complete the American Dream Meadowlands project is moving ahead with plans to seek $1.15 billion in bonds for the project, now that an opposition group has agreed to drop its challenge.
On Thursday, representatives for Triple Five Group touted the end of the legal battle that briefly threated to derail the developer’s plans. The announcement comes after a state appeals court tossed out a complaint by the New Jersey Alliance for Fiscal Integrity, which the group had filed earlier in the month in protest of procedures by the state authority overseeing the project.
“Today marks the end of this litigation, as the challenger has agreed to dismiss all appeals, with prejudice,” Angelo J. Genova of Genova Burns LLC, litigation counsel for Triple Five, said in a prepared statement. “This legal victory represents a final, conclusive approval of a very critical financing structure, allowing American Dream to be realized.”
Five has sought the bonds to complete the long-delayed retail and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, but faced opposition from the nonprofit alliance. Triple Five now plans to move forward with the bond pricing and sale process that will it complete construction and open the American Dream in mid-2018.
The sale will be issued simultaneously to the market by the Public Finance Authority of the State of Wisconsin through Goldman Sachs, the representatives said Thursday. Triple Five said it was working with the state of Wisconsin as a conduit issuer in order to provide “the most efficient and cost effective means of bringing the bonds quickly to market.”
The developer said the bonds involved in the sale are non-recourse tax-exempt conduit bonds that will pose no cost or risk to taxpayers.
“This challenge is over and we can now focus all of our efforts on closing the project financing and completing the construction of this world-class retail and entertainment destination — American Dream,” said Tony Armlin, senior vice president of development and construction for Triple Five.
