Triple Five Group of Companies, owners and operators of Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall, the two largest entertainment, leisure and shopping destination properties in North America, says it has closed on its $1.67 billion private construction financing for the American Dream project in Bergen County, NJ.
The new multi-million square foot entertainment, dining and shopping destination will “establish the new standard, and redefine the retail and entertainment experience in the US and across the world,” said American Dream president and CEO Don Ghermezian.
The project is expected to be completed by March 2019, bringing back to life an initiative called Xanadu from 2003 that has stalled, with empty, unopened buildings, and has taken out at least two previous developers.
“We are pleased to have worked with J.P. Morgan and Goldman Sachs on the financing for this transformational project, Ghermezian said in a statement. “The construction loan paves the way for the completion of American Dream and allows us to aggressively move forward with the construction and opening of the project.”
The construction financing was led by J.P. Morgan and the tax-exempt bond offering is being led by Goldman Sachs.
The company says American Dream will be home to the DreamWorks Water Park and Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park – North America’s largest fully-enclosed parks, the Big Snow Indoor Ski & Snowboard Park, a 1,350 seat live-performance Cirque Du Soleil theater, an Observation Wheel, luxury movie theatres by Cinemex, Sea Life Aquarium, Legoland Discovery Center, Kidzania, an 18-hole miniature golf course and an NHL-size ice rink. The project will also feature world-class retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Hermès, along with an assortment of restaurants and specialty shops.
