USA TODAY American Dream is open — at least part of it. Here's what's ...
Visitors finally took their first steps inside the American Dream mall on Friday.
The mall, located by MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, was once called “the ugliest damn building in New Jersey and maybe America,” by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Construction has been on and off for several years, after hitting several road blocks in everything from funding to lawsuits from the NFL.
More than 17 years later, CNBC got a peek inside the partially opened center. (Only the ice rink and Nickelodeon theme park are open as of now.)
An estimated 2,500 people visited the mall on Friday, according to an American Dream press release. They waited in long lines for everything from food to rides — and to take their pictures with characters like Spongebob.
On Friday, some parking spots we saw cost up to $45. On its website, American Dream lists parking prices listed for $3-$24.
Phil Murphy, the governor of New Jersey, called the first phase opening a “great first step.”
“There’s that great line, ‘I don’t know how to define it, but I’ll know it when I see it.’ This feels like it’s a success,” he said.
The developers behind the project, Triple Five developers, are also behind the Mall of America — the largest mall in the U.S. — and West Edmonton Mall in Canada — the largest mall in North America.
The mall-and-park complex will eventually feature a LEGOland, a movie theater and a ski-park. The indoor water park will open on Nov. 27, and the rest of the shopping center will open in March 2020. The 3-million-plus-square-foot space will eventually be 55% entertainment and 45% retail.
Mall retailers will still face challenges, due to Bergen County’s “blue laws” that don’t allow shops to open on Sundays.
The theme park portion of American Dream has been in the works since July 2012, and the center was issued a temporary certificate of occupancy on Thursday.
The total price tag of the center is estimated at $5 billion.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — More than two decades ago when a mega entertainment and shopping complex was being conceived on a vast swath of swamp land in New Jersey, the iPhone didn't exist, Amazon was only selling books online and malls were where you went for all your shopping needs.
Now, after endless fits and starts and billions of dollars spent, American Dream is officially opening its doors to the public as the second largest mall in the country, and third largest in North America. It will showcase 3 million square feet of leasable space dedicated to more than a dozen entertainment attractions like a 16-story indoor ski slope, roller coaster, water park and eventually 450 retail, food and specialty shops.
The big question is: Who will come?
In today's retail landscape, consumers are glued to their iPhones and smartphones, where they can do their shopping without ever leaving their couch. Amazon has morphed into the biggest online retailer in the world. And overall traffic at malls, which had been on the rise in the late 1990s, has declined 10 percent since, according to Coresight Research.
A report from Credit Suisse published two years ago predicted that up to a quarter of the shopping malls will close by 2022 given the increasing popularity of online shopping and a rash of store closings. Since 2015, only nine malls have been built, a dramatic fall from their peak construction in 1973 of 43, according to CoStar Group, a real estate research firm.
Amid that new reality, American Dream is looking to draw 40 million visitors in its first year, with entertainment accounting for more than half of its space. Attractions include a bunny field and an aviary. There will also be such amenities as a doggy day care and a luxury wing, where shoppers can sip champagne and sample caviar as they wait to have their designer handbags wrapped. Two hotels with a total of 3,500 rooms are being planned next to the complex.
"You can make it your backyard playground if you live in Manhattan or even if you're in New Jersey," said Ken Downing, chief creative officer for Triple Five Group, the mall's developer. "It's a staycation. So, it's a little bit of competing with mindset and emotion, far more than a property or even Disneyland."
Downing says American Dream was designed to adapt to different events and trends. A grand court's fountain, for example, can convert into a catwalk for a runway show. The ice rink can be transformed into a concert venue.
Canada-based mall and entertainment conglomerate Triple Five in 2011 took over the massive project originally dubbed Xanadu from two developers, whose plans included building the world's largest Ferris wheel. The project broke ground in 2004 but it languished during the early years, with its multi-colored, checkerboard exterior — since removed — drawing derision, including from then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who called it "an offense to the eyes" and "the ugliest damn building in New Jersey and maybe America."
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