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Supporters of the American Dream Meadowlands project – formerly known as Xanadu – will plead their case this week for the filling of five acres of wetlands to permit the expansion of the stalled project’s footprint to more than three million square feet.

By nearly a 2-to-1 margin, New Jersey voters oppose any state subsidy for the developers trying to finish the long-stalled Xanadu mega-mall that has been re-branded as "American Dream Meadowlands," according to a Fairleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Poll released Monday.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill that will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to revive the stalled Xanadu Mall and several other projects across the state.

Fresh off his legislative victory curbing state worker benefits, New Jersey governor Chris Christie talks about his bi-partisan strategy to put the deal together, the future of the state's public broadcasting assets and the stalled Xanadu mall project.

You're an ambitious, high-profile Republican governor of a state in chronic budget crisis and in a nation with a sputtering recovery. The state's corrupt "pay to play" politics, left you a two-million-square-foot mall monstrosity named Xanadu that's yet to open. Its exterior is violently ugly and it is built on state land so close to the Big Apple that its value is through the roof. Worse yet, in just three years, the eyes of the world will be on the monstrosity because your brand new NFL stadium next door is hosting the Superbowl in 2014.

The Christie Administration is in the final stages of closing a deal with a new developer to revive the moribund Xanadu retail and entertainment complex in the Meadowlands.

An official close to the deal says the state could provide as much as $400 million dollars in economic development bonds to help the developer complete the $2 billion project. Xanadu was supposed to open before the recession but stalled because of management issues and the economy.

Economy Grows, Albeit Slowly

The economy grew at a disappointing 1.8 percent annual rate in the first three months of 2011. That's down from 3.1 percent in the final months of last year. The drop is being blamed on harsh winter weather, the ongoing slump in the housing market and higher oil and prices. A sharp drop in state and local government spending also pinched economic growth.

The developer behind the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada is now interested in re-developing the Xanadu project in New Jersey's Meadowlands. Triple Five has signed a letter of intent with the lenders of the property.

Gov. Chris Christie came to the new Giants-Jets stadium's 50-yard line to lay out the most dramatic public policy shift for the state's gambling industry and Sports Authority since both were created more than 30 years ago. After the state lost the intitial rounds of roulette on the Xanadu mega-mall here, Christie says he may have no choice but to throw more chips on the table.

Back in 2002, Xanadu, the 2.3 million square foot mega entertainment and retail complex, was intended as a way for New Jersey’s Sport and Exposition Authority (NJSEA) to rebrand its aging Meadowlands Complex. The NJSEA was facing the loss of three of its sports franchises, the Devils, the Nets and the Jets. For years, the commercial potential of the sports complex, just 25 minutes from New York City, had never really materialized. The site was only accessible by auto and traffic jams plagued its busiest days.

New Jersey is always strapped for transportation dollars. So the odds were stacked against the NJSEA to get the hundreds of millions needed for a mass transit link that would only serve Sunday football fans. But if they could add a “Xanadu', that would also include office and hotel development, the Sports Authority could make its case.

Xanadu, As Built, March 17, 2009

Listen to Hennelly's tale of Xanadu:

The Port Authority did shell out $182 million for the 2.3-mile rail spur that ties the entire Meadowlands complex into New Jersey Transit’s rail network. The NJSEA kicked in over $6 million to buy land it needed to complete the rail right of way, also a Superfund site in the midst of remediation.

A rail spur that was supposed to cost $150 million would cost almost 30 percent more and be years behind schedule. It is scheduled now to open in June. As far as holding on to the three sports franchises for the NJSEA? It was one for three. The Devils skated to Newark, the Nets look to be bouncing to Brooklyn and the Jets landed in the neighborhood. They teamed up with the Giants to build a brand new stadium. Was the private public partnership a “win win? Time will tell. Xanadu says it is 70 percent leased, but concedes it does not yet have an anchor retail tenant.

The History: The Vision, Early Supporters, Key Documents

The Vision

Images courtesy of Meadowlands Xanadu
'A world of opportunity'