American Dream pushes its vision at retail convention

December 8, 2014, 11:24 PM Last updated: Monday, December 8, 2014, 11:41 PM

After years of staying behind the scenes, the developer of the mega-entertainment and shopping complex American Dream stepped onto the big stage Monday in New York. As a list of major, committed tenants and other details of the project surfaced over the weekend, Triple Five Group made sales pitches to other potential tenants for the untried retail concept at the International Council of Shopping Centers annual retail convention.

Triple Five, based in Edmonton, Alberta, paid to have the American Dream logo pasted on the entrances of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and signed on as a corporate sponsor of the convention. Its booth at the event features flat-screen televisions that flash artists renderings of the Meadowlands project as well as promotional materials. Triple Five also took an ad in the convention program with the words Shop American Dream. Opening Holiday 2016.

Related: Retail giants lining up, American Dream says

In a status update on the project, Triple Five listed by name 50 retailers such as Victorias Secret and Gap as committed to American Dream, and said it had letters of intent to lease from 155 retailers and 93 completed leases from unspecified retailers. Yet despite the raised profile, a spokeswoman at the Triple Five booth Monday said the developer was not doing any press interviews about the project.

Even as Triple Five rolled out its tenant list for American Dream, there are lingering doubts that the project will get off the ground, given the history of failed retail ventures at the Meadowlands. Commitments to the project are not necessarily signed contracts. Opinions among the real estate executives interviewed at the convention Monday were evenly divided about whether the complex rising next to MetLife Stadium is a sure thing or a tough sell.

However, North Jersey real estate brokers agreed that American Dream is different enough to not affect deals they have in the works, even though the project is looking to sign several hundred retailers.

North Jersey brokers said they are seeing high demand, and even bidding wars, for prime locations in retail categories, from downtowns to freestanding stores, to shopping centers. This years convention drew 9,500 attendees, a record number, and almost 2,000 more than last year, a sign, brokers said, of the strength of the retail sector.

But even in a booming market, American Dream could be a tough sell, some brokers said. One particular problem is that retailers have heard a sales pitch before for a mall in the Meadowlands.

Now they have to be resold, said New York broker Faith Hope Consolo, who does deals with the types of luxury and fashion retailers Triple Five is hoping to land. She noted that Triple Five is the third developer to pitch the project in the past 11 years. Reselling is harder than selling, she said. Retailers have heard the pitches but have also seen the shell of the former Xanadu version of the mall sit empty, Consolo said.

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American Dream pushes its vision at retail convention