New Jersey Lawmakers Vote to Bail Out Xanadu, "The Vietnam of Malls"
The New Jersey state Senate and Assembly overwhelmingly passed a bill that would offer up to $350 million in state funds to help complete the stalled Xanadu mall. WNYC reports that lawmakers tacked some provisions onto the bill, namely a tax credit that rewards developers and lets them off the hook for affordable housing they were previously forced to build. Maybe all the people who were expecting to live in that affordable housing can move into Xanadu's indoor skiing mountain.
["Projected Opening Spring 2010"]
The legislation's passage hinges on Governor Chris Christie's signature and, according to WNYC, members of his administration "did not know if he intended to sign the bill." Xanadu has been renamed American Dream Meadowlands and would cost an estimated $100 million to tear down, something that Christie has stated in interviews he would not do.
While the bill passed convincingly (36-0 in the Senate and 71-6 in the Assembly), it still has some detractors. New Jersey Sierra Club Chapter Director Jeff Tittel said, "This ugly building is now a dirty deal for the taxpayers and it is kind of like the Vietnam of malls. We just keep getting sucked in deeper and deeper to no end and into a bigger calamity." Henry Kissinger is already masterminding the secret bombings of the Limited Too and a food court Cinnabon.
How do you know things are bad for American Dream Meadowlands? The developers are "fending off press reports the vacant mall is 'slowly sinking' in the Meadowlands."
Don't worry, state funds are on the way!
Stucknation: Xanadu Gets Legislative Boost From NJ Lawmakers [WNYC]
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