Developer of Miami mall struggles to finish one in NJ

The developer of the massive American Dream Miami shopping mall missed a target date to raise construction financing to finish building another mall development in New Jersey.

Developer Don Ghermezian expected in December to raise $2.7 billion to finish construction of the half-built American Dream shopping mall on a 90-acre site in the Meadowlands area of northeastern New Jersey.

But construction work at the mall site has been suspended. A spokesman for Triple Five last week told WNYC News that the company was still seeking construction financing, which it had planned to arrange before Christmas.

Ghermezian and his company, Triple Five, planned to raise the construction financing through private borrowing and a tax-free municipal bond offering.

He insisted in a December interview with WNYC News that Triple Five will complete construction of the unfinished American Dream mall in the Meadowlands.

“There was no project that we’ve come as far as we’ve come with the American Dream and decided to step back,” he told WNYC.

The Miami-Dade County Commission last month voted 11-1 to approve a comprehensive master plan amendment, changing the designation for the 194.5-acre development American Dream Miami site, sandwiched between Interstate 75 and Florida’s Turnpike, from “industrial office” to “business office.” Now the project heads to state regulatory agencies for further analysis before coming back to the county commission for final approval.

Triple Five also owns Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada.   [WNYC News] – Mike Seemuth