The Meadowlands American Dream Project

Jim Kirkos, President and CEO of Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce, talks about the start of their most recent project, American Dream, a destination for all ages that will include thirteen entertainment attractions including and indoor waterpark and ski slope, multiple shopping options, and several restaurants.

12/16/17 #128

 

 

 

 

Excerpt:

"Once again he's with us. He is our good friend, Jim Kirkos, President and CEO, Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce. Good to see you buddy. Good to be here. Every time I feel like we talk, we talk about the American Dream project. What is happening over in the Meadowlands with American Dream? We'll show some video. Oh, it's a reality now. Construction is well underway, six, seven hundred union construction workers on the site every day. All the infrastructure being built. And in the not so distant future, probably in the coming few weeks, you'll start seeing vertical steel pop out of the ground. It's exciting. Tell us what it's going to be here, I'm taking a look at it, it says it's gonna have attractions, DreamWorks Waterpark, Nickelodeon Universe... okay I got that. But then there's gonna be a bunch of stores right? Yeah. If you look at the video that's on the screen now and you can... you can see what's going around. That's the amusement park. You'll see an indoor amusement park, indoor waterpark, indoor ski dome, ferris wheel, aquarium, you know, unbelievable retail shopping experiences, white tablecloth restaurants and entertainment. Cirque du Soleil... it's just amazing. Victoria's Secret's coming here? Probably. So here... the reason I mentioned this, because I see some big brand names like this, like Victoria's Secret and others, and I'm like, "Hold on. Did they have deals for them? Or is it a catch-22?" Like, "Well I'll go in if you go in?" No no, they're well on their way of all their leasing contracts. They'll probably be in the 70th percentile or maybe better when they open up with leases. They're having great success with all their... you see the, you know the Saks and Lord and Taylor anchors on the outsides. They're on board? They're on board. By the way... yeah they've built... they're building their anchor stores right now. Meadowlands 2040 Foundation. We've talked about this before. What does that have to do with this? So the the Meadowlands 2040 Foundation has created an economic development vision plan that looks out to the year 2040. And basically American Dream plays a big role, because we want to leverage all the business opportunities and the economic impact that will come from having the the Meadowlands become a primary destination. Describe the Meadowlands for those who may not be familiar with exactly what the district is... the area. So the years before... the Meadowlands was always talked about as the 14 municipalities in the actual Hackensack Meadowlands Development District. But if you look at the Meadowlands as a region, it's really a Greater Meadowlands..."