I get it. New Jersey Xanadu is a terrible problem for the powers that be, a reflection of poor planning and worse decision making. There is nothing sadder than a mall that never opened and Xanadu has been plenty sad for nearly five years. In fact, Xanadu has become a roadside wreck that sustains the countless Jersey jokes – about ugliness, the Meadowlands, banality and bad planning. But, all of that doesn’t mean that Xanadu is worth saving at public expense. In fact, compounding a bad idea with more bad ideas will simply make matters worse.
The new plan puts the current failed project on steroids and relies on our beleaguered State Government provide the growth hormones via tax abatements and financing. In New Jersey there are o funds for infrastructure, teachers, pensions. But there is plenty of help for more shopping centers.
Here are many of the several reasons why this plan is bad policy, bad use of limited resources and should be stopped before even more damage is done.
First, is there anyone in New Jersey who seriously believes we don’t have enough retail space? In fact, we are over retailed. Retail space in many of our latest malls and remaining downtowns are operating at soft occupancy rates. Opening the largest mall in the world will not help them a lick. In fact, in a world where retailing is increasingly done on line and fewer shoppers are spending time in malls, this additional space will dilute everyone’s success.
The jobs issue is more smoke and mirrors. At a time when we really need to promote renewed manufacturing, energy efficiency, high tech work, we get temporary construction jobs. And, when the construction work is done, we are left with limited skill retail jobs. Again, this will more likely be shuffling positions from existing retailers to a new mall than creating the kind of enterprises that will promote long term growth.
Traffic on Route 3 is a challenge today. Did I say challenge? I meant nightmare. Adding the world’s largest mall without any major upgrades will only exacerbate the congestion. And, many in Bergen County are convinced that the only way this mall can operate is by ending Sunday Blue Laws, thereby making traffic a seven day a week dilemma.
The other so-called benefits also come at a price. Another performing arts center? What about Englewood, Newark, Rutherford, Montclair, etc. Adding yet another 2,500 seat venue in the Meadowlands broadens the supply but does little for the demand. International Travel expansion? The rail link to Newark Airport will need a lot more work for that to make sense. Put our future in a development team that walked out on a similar project in Las Vegas? Wait until things go a bit poorly and we hear about requests for casino gaming to complete the entertainment experience.
Don’t get me wrong. I love ferris wheels, indoor ski jumps, bowling alleys, fifty restaurants and all the other stuff that the newly branded Xanadu may offer. But this development is just five miles from New York and I would argue that people don’t come to this region to be treated to the kind of excitement they find in suburban Minnesota or West Alberta, Canada. Does this proposal advance any of our very serious statewide problems?
And, does the world’s largest mall developer need and deserve governmental subsidies? I say clearly, no. This isn’t helping. There is no public purpose in having a Cheesecake Factory or other retailer subsidized by government expense. Let’s use our public resources more wisely and let the market determine what a failed shopping center can reasonably support.
