American Dream, a $5 billion super mall in New Jersey’s Meadowlands, had to tap into a reserve fund to make a bond payment as it copes with a cash flow crisis exacerbated by the coronavirus, Bloomberg News reported. The 3.3 million-square-foot behemoth, which features an indoor ski slope, amusement park and water park, used the reserves to make a $9.3 million Aug. 2 payment on about $290 million of debt, according to a securities filing. American Dream has about $9.3 million left in the fund, enough to make its next debt payment on Feb. 1. American Dream issued the municipal bonds, supported by a 75% pledge of sales tax receipts from purchases at the mall, in 2017. Developer Triple Five Group also sold $800 million of debt backed by payments the developers agreed to make to bondholders instead of paying property taxes, known as PILOTs.
