American Dream, the megamall in New Jersey’s Meadowlands, has seen its losses increase fourfold in one year, according to a draft securities filing, Bloomberg News reported. The 3.5-million-square-foot shopping and entertainment complex, home to an indoor ski slope, amusement park and water park, lost about $245 million in 2022 as expenses almost doubled to $428 million, according to the three-page document posted Monday to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s EMMA website. Financial expenses, which typically include debt service payments, ballooned to $189 million. American Dream, which has faced construction delays, pandemic shutdowns, and a fire that closed its indoor ski slope for several months, has struggled to manage its debt. In November 2022, lenders led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. gave American Dream a four-year extension on repaying $1.7 billion in construction borrowing. The mega mall, located across the Hudson River from New York City, had to draw on a debt reserve fund to pay interest on $800 million of municipal bonds, backed by fees the mall’s owner gives to bondholders instead of paying property taxes. The so-called payments in lieu of taxes that back the bonds could decline further if American Dream wins a tax appeal against the borough of East Rutherford and a judge reduces the value of the mall. The mall is appealing five years of assessments by the borough in state tax court. The bonds trade at about 91 cents on the dollar.
