The canceled indoor ski slope comes back to life

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Triple Five, owner of the Mall of America in Minnesota, will take over development of New Jersey’s stalled Meadowlands Xanadu shopping and entertainment complex as lenders seek to revive the project.

Triple Five signed a letter of intent with the lender group under a plan that is supported by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, according to a joint statement today. Creditors took control of the project in August from a group led by Colony Capital LLC after delays in construction.

Earlier owners invested about $2 billion in the complex, which sits about 10 miles west of Manhattan near New Jersey’s Meadowlands sports complex, home of the National Football League’s New York Giants and New York Jets.

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Initial plans are to include all aspects of the original design, such as the ski slope and Ferris wheel.

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The complex has been plagued by delays since construction began more than five years ago. Colony, led by billionaire Thomas J. Barrack, took the project in 2006 from Mills Corp., the original developer, after Mills ran out of money.

Construction stalled after the September 2008 bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which had financed the project, left lenders unable to meet obligations, Santa Monica, California-based Colony said in an August statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-23/new-jersey-s-meadowlands-complex-will-be-revamped-by-mall-of-america-owner.html