The American Dream Mall outside of New York City has turned into a financial nightmare for its owners and the contractor and subcontractors that helped build the massive $5-billion northern NJ retail complex and entertainment destination.

Canadian conglomerate Triple Five Worldwide, which opened the 3-million-sq-ft mall last year, fell behind on debt payments on the $1 billion-plus loan to help fund the project,. triggering the loan’s collateral provisions, and is poised to turn over to its lenders half the profits from its two other flagship properties, the Mall of America in Minnesota and the West Edmonton Mall in Alberta.

开发商同意将其他购物中心的49％作为2017年美国梦贷款的抵押品，这是Xanadu的大规模翻新和扩张，一个盛行的零售项目。

开发人员也面临着建设留置权的价值tens of millions of dollars from American Dream general contractor PCL Construction Enterprises and more than 40 subcontractors, which claim they have not been fully paid.

A top company executive stated publicly in March that the move was “likely” to happen, with the Financial Times recently reporting that the agreement is now being finalized.

该项目的贷方包括摩根大通和高盛。

美国梦was forced to abort a long-planned grand opening in spring 2020 just as the coronavirus pandemic erupted. After a lengthy shutdown, the Rutherford, N.J., mall, which had a soft opening in October 2019 and features a mix of retail, restaurant and entertainment attractions, reopened last fall.

The center’s vast scope includes an 800-ft-long indoor ski slope previously built; an indoor, 22-ride amusement park with two roller coasters, one with the world’s steepest vertical drop at 121.5 deg, a glass-domed themed water park with a 1.5-acre wave pool and 25 slides; a massive assembly of shops including Saks Fifth Avenue and a 35,000-sq-ft Lego interactive store; a 300-ft-tall observation wheel offering views of New York City; and a 35,000-sq-ft aquarium.

根据当地媒体的说法，Triple Five类似项目的计划（迈阿密也称为American Dream）仍在进行中，并计划于今年开始建设。

The N.J. mall was supposed to be a remedy for what Xanadu had become—a multicolored warehouse-like structure that stayed unfinished for 16 years amid owner financial woes, prompting its distinction as the state’s leading eyesore visible from the N.J. Turnpike.

三五has struggled to fully pay the project's many contractors, with construction liens placed on the mall property by PCL and subs, according to Bergen County and court records.

PCL filed a construction lien in February in a bid to recover the last $24 million it is owed.

根据会议的录音，上个月在明尼苏达州的当地官员说：“就流行病而言，这在大流行方面不可能更糟。”“这在美国梦想购物中心（American Dream Mall）造成了非常重大的现金流危机。”

Overall, PCL says it has been paid $1.9 billion in the $2 billion-plus construction contract, which included more than $474 million in change orders.

从提供电气服务和防火的人到瓷砖和钢勃起的数十个潜艇已经提交了自己的建筑留置权。在某些情况下，Triph 5已设法还清了大多数或所有留置权。

Still, substantial claims remain unpaid.

New Jersey Boom and Erectors filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court in a bid to recover $1.6 million it says it is owed from work on the 1,400-seat dine-in Cinemex theater, another of the mall’s big attractions.

The firm, which had previously filed a construction lien on the property, has named contractor Phoenix Diversified, Triple Five and one of its units, Ameream, and six others as defendants. The firm, which did structural steel work on the cinema complex as well as fireproofing and other work, noted in the complaint that it had been paid $2.4 million of the more than $4 million contract.

In a counterclaim filed April 15 in state court in New Jersey, Triple Five blamed Phoenix for the payment problems experienced by its subs. Triple Five contends that the contractor overbilled the developer for the work it had done, among other issues.

“Ameream has demanded that Phoenix provide an accounting and explanation as to each payment made by Ameream for work performed by Phoenix’s subcontractors and to discharge the liens,” the company said in its cross claim.

尽管如此，当涉及到新购物中心的整体财务斗争时，三重五人却将责任归咎于大流行。

在上个月与明尼苏达州布卢明顿市的城市官员的一次会议上，Triple Five的Hagen详细介绍了涉及开发商其他大型购物中心的抵押协议，并预测，抵押品的规定可能“可能”生效。

Hagen added that American Dream and its various entertainment attractions, after finally being able to open in October, remained under severe capacity restrictions. While capacity has since been raised from an initial 25%, the constraints are still putting a damper on business, he said.

“It would have been better [if] the American Dream Mall would have burned down, or a hurricane had hit it, financially, because we would have been covered by insurance,” Hagen said.

然而，哈根说，有令人鼓舞的迹象表明，美国梦的反弹，各种景点引起了人们的欢迎。

“The attractions are really the bright spot. Every single one has seen month over month [revenue] gains,” Hagen told the Minnesota officials.

But Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club and a long-time critic of the project, sees rough times ahead for the mall amid the shift to online shopping that was accelerated by the pandemic.

“I have always said retail is changing and a mall made no sense then, and it makes no sense now,” he said. “There are seven or eight malls within a 10-mile radius, plus shopping in New York.”