New vision for Meadowlands Sports Complex

Plan includes convention center, hotels, casinos, athletic center

In its heyday, the Meadowlands Sports Complex attracted thousands of tourists to the region.
But that was then.
Now, despite last year’s successful debut of New Meadowlands Stadium in August, the complex has lost much of its luster. Hundreds of acres of usable land at the complex has yet to be developed. Xanadu, the 2 million-square-foot $2.3 billion sports/entertainment/retail development, has yet to open. And Meadowlands Racetrack has been in the red for years.
Undeterred, the Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce wants to restore the Sports Complex to its glory days.
Last week the business group introduced a vision and plan to, in the words of chamber President and CEO Jim Kirkos, “jumpstart the conversation needed to make that happen.”
At a Feb. 28 presentation held at the Sports Complex, the chamber unveiled a proposal to develop some 2.5 million square feet of useable land at the 600-acre sports complex site. The proposal calls for the private development of several sports and gaming facilities at the site in East Rutherford.

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The chamber estimates that such a plan could create as many as 15,000 temporary construction jobs.
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Kirkos said the plan would be a boon for the Meadowlands District, which includes Secaucus and parts of North Bergen, among several other municipalities in Hudson and Bergen counties.
“The Meadowlands Sports Complex has the capability of being this fabulous, multi-use, multi-faceted entertainment complex,” Kirkos said last week. “And we just want to advocate for the continued expansion of the complex. So, we laid out a few ideas we thought would be appropriate for the complex”

The chamber’s vision for the Meadowlands

Conceived by the chamber’s 2040 Council and drafted by the engineering firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff, the business group envisions the development of several new facilities at the Sports Complex that could attract both tourists and business travelers.
Specific components of the plan call for a convention and athletic center, an aquatics facility, hotels, a new horse track, and casinos.
Funding for all facets of the plan would come from interested private developers, said Kirkos, and would not be dependent on public funding from the cash-strapped state of New Jersey.
The chamber estimates that such a plan could create as many as 15,000 temporary construction jobs and 25,000 permanent positions in the region.
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli said the Chamber’s plan would bring welcomed ratables (taxpaying properties) to the region that could benefit Secaucus taxpayers. At present, Secaucus pays $2.5 million annually to the state through a Meadowlands District tax-sharing formula. (The number recently decreased by $170,177. For years Secaucus taxpayers paid $3 million annually to the district.)
“The more new ratables that come into the Meadowlands District, the less Secaucus would have to give to the state in regional tax sharing,” said Gonnelli. “Every new ratable that comes on line affects the tax sharing formula.”

In synch with Christie?

While Kirkos sees the chamber’s vision for the complex as being consistent with Gov. Chris Christie’s plans for the region because they rely of private rather than public funding, a revamped gaming industry in the Meadowlands could be a sticking point.
Last summer, Christie’s Gaming, Sports, and Entertainment Advisory Commission recommended the privatization of the Meadowlands Racetrack, and plans are underway for the facility to be sold. Developer Jeff Gural has expressed an interest in purchasing the racetrack and he has already recommended some changes he’d make if he does purchase the track.
But Atlantic City is not eager about the prospect of having to compete with a sophisticated gaming industry in north Jersey, and the governor has expressed a desire to concentrate much of New Jersey’s gaming in that city.
Still, the Chamber has consistently advocated for the modernization of Meadowlands Racetrack through the addition of new gaming attractions, such as video lottery terminals. The plan released last week not only calls for a new “modern and more efficient facility that is consistent with contemporary racing, [connected to] other gaming options.” It also proposes the eventual development of resort-style casinos.
The inclusion of casinos in the chamber’s proposal should not, Kirkos said, deter ongoing discussion about development at the Sports Complex.
“What we laid out today isn’t specifically about gaming,” Kirkos emphasized. “The heart and soul of what we laid out was really more about continuing what the state and the governor’s office has already been doing.”
A spokesman for Christie said Thursday, “We will review the proposal, but [we] don’t have anything to offer by way of specific reaction at this point.”
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.

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