EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-The long legal nightmare for the American Dream Meadowlands is over – and construction could re-begin soon.
The Giants and Jets National Football League teams dropped a two-year-old lawsuit against developer Triple Five, and the company dropped the suit against the teams it filed a year ago, according to reports late Tuesday afternoon. A Christie administration adviser quickly confirmed that the way is clear for Triple Five to finish work on partly-built structures and also to add a water and amusement park.
The Giants and Jets have consistently contended that traffic will become impossibly snarled on game days at MetLife Stadium – adjacent to the American Dream site, once known as Xanadu - if the retail/entertainment complex adds the water park.
Gov. Chris Christie tried hard to broker a settlement – personally entering the talks between the parties – before giving up when the teams refused to budge on their opposition to the water park addition.
There were no details on the settlement agreement Tuesday, as it was marked as confidential at the Superior Court.
The project still has financial arrangements to get in place. Triple Five officials have said they need $1.9 billion in financing to finish the project. State officials, Bergen County and East Rutherford officials have approved a plan to use projected revenue from American Dream to back a public bond offering that would supply up to $800 million.
While the Giants/Jets lawsuit was at play, Triple Five executives said it was hurting efforts to obtain funds from private lenders. On that basis, the company had sought damages from the teams with its lawsuit.
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