Canadian mall developer Triple Five has bet big on bolstering brick-and-mortar retail this year; first, it was a pitch for a $200-million waterpark at Minnesota’s Mall of America, then approval of their 500-acre American Dream Miami, set to become the largest mall in the country in May.
Now Triple Five has released new details of its American Dream mall in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is finally set to open in March of 2019 after 16 years of delays. At a whopping 4.5 million square feet, American Dream will be smaller than its Miami-based cousin but still large enough to contain the western hemisphere’s largest indoor ski slope, a 253-foot-wide “observation wheel,” a regulation-sized skating rink, and an eight-acre “Nickelodeon Universe” park.
The mall will sit right next to MetLife Stadium, just a stone’s throw away from Manhattan and eastern New Jersey, and Triple Five is expecting 30 to 40 million visitors a year and will run direct buses from the Port Authority in Manhattan and NJ Transit stops.
As the opening date approaches, new details about the mall have been coming progressively faster; earlier this week, it was revealed that there will be a MUNCHIES-branded food hall in the complex (MUNCHIES is VICE’s food vertical), alongside a separate kosher food hall and several other standalone restaurants.
The mall will also play host to Big Snow America, an 800-foot-long, 16-story indoor ski slope complete with a chalet and ice-climbing wall to be open year-round. Triple Five is also matching their Nickelodeon theme park with an eight-acre Dreamworks-themed water park, both of which will sit inside climate-controlled glass domes.
Still, it remains to be seen if American Dream can capture shoppers’ imaginations in the same way that the Mall of America does, which attracts over 40 million visitors a year. Physical retail has been in a downslide for years, especially malls, which are sitting abandoned or being converted to other uses.
