Atlantic City Leaders Fight $3B Meadowlands Convention Center

A study two years in the making has concluded that a $3 billion convention center at the Meadowlands Sports Complex would deliver $30.4 billion in long-term economic benefits and bring two million annual visitors to North Jersey. But down the shore, leaders in Atlantic City are none too pleased about the possible development. A rendering of the proposed $3 billion Meadowlands Convention Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Officials in Atlantic City are hoping the state doesn’t continue to financially back the project. (Image: TSR Architects) The Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce recently published the state-funded scoping assessment for the project. The report, conducted by MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions), tourism, architectural, engineering, and financial consultants and advisors, concluded that a large convention destination would deliver “substantial” benefits for New Jersey for decades. Those benefits, leaders in Atlantic City argue, would come at the cost of the casino town. With the Sheraton Hotel at the Atlantic City Convention Center at risk of closing without state funding, Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson wrote Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) in September asking her to reconsider her support of the Meadowlands development. Atlantic City is already facing challenges with the approval of three casinos in the New York City area. We don’t need to spend our own taxpayers’ dollars to create more competition within New Jersey,” Levinson said. “Why are we looking to build more competition instead of supporting and bolstering our existing assets?” Levinson continued. “Atlantic City needs help from the state to strengthen its position, not competition from within to sabotage its ongoing efforts.” Meadowlands Escalates War of Words During this week’s unveiling of the scoping assessment, Meadowlands officials fired back at Atlantic City leaders like Levinson for opposing the convention center in East Rutherford. Atlantic City has not lost its relevance as a result of its decay,” Ron Simoncini, a real estate public affairs consultant and spokesman for the Meadowlands Chamber of Commerce, told the Press of Atlantic City. “Its decay is a result of its irrelevance.” Simoncini took issue with New Jersey Assemblyman Don Guardian (R-Atlantic City), who was previously the mayor of Atlantic City, questioning whether the Meadowlands could compete with Manhattan’s Javits Center for the type of large-scale events the facility would be built to accommodate. Guardian said no organizer would want to host its convention “in the asphalt-laden swamps of New Jersey.” Simoncini said Atlantic City has no vision or economic revitalization plan other than asking for more state handouts. Assessment Assumptions The Meadowlands assessment concluded that a Meadowlands convention center could host 313 events a year, generate over $3 billion in annual state and local tax revenue, and support more than 3,700 permanent jobs and almost 5,000 construction positions. The analysis was based on approximately 460,000 square feet of convention and event space, a 5,000-seat flexible concert venue, a 1,000-room hotel, on-site structured parking, integrated transportation infrastructure, and a two-acre outdoor activation area called the “Meadow Walk.” The development would primarily replace the former Izod Center, which was the home of the NHL New Jersey Devils until 2007 and the NBA New Jersey Nets until 2010. The arena permanently closed in April 2015. The state must now decide whether to proceed with funding a working group that would collaborate with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, Sports and Exposition Authority, and other state agencies to move forward with the convention center. The post Atlantic City Leaders Fight $3B Meadowlands Convention Center appeared first on Casino.org.