As Miami-Dade commissioners consider lifting a ban on using public dollars to subsidize a mega mall on the edge of the Everglades, the mayor of a small town in New Jersey offers a few words of advice for dealings with the same developer: Be careful.
“I would just tell them to be careful and look at what happened over here in New Jersey,” said Michael Gonnelli, the mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey.
The American Dream Meadowlands project is always packed with people, he said. He personally goes there every few weeks, and it has become a real attraction for the region.
But not all is rosy. Promises made as conditions of public subsidies have not been fulfilled, he warned. “It is a beautiful place. It’s a great place. But they’re not paying the money they’re supposed to be paying,” he said.
His words of warning come as a lobbyist for American Dream Miami told county commissioners earlier this week that about $350 million in public dollars might be needed to make the proposed mall — which was approved in 2018 — a reality.
The commissioners moved the project in Northwest Miami-Dade one step closer to getting that money.
In a preliminary vote on Monday, Miami-Dade commissioners voted to reverse a ban on public subsidies for the American Dream Miami project, saying the outright ban was unfair. Other malls in the region to pass that ban on public subsidies, fearing American Dream Miami would drive customers away.
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Commissioners said the vote was not about subsidies, even though the item they voted on would explicitly open opportunities for “subsidies.”
Commissioner JC Bermudez, of Doral, sponsored the resolution. Bermudez said the ban has made it hard to open discussions about using public dollars to fund highway construction updates and creating a new interchange on I-75 at the proposed mall site. He said that other businesses and residents in the area would benefit as well.
“This resolution would not necessarily give one penny to the American Dream mall,” said Bermudez. “It would allow the conversation on how to build those roads and any cooperative efforts that could be made with the American Dream mall owners to try to get state funds and other funds.”
Miguel Diaz De La Portilla, a lobbyist for the developer Triple Five, acknowledged some local tax dollars might be used down the line. But he said reversing the ban would most importantly let the county use that local money “to pursue $350 million of infrastructure dollars from the state of Florida,” on highway improvements.
Diaz De La Portilla said the blanket ban on subsidizing the project was “overbroad and unprecedented.”
“It is a beautiful place. It’s a great place. But they’re not paying the money they’re supposed to be paying."Michael Gonnelli, mayor of Secaucus, NJ, where an American Dream Mall was built.
Land use and zoning attorney Jeff Bercow balked at the idea of opening the door for public dollars going to the mega mall.
“The sponsor of today’s resolution stated that there’s a need for additional roads in this area. That may be, but those improvements are all required to mitigate the impacts of [American Dream Miami.] If there’s no [American Dream Miami], there’s no need for the interchanges,” he told commissioners at the meeting.
In New Jersey, the state agreed to pay for extensive road and highway work for the American Dream Meadowlands development. The New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority issued over $1 billion in bonds to support the $5 billion project.
But since opening in 2019, promised to the surrounding towns in exchange for the public support has been paid, local mayors say. The town of East Rutherford is Triple Five for nearly $8 million in allegedly missing payments. Gonnelli said his town is owed over $1 million from the company.
“If you’re telling me they’re gonna build a new mall — how are they going to do that? They need to pay for this one first,” said Gonnelli. “It’s a traffic issue. There’s an accident on the roadway, the police have to respond. If there’s a fire at American Dream — which there was one, their ski slope burnt down — we have to respond.”
The company has argued that since the mall is not 100% leased yet, payments are not owed. A recent shows the New Jersey mall is 86% leased.
“They’re playing a numbers game with us,” said Gonnelli. A request for comment from Triple Five was not returned.
Indoor ski slope, shops, entertainment - but few details
The American Dream Miami development — championed by former county mayor and current Republican congressman Carlos Gimenez as the “biggest project we’ve ever had in Miami-Dade County” — would include an indoor ski slope, shops and entertainment. Yet few details beyond computer renderings have ever been released.
The administration of Miami-Dade Mayor Daniela Levine Cava said there is technically nothing stopping construction of highway improvements even with the ban on local subsidies in place.
But the administration pointed out that Triple Five is “non-compliant” in providing the county with its full range of plans for the potential mall, which were due in 2020. Without those plans in hand, the county has no way of assessing what infrastructure might actually be needed.
“If they would actually submit the plans of what they’re going to do to the county, then we could make an assessment about what infrastructure we would need for the area,” agreed county commission chairman Oliver Gilbert III. “Right now they’re just saying — lift [the ban] — and that’s far too broad from my perspective.”
The proposal has previously drawn staunch opposition from environmentalists, since it would be built so close to the Everglades ecosystem, in an area that currently collects rain water to recharge the aquifer. Broward County has also expressed trepidation about the proposed project, since traffic and other spillover effects could cross county lines, without the county having any say in the matter.
The full vote on whether to lift the outright ban on public subsidies for the project will come in the coming months.
For his part, Gonnelli said whatever Miami-Dade lawmakers decide to do, they should be open-eyed during any business dealings with Triple Five, if it means spending public dollars on the mega mall.
“I would tell your lawmakers there – just be careful,’ said Gonnelli. “You could be left on the hook.”
