DISTRICT 36 REPUBLICAN CALLS FOR LEGISLATURE TO INVESTIGATE FALTERING XANADU MEGA-MALL

Call Don Diorio  201-804-2770

CARLSTADT NJ – March 24, 2009-  The legislators who backed the faltering Xanadu mega mall should be investigating its viability so taxpayers do not end up with another EnCap fiasco on their hands, says District 36 Republican Assembly candidates Don Diorio. 

 The announcement last week that Xanadu is default on a construction loan and that work on the 2.2 million square foot mall is has been halted and that there is no known opening date for the mall should be a major concern to the legislators – especially Assemblymen Gary Schaer and Fred Scalera who have backed this project, say the Republicans.  

“I find it rather alarming that neither Schaer nor Scalera have bothered to call for an investigation into the financial viability of Xanadu, which comes on the heels of the EnCap bankruptcy,” said Diorio.

“Taxpayers were forced to put up hundreds of millions of dollars to pay for infrastructure to make this mega mall a successful enterprise. Now despite all that taxpayer money going to support this project, we don’t know if Xanadu will ever open or ever be viable,” added Diorio, a Carlstadt resident and president of Concierge Services Group. 

“You would think Assemblymen Schaer and Scalera would be alarmed at the recent announcement of the loan default and delayed opening at Xanadu,” added Diorio. 

The new developer Colony Capital has failed to meet projected opening dates and cannot rent all the space in the cavernous mall that many have criticized for its appearance.  

While the developer has put up some money for interior road improvements, the taxpayers are funding hundreds of millions of dollars in rail and road improvements to the area, which is expected to be inundated with traffic when, and if Xanadu opens. 

 The mega mall was touted by its supporters for the 20,000 jobs and $100 million a year in tax revenue it would produce. Those numbers now “seem like a fantasy,” said Diorio.  

“Given the economic times we live in and the fact that Colony cannot seem to attract enough tenants to make Xanadu a success, I think it’s time for an emergency meeting of legislators and local officials so the truth about Xanadu’s future can be unveiled,” said Diorio.