Green Jersey

Developer’s spokesman mentions Xanadu and Eiffel Tower in same breath

Residents and public officials have been complaining about the Xanadu complex rising in the Meadowlands, the Star-Ledger and Bergen Record are reporting. Some say it’s ugly. Or, as Sen. Codey put it, “yucky-looking.”

And we’re still waiting on a nearly 300-foot ferris wheel with a glowing, 150-foot Pepsi sign.

In response, the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority has asked the project’s architects to present their plans at a meeting with Meadowlands officials next Wednesday, Mar. 27.

The $2 billion Xanadu retail and entertainment complex, which will be the nation’s largest, is expected to open in November. (Funding will come from Colony Capital, a private equity firm.)

An author of Xanadu’s Wikipedia entry seems to like the aesthetics of the planned complex, describing the exterior as “producing a sleek patchwork of turquoises, reds, yellows and greens.”

Richard Edmonds, a spokesman for the developer of the megacomplex, defended Xanadu’s design yesterday. From the Star-Ledger:

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” Edmonds said. “There were probably people who thought the Eiffel Tower was really ugly when it was being built. We love the design. Plus, it’s a work in progress.”