“What makes it complex is the financing that sits behind the analysis,” Lizura said.
That complex financing includes a state sales-tax incentive that could be worth up to $390 million, approved by Lizura’s agency last year. Then there’s a local-redevelopment tax incentive that could be worth up to $800 million. And rather than waiting to redeem those incentives over several decades, Triple Five intends to use them to back more than $1 billion in tax-free municipal bonds that could be sold as early as next month through a public-finance agency in Wisconsin, all to cover construction costs.
The developer is also planning to raise another $1.5 billion for construction through a private loan, which would run the total price tag of the project up to $5 billion, counting the $2 billion value of a vacant building inherited from prior developers. And a $185 million government-funded rail line that opened in 2009 will carry customers to and from the planned mall, which is located on state-owned property in the Meadowlands.
Wouldn't want to be the last