Atlantic City Leaders Push Back on $3B Meadowlands Convention Center Plan

A new two-year study makes a bold claim: a $3 billion convention center at the Meadowlands could generate $30.4 billion for North Jersey and attract two million visitors a year. Down the shore, Atlantic City leaders aren’t buying the hype, fearing a shiny new rival will siphon off their convention business.

The Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce recently published the state-funded scoping assessment for the project.

The report—compiled by tourism, architectural, engineering, and financial advisors—concluded that a large-scale convention destination would deliver “substantial” long-term benefits for New Jersey. However, leaders in Atlantic City argue those gains would come directly at the expense of the coastal 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.

“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 South Jersey critics opposing the East Rutherford development.

Simoncini also took direct aim at New Jersey Assemblyman Don Guardian (R-Atlantic), a former Atlantic City mayor who publicly questioned whether the Meadowlands could compete with Manhattan’s Javits Center. Guardian previously quipped that no organizer would choose to host a 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.”

If approved, the complex would primarily replace the former Izod Center—once home to the NHL’s New Jersey Devils and NBA’s New Jersey Nets—which has sat vacant since permanently closing in April 2015.

State officials must now decide whether to fund a working group to collaborate with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the Sports and Exposition Authority, and state leadership to advance the proposal.

With billions in revenue on the line and regional tensions mounting, New Jersey leaders must now decide which side of the state’s economic divide gets to win.