Stephen Ross Reportedly In Talks To Become Partner In Xanadu

Xanadu Could Open Before End Of This Year If Stephen Ross Injects Much-Needed Funds

The $2B Meadowlands Xanadu project, "stalled for more than a year, may have found $500[M] in construction funding it needs to open," according to John Brennan of the Bergen RECORD. Sources said that Related Cos. Chair & CEO and Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross "has been in negotiations with Xanadu developer Colony Capital, as well as New Jersey state officials, about becoming a partner in the project." The sources yesterday said that a formal announcement "could come this week," and if the Ross negotiations come to fruition, it is "expected that Xanadu -- perhaps with a new name and a new look -- could open before the end of 2010." Brennan notes Xanadu's construction funding "dried up early in 2009, when a subsidiary of bankrupt Lehman Brothers missed payments, causing other lenders to withdraw from the project." NJSEA officials "have estimated that Colony needs $500[M] to complete the project's 2 million-square-foot interior." Chief Xanadu developers Colony, KanAm and Dune Capital, which as a group have invested at least $500M, "agreed last summer to a plan that would allow the final investor -- which is what Related would be -- to be the first repaid upon opening." The new partner, under that plan, would "rank ahead of lenders, which have provided another $600[M] in construction loans" (Bergen RECORD, 2/2).