If American Dream Is Retail’s Future, Why Does Its Owner Wish It Had Burned Down?

If American Dream Is Retail’s Future, Why Does Its Owner Wish It Had Burned Down?

American Dream, New Jersey owner Triple Five Group has been hit hard by pandemic-forced closures. ... [+] (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images) Owners don't typically tell a public audience that they wish their sparkling new $5 billion shopping center had burned to the ground. But then you'd need a heart of stone not to empathize with the sentiment behind Kurt Hagen's startling words when he addressed local council leaders last month. The American Dream mega-mall, tipped as the future of retail in America, is in danger of costing owner Triple Five Group dear, as its New Jersey complex rapidly descends into the stuff of nightmares. As a result, Triple Five has put up nearly half the ongoing profits of two of North America's largest malls - Mall of America, Minn. and West Edmonton Mall, Canada - in order to appease circling creditors. Yet the question at the heart of this multi-billion-dollar story is how a scheme, just a 30-minute ride from Manhattan, that embodies real estate's futuristic vision of mixing retail, leisure, entertainment and dining within one world-class destination, could go so horribly wrong and prove an albatross around the neck of not just one, but three different