RCA in the commercial property press:

Xanadu - At $2.3 Billion, This Mall Could Be Too Big to Fail

The New York Times reports: Although its common areas are nearly completed, the 2.4-million-square-foot Meadowlands Xanadu mall is eerily quiet. The opening of the $2.3 billion entertainment-and-shopping center, originally scheduled for last November and then postponed until this summer, has been delayed again until some unspecified date next year. Work has slowed considerably at the project, which occupies state-owned land in the Meadowlands Sports Complex, at the intersection of Route 3 and Interstate 95, where the Giants and Jets are building a football stadium.

Now, however, Meadowlands Xanadu, like many other projects, is enmeshed in the fallout from the banking crisis. In March, the developers accused one of its construction lenders, Xanadu Mezz Holdings, described in court papers as "a nonbankrupt affiliate of Lehman Brothers Inc.," of defaulting on its loan obligations in recent months. The default "has caused, and is likely to continue to cause, substantial and irreparable damage" to the developers and could threaten the entire project, the complaint said. By this week, Xanadu was $22.9 million short, according to a motion filed on Monday.

Because of the legal battle and the construction delay, Real Capital Analytics, a research company that tracks real estate investments, has listed Meadowlands Xanadu as the largest of $9.2 billion worth of troubled assets in the New York area. But Dan Fasulo, a managing director of the research group, said he did not think the center would be suspended indefinitely. "In my opinion, the project is too big to fail at this point and will be completed," he said.