How I spent $1 million in a single day

 

Back in the go-­go days of 2004, when everything was going up, up, up, I consulted for one of the most ambitious and audacious retail real estate developers on the planet – Mills Corporation. Mills was the developer of Meadowlands Xanadu, the $1.3 billion, 2 million foot shopping mall behemoth located next door to Giants Stadium in New Jersey. I was lucky enough to do branding, marketing, and partnerships for the project.

Meadowlands Xanadu was promoted as “the most extraordinary fusion of sports, leisure, and family entertainment ever assembled under one roof” (my line). The project would feature an indoor ski dome, skydiving simulator, rooftop roller coaster, Ferris wheel, aquarium, chocolate waterfall, and other delights. It was designed by the architect David Rockwell, and it had fairy dust sprinkled all over it.

For the groundbreaking ceremony that signaled the beginning of construction, the objective was to create a lavish, larger-­than-­life, one-­day press event that reflected (as Donald Trump would say) the “hugeness” of the project. We needed to make a big impression. I was given a budget of $1 million. I spent it. Every penny.

Here’s a rundown of how I (easily) spent $1 million in a single day. It was a lot of fun:

  • A 33,000 square foot tent separated into ‘lifestyle zones’

  • 400+ guests

  • Appearance fees for celebrity hosts Chris Harrison (from ‘The Bachelor’) and supermodel Christie Brinkley

  • Celebrity chef Todd English

  • Production, music, lighting, stage dress

  • Limousines

  • Top shelf liquor, seafood, filet mignon

  • Cigars

  • Construction of a 40-­foot real ski jump

  • Hundreds of tons of artificial snow made in October

  • Professional ski jumpers and snowboarders

  • An Elle magazine-­sponsored fashion show

  • A Stomp Broadway cast performance

  • A 6-­minute sizzle video, projected on 20-­foot tall screens, asking, “What’s Your Passion?” (Written and produced by me)

We all know how this story ends. Like a lot of real estate stories during those years. Mills put up hundreds of millions, but the project never got off the ground. The new parking garage and the shell of the building languished on the side of the highway, with its garish colored panels screaming “real estate bust”. Mills eventually went bankrupt and was acquired by Simon, the country’s biggest shopping mall developer.

Ironically, the Meadowlands Xanadu project lives on. It’s been acquired on the cheap by the operator of the Mall of America, who knows a thing or two about hugeness. But the Meadowlands Xanadu name is gone. The new name is…American Dream. I kid you not.

Lee Rafkin is a branding, marketing, and communications consultant based in New York. In addition to advising leading brands like Discovery Networks, Estée Lauder, Medtronic, Nestlé, and Pepsico, he named and branded the U.S. out of home organizations OUTFRONT, Geopath, and Boldsite Media. Lee can be reached at lee@rafkin.com. 

 
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