Plans Unveiled for $3 Billion Meadowlands Convention Center

The former Izod Center has sat empty since 2010. Now there’s a $3 billion plan to bring it back as a convention destination that its backers say could reshape the entire Meadowlands complex.

The Meadowlands Chamber went public with the proposal on April 14, announcing a sweeping redevelopment of the dormant arena that once housed the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils before both teams left for Brooklyn and Newark. Under the plan, the building would be gutted and reimagined as a 300,000-square-foot convention center, a 1,000-room headquarters hotel, a flexible 5,000-to-6,000-seat arena, structured parking, and new pedestrian and transit connections across the complex.

Jim Kirkos, president and CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber, is leading the effort alongside a project team that includes Hunden Partners, TVS Design, and traffic and parking consultants WSP. Funding support has come through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Program, secured with help from Senator Paul Sarlo and the Murphy Administration.

The chamber projects the facility would host more than 300 events per year and estimates a $30 billion economic impact over 30 years. Those are enormous numbers, and they’ll get scrutinized hard once the project reaches state decision-makers.

That moment is coming. A formal presentation to Governor Mikie Sherrill and state leaders is scheduled for early May, according to Jersey Digs, with the chamber expecting a decision on the project by early 2027. If the project gets a full green light, construction would take roughly two to three years.

The site itself carries a lot of history. Built as Brendan Byrne Arena and later rebranded Continental Airlines Arena, the facility was a cornerstone of North Jersey sports culture through the 1980s and 1990s. The New Jersey Devils won Stanley Cup championships there, and the arena drew major concerts and events before its tenants moved on. It’s been used for occasional film and TV shoots and as a concert rehearsal space since going dark, but nothing permanent has materialized.

The location is striking. The former arena sits right next to the American Dream Mall, which means any convention center project would drop visitors into one of the most transit-accessible entertainment zones in the state. The NJ Transit Meadowlands Station already serves the complex on game days and major events. Expanding pedestrian and transit connections is baked into the plan, which matters a lot for any facility that wants to compete with convention centers in Philadelphia or New York.

The Meadowlands complex is governed by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, so any major development there requires coordination at the state level. That’s part of why the May presentation to Sherrill carries real weight. The chamber can finalize designs and incorporate public feedback all it wants, but state sign-off is the actual gate this project has to pass through.

Big questions still hang over the proposal. Who finances construction? What’s the public subsidy exposure? Does this pull convention business into Jersey or simply compete with Atlantic City’s existing convention infrastructure? The chamber’s roadmap presentation over the next few weeks should start answering some of those.

What’s not in question is the site’s potential. Sixteen years of vacancy is a long time for a building that size in a location that connected.