Plans Unveiled for $3 Billion Meadowlands Convention Center

The Izod Center has collected dust since 2010. Now a $3 billion redevelopment proposal wants to turn it into one of the biggest convention destinations on the East Coast.

The Meadowlands Chamber went public with the plan on April 14. The pitch is ambitious: gut the dormant arena that used to house the New Jersey Nets and New Jersey Devils before both franchises relocated to Brooklyn and Newark, and rebuild it as a 300,000-square-foot convention facility anchored by a 1,000-room headquarters hotel and a flexible 5,000-to-6,000-seat arena. Structured parking and new pedestrian and transit links across the Meadowlands complex are part of it too.

Jim Kirkos, president and CEO of the Meadowlands Chamber, is running point on the effort. His project team includes Hunden Partners, TVS Design, and traffic consultants WSP. Funding has been secured through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Program, which came together with backing from Senator Paul Sarlo and the Murphy Administration.

“This is the kind of project the Meadowlands has needed for a long time,” Kirkos said of the proposal.

The chamber’s own projections are eye-catching. They’re forecasting more than 300 events per year once the facility opens, and they’re claiming a $30 billion economic impact stretched over 30 years. Those numbers are going to get picked apart the moment state officials sit down with the financials, which is coming sooner than later.

A formal presentation to Governor Mikie Sherrill is scheduled for early May, with the chamber targeting a decision by early 2027, according to Jersey Digs. If it gets full approval, construction takes roughly two to three years from there.

The site’s history is worth knowing.

Built originally as Brendan Byrne Arena and later rebranded as Continental Airlines Arena, the building defined North Jersey sports culture across two decades. The New Jersey Devils won Stanley Cup championships on that ice. The arena pulled in major concerts, big events, packed houses. Then the tenants left, the doors closed in 2010, and the place went quiet. It’s done some work as a film and TV shoot location and a concert rehearsal space since then, but nothing that stuck.

What makes the location interesting is what’s right next door. The former arena sits adjacent to the American Dream Mall, and that geography matters for any convention play. Visitors would land inside one of the most transit-connected entertainment corridors in New Jersey. The NJ Transit Meadowlands Station already handles the complex during games and major events, and expanding pedestrian and transit infrastructure is written directly into the plan. That’s not a minor detail if you’re trying to pull convention business away from Philadelphia or midtown Manhattan.

There’s one thing that can’t be overlooked here. The Meadowlands complex sits under the jurisdiction of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, meaning any development of this scale needs state sign-off. The chamber can refine its designs and incorporate 14 rounds of public feedback, but none of it moves without Trenton’s blessing. That’s why the May presentation to Sherrill isn’t a formality. It’s the real gate.

The chamber wants a decision by 2027. Whether the state moves that fast is a different question entirely.