The Meadowlands Chamber recently unveiled renderings for the proposed four-story Meadowlands Convention Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Designed by TVS Design, the 460,000-square-foot facility is planned to include event and ballroom space, along with a 1,000-room hotel and a 6,000-seat arena. The $3 billion project would rise on the site of the existing Meadowlands Arena, formerly the Izod Center, directly between the American Dream Mall and Metlife Stadium.
The convention facilities include a 300,000-square-foot event space, a 100,000-square-foot meeting space with 75 breakout rooms, and a 60,000-square-foot ballroom. The hotel will come with a 70,000-square-foot outdoor terrace. The complex will feature new parking structures with a capacity of about 2,000 vehicles, as well as new pedestrian and transit connections.
The above rendering depicts the new convention center and hotel at dusk with the American Dream Mall sitting directly behind.
Below are two aerial perspectives. The new convention center would occupy the site of the Meadowlands Arena following its full demolition, and the existing Lot 26 for car parking.
An aerial rendering of the convention center, the American Dream Mall, and MetLife Stadium. Rendering courtesy of the Meadowlands Chamber.
Rendering courtesy of TVS Design.
Interior renderings show the vast atrium spaces and how the arena can be transformed for various types of events.
Rendering courtesy of the Meadowlands Chamber.
Rendering courtesy of the Meadowlands Chamber.
Rendering courtesy of the Meadowlands Chamber.
Rendering courtesy of the Meadowlands Chamber.
Rendering courtesy of TVS Design.
The State of New Jersey is now reviewing the plans for the facility, which includes incorporating stakeholder feedback, completing legal and financing frameworks, and assembling a detailed roadmap for how the project could move from concept to construction. Governor Mikie Sherrill and state leaders will address these particulars in a formal presentation by May 8, 2026.
The scoping program was paid for with $500,000 secured by Sarlo and $2 million from Governor Murphy’s administration through the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds program.
The project is designed to serve as a year-round facility, holding more than 300 events, and is anticipated to have an estimated $30 billion impact on the local economy over a 30-year period, as well as $3.03 billion in tax revenue over the same period. It is expected to create 3,700 permanent jobs and about 5,000 construction jobs.
Further details will likely be announced after the World Cup, which slated to take place at MetLife stadium this July. The chamber is expected to make a final decision on the project by early 2027. Should the design be approved, construction would take roughly two to three years to complete.
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That’s great. But now NJT will need to get serious about upgrading its rail service to this site.
Maybe a good place to inaogurate that tilt rotar, heli- taxi service
If my company made me to go to a convention, I’d be pissed if it were way out in East Rutherford and not NYC. (-:
It will be interesting to see how this impacts facilities in NYC.
“Way out” is a 15 minutes car/bus ride from midtown Manhattan with no traffic.
“with no traffic” — Funny !!
Where is the convention center in the renderings?
The big flat structure between the hotel and MetLife Stadium
May do very well actually, Ive heard that the Javits center is floundering charging way way way too much $$$ nobody wants to book there this may be the nail in its coffin
There was a time when it was almost a fad for cities to erect convention centers. Today, there is likely a surplus of these venues, given the post-COVID decline of these events. Javits has long been noted for having expensive employees.
As a person who manages trade shows, I have good news. Face to Face events, like trade shows, are back and attendance is strong. Many cities are currently expanding their convention space, so I see this as a clever move by NJ.
Needs a direct train to and from midtown.
You can’t get from midtown to the Meadowlands by car in 15 minutes. You can’t reliably do it in 30 minutes.
Need to expand PATH to MetLife