That's the question posed by Mall Madness, a five-part series from WNYC, NJ Spotlight and Bloomberg Businessweek focused on the American Dream retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands, which is on its third developer, according to NJ Spotlight.

Canada-based Triple Five now intends to emulate what made the Mall of America a success in Minnesota, moving ahead with a $2.65B financing plan to pay for construction of the project, which broke ground more than 13 years ago and was once known as Xanadu. (It's pictured above in 2009.)

The report points out that Gov. Chris Christie promised an incentive package worth over $1B to make American Dream a reality, with the caveat that none of the tax breaks could be redeemed unless the project opens and turns a profit. If it indeed comes to fruition, the annual net benefit for NJ will be $36B. [NJ Spotlight]