American Dream Mall Builder Sues JPMorgan For Unpaid Work

PCL Construction Services is suing banking giant JPMorgan Chase in a New York federal court to recover more than $30M for work it did, along with accrued interest, on the American Dream mall in the Meadowlands of New Jersey.

The amount unpaid for the work is about $24.3M, while the interest is $7.1M, totals that built up from July 2020 to August 2021, according to the suit, which was reported by Bloomberg.

JPMorgan said payment was withheld because the developer said construction was faulty.

Denver-based PCL alleges that under the terms of the loan, the bank must pay for the work the constructor has done if the developer, Ameream, doesn't pay, since JPMorgan arranged the construction loan and is administrative agent for the developer. The suit notes that PCL followed the proper invoicing and other paperwork procedures under the terms of the loan.

“Payment, however, has still not been forthcoming,” the suit alleges.

“Indeed, rather than work towards a constructive resolution, Ameream has retroactively tried to manufacture claims of purported defective constructive work by PCL that are meritless, untimely, and ... worth far less than the $24 million that was properly invoiced by PCL but is unpaid.”

Ameream was formed by the Canadian company Triple Five Group to develop the megamall. 

Other debts associated with the property also haven't been paid. Municipal bonds tied to American Dream missed a roughly $9M debt service payment in February after missing several in 2022.

Also in 2022, JPMorgan Chase and other lenders agreed to grant a four-year extension on repayments on the mall’s $1.7B in construction loans and set a new maturity date in 2026.

The mall has had a checkered history since opening in 2019. Soon after, it closed for the pandemic, and flooding caused by Hurricane Ida caused another closure in 2021.

JPMorgan and Ameream have not responded to requests for comment.