EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ-With final permits in hand, Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. yesterday were given the go-ahead by the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority to start construction on their massive Meadowlands Xanadu project on the 106-acre site surrounding the existing Continental Airlines Arena here. The $1.3 billion project is slated to encompass five million sf of retail, entertainment, office and hotel space, including an indoor ski hill and a minor league baseball stadium.

The project still isn't out of the woods in a legal sense, as opponents continue to line up to block it. With the announcement, New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeffrey Tittel immediately indicated he planned to step up his organization's push, telling reporters that, "we're rushing our papers into court."

And rival developer Hartz Mountain Industries has similarly indicated that it will continue its effort to block the project, charging that the process that selected Mills and Mack-Cali as developers was flawed. Even the New York Giants football team, embroiled with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, owner of the site, in a dispute over a new stadium, have indicated they might be headed into court.

Pending all of the legal action, full-scale construction isn't slated to begin until next year. But work will start immediately in the form of a new parking garage to replace some of the surface parking being taken up by the project. Much of the site is in fact surface parking to support the arena and the adjacent Giants Stadium. Work is also expected to start on filling in eight acres of wetlands that are part of the construction site.

In a related matter, yesterday it was reported that the New York Jets had offered to buy Giants Stadium for $120 million, a low-ball number to begin with. It's all part of the multi-state, multi-stadium controversy involving the region's various professional sports teams. For additional information, go to GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Jets Make Offer to Buy Giants Stadium. After the verbal offer was made public by state officials, Jets' officials yesterday quickly labeled the offer a "joke." After the Jets' reaction, Acting Gov. Richard Codey quickly responded that, "this issue is too serious to engage in pranks."