According to published reports, NJSEA chairman Carl Goldberg andCEO George Zoffinger sat down this week with chairman LaurenceSiegel and COO Mark Ordan of the troubled Mills for a meeting thatlasted several hours.

According to reports, what came out of that meeting was Mills'stated intention to find a buyer for a major portion of its stakein the project, with the aim being a cash infusion to get the $1.5billion project completed. A Mills spokesman confirmed the detailsof the meeting but declined further comment. Officials of the NJSEAcould not be reached for comment.

For Mills, which already has the Cranford, NJ-based Mack-CaliRealty Corp. as a partner in Xanadu, with financial backing fromthe German fund KanAm, the obvious problem is cash flow. The loanroute has dried up, according to sources, because Mills signed justthe three retail leases for the massive project, and therefore hasvery little to work with as collateral. In the meeting, accordingto reports, Siegel and Ordan told NJSEA officials that they'reclose to signing some 800,000 sf of retail leases—the project willtotal some two million sf. To date has signed deals only theCabela's sporting goods chain, Children's Place and Muvico, thelatter for a multiplex cinema. Mills has also yet to line upoperators for the project's recreational features, including aproposed indoor ski mountain.