A new Marriott will open in Lyndhurst ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup
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New Jersey residents react to the World Cup final at MetLife Stadium
What do New Jersey residents think about the 2026 FIFA World Cup at MetLife Stadium? Here’s what they think.
A new Marriott will open in Lyndhurst late next year after recently securing financing for the 128-room hotel project.
The new hotel will primarily serve long-stay guests as well as business and leisure travelers and is expected to open in late 2025, in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup matches at MetLife Stadium, said Jeffrey Pacailler, principal of Cronheim Hotel Capital, which is helping to finance the hotel.
BDG Hotels is developing the 8-acre property at 1201 Wall Street West, just south of the intersection of Route 17 and Route 3. According to public records, the property is currently occupied by a three-story office building and a vacant former bank.
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Another Marriott is already located at 1 Polito Ave. in Lyndhurst, but Pacailler said this new hotel will not impact the existing hotel.
According to an announcement last week, BDG has secured a $14.6 million loan from CHC, a subsidiary of Chatham-based Cronheim Mortgage.
CHC officials praise the future hotel’s proximity to the American Dream and the Meadowlands Sports Complex – including MetLife Stadium, which will host several matches during the 2026 FIFA World Cup – as well as its proximity to New York City.
“In the current environment, not many banks will consider building a hotel, but there are exceptions for strong projects and sponsors,” said David Turley, president of CHC.
Focus on “conversion” of existing rooms
In fact, new hotel construction is becoming less common as inflation and high interest rates have limited the ability to obtain commercial construction loans.
Earlier this month, Marriott announced a $15 million renovation of its Saddle Brook hotel, just off Route 80.
Marriott International CEO Tony Capuano told investors last month that the company was focusing on modernizing existing properties rather than building new ones, given higher construction costs and the complexity of financing.
“The availability of construction loans is still relatively constrained compared to where it was before the pandemic,” he said on a recent conference call. “Because of this, we are not back to where we were before the pandemic in terms of groundbreakings. The trends are going in the right direction, but we are not all the way back yet.”
Lessons from the 2014 Super Bowl
Jim Kirkos, chairman of the Meadowlands Chamber, said FIFA had certain requirements as part of its World Cup bid, including reserving blocks of rooms in area hotels for staff, officials, teams and other personnel. The chamber helped secure the contracts and hotels to meet that commitment.
He said some hotels in Meadowlands are afraid of reserving a block of rooms and then seeing the reservations canceled at the last minute, losing potential revenue.
Kirkos estimates that there are nearly 12,000 hotel rooms in the Greater Meadowlands Region, which includes the Meadowlands, Jersey City, Hoboken and Weehawken along the Hudson River waterfront.
During the 2014 Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks stayed at the Westin and the Denver Broncos stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Jersey City, according to the New York Times.
And since 2014, Kirkos said, the Meadowlands region has become a “better destination because we have more white-tablecloth restaurants and more local attractions,” such as American Dream in East Rutherford.
Preparations for several World Cup-related events are in full swing at the mega mall. As a test event, events for the semi-finals of the Copa America have already been hosted at MetLife Stadium.
“These are the same fans who will be coming back in 2026, so it’s a taste of what’s to come,” said mall spokesman Gregg Schwartz.
Daniel Munoz covers business, consumer affairs, labor and the economy for NorthJersey.com and The Record.
E-mail: [email protected]; Twitter:@danielmunoz100 and Facebook
