When building started on the Majesty skyscraper, derisively generally known as “The Eyesore on I-4,″ George W. Bush had been president for just a few months.
The terrorist assaults of Sept. 11, 2001 had been months away. The iPhone had not but been invented.
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram had been nonetheless years from being launched. And NFL star Tom Brady had not but received a Super Bowl.
Yet, at present, the 18-story tower looming over Interstate 4 at East Central Parkway in Altamonte Springs continues being constructed with no date on its anticipated completion or official opening.
Countless memes have surfaced on social media through the years deriding the constructing, together with one final September that appeared to induce Hurricane Ian to knock it down.
Claud Bowers, founder and president of WACX SuperChannel 55, the spiritual broadcast station that owns the Majesty constructing and the encompassing 4 acres, didn’t return a number of requires remark.
In 2003, Bowers informed the Sentinel that building can be accomplished that yr. In 2006, he mentioned it will take one other yr to complete the undertaking. And in 2016, he mentioned it will be one other yr. Then a yr later, he mentioned it will be accomplished by late 2018.
But in a 2019 interview with the Orlando Sentinel, his most up-to-date, Bowers admitted he didn’t know when the constructing would open its doorways. He famous that the I-4 Ultimate enlargement undertaking and the brand new entry ramp to Central Parkway — which had been accomplished early this yr — delayed progress on the constructing’s building. Bowers known as it the “most challenging time,” primarily within the problem find staff.
When plans for the Majesty had been first introduced in 1998, Bowers estimated the undertaking’s value would high $40 million. Because he wished the constructing to be debt free, he has relied on the generosity of SuperChannel 55 viewers to fund the tempo of building.
On the air, Bowers has known as it “a project of faith,” “a miracle in the making,” and “a pulpit to the world.” At one time, a big signal alongside I-4 informed motorists that the development was “Faith at Work.”
“I want you to help me build the Majesty tower,” Bowers typically informed his viewers.
The Majesty constructing was designed by a number of architectural companies through the years. Its distinctive curving high is made to resemble the total sail of a big ship. The glass panels, put in in early 2005, brightly replicate the morning and afternoon daylight.
If ever it’s accomplished, the Majesty constructing could have 300,000 sq. toes inside and stand 307 toes excessive, making it the tallest constructing in Seminole County.
Plans present a banquet corridor, convention heart, restaurant, retail house, a theater and 200,000 sq. toes of workplace and retail house out there for leasing. The high flooring will provide studios for SuperChannel’s station. It additionally will embrace a 1,000-space parking storage, which is nearing completion.
The finish to the tower’s building couldn’t come quickly sufficient for a lot of in Seminole County.
“The city is really looking forward to its completion,” mentioned Frank Martz, Altamonte Springs metropolis supervisor. “It’s a signature building in the region. … We believe it will be a tremendous resource for the area.”
Officials with the Seminole County Property Appraiser’s Office final visited the property in January. They reported that a lot inside work nonetheless wanted to be accomplished earlier than it might be deemed completed and open for enterprise. That features a ground-floor rotunda.
The parking storage didn’t have required sprinklers or hearth alarms, in accordance with county paperwork. The entry and exit lanes had been unpaved. And the constructing nonetheless wanted substantial electrical work.
Still, Martz mentioned the constructing’s building, regardless of its gradual tempo, has happy all inspection and constructing code necessities through the years.
Martz praised the constructing’s proprietor, SuperChannel Centre, for taking up a undertaking with none debt. That will profit the proprietor as a result of it will likely be in a position to provide aggressive charges on leases after the constructing is accomplished.
“The fiscally conservative approach of the developer is in line with the city’s philosophy of not going into debt,” Martz mentioned.
Lisa McNatt, director of market analytics for CoStar Group, which tracks rental charges, mentioned the provision of workplace house within the Orlando area is totally different at present than it was twenty years in the past, when building on the Majesty constructing started. And the constructing’s proprietor must compete with different close by workplace complexes to lease its house.
Also, there’s nonetheless uncertainty amongst many employers about how a lot house they are going to want within the coming years as they provide distant work.
“The building is going to be delivering [office space for lease] in a very different environment than existed when it started construction,” she mentioned. There is at the moment 2.4 million sq. toes of obtainable workplace house within the common Orlando market. There is 31,000 sq. toes of rental house within the Altamonte Springs space and simply over 200,000 sq. toes in close by Maitland Center.
Even so, the highest flooring of the Majesty constructing will usually provide extra engaging workplaces than nearly any constructing within the area, McNatt mentioned.
“The building offers terrific views alongside Interstate 4,” McNatt mentioned. “The upper floors could offer an opportunity for tenants that can’t be found elsewhere in Seminole County. That may be the best value proposition for potential tenants. On a clear day, you could probably see all the way to downtown [Orlando].”
It’s unclear whether or not an actual property agency is dealing with leasing for the Majesty constructing. SuperChannel’s web site states that “pre-leasing activities will begin once a final move-in date has been determined.” It additionally affords people or companies eager to lease house to submit their names to an “interested list.”
The Majesty property’s taxable worth was assessed at simply over $1.5 million, in accordance with county data. The tax invoice this yr is $27,789, a $4,210 enhance from 2021. However, the evaluation is barely on the land, and the tax invoice will rise considerably after the constructing is accomplished.
In current years, different giant building initiatives close by had been began and accomplished.
In 2018, Centerpointe III LLC completed a five-story parking storage on Centerpointe Circle adjoining to the Majesty constructing for its close by workplace complicated.
In 2021, Sanctuary Altamonte LLC accomplished its eight-building, five-story, condo complicated additionally on Centerpointe Circle.
But others say the empty, partially constructed Majesty skyscraper has been round for thus lengthy that it’s now grow to be a part of Seminole County’s panorama.
“I don’t even notice it anymore or even pay attention to it anymore,” mentioned Magda Garcia, a Seminole County resident for greater than 20 years as she accomplished her every day stroll round Cranes Roost Park on a current morning. The tower, just some hundred yards away, loomed within the background.
“It’s just there,” she mentioned.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com