Plans to build the iSquare Mall + Hotel on International Drive got a major boost Monday, when the Orlando City Council voted unanimously to approve the new development.
Located at the intersection of International Drive and Kirkman Road in the heart of the tourism corridor, the mega mall and planned 7 star hotel will feature 27 stories, 750 hotel rooms, over 1,000 designer brand name stores, an indoor ice skating rink, a revolving restaurant, a state-of-the-art performance theater and an international food court, among other luxury accommodations.
The cost of the project is estimated to be $400 million, although this could go higher, said Gretchen Hahn, of Green Grass Marketing & Advertising.
No figures were readily available on the number of workers that would be employed during the construction phase of the project. However, about 2,000 people are expected to be employed upon completion of the mega mall and hotel, Hahn said.
A Grand Opening is planned for summer 2017.
It sure kinda looks like the Florida Mall and Millenum are gonna get a little taste of whats happened to every neighborhood in town. Orlando has empty retail space everywhere. Abandoned Super Targets, a dying West Oaks Mall, dead retail dreams up and down Colonial Drive litter the landscape. Looks like elected office holders in town only exist for the poacher, usurper and vultures who devour the quality of life in this town.
Ravaging local families with low wage jobs and minimal opportunity is a blood sport in Buddy Dyer’s Orlando. (*Hats off Mayor Dyer for another pimp, or rather poach job well done.) In your “world class shitty-city”, plundering families is only collateral damage. May history, bondholders and ratings agencies be your judge.