ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. – It’s a sight you can’t miss when driving down I-4 through Altamonte Springs, the infamous Majesty building, an 18-story high-rise known as the “I-4 eyesore.”
Construction started in the early 2000s, and after two decades of delays, the expected completion date has been pushed back more than once or twice. But after 25 years, is someone finally getting ready to move in?
Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz tells News 6 the city recently received a phone call from a tenant who said they would be interested in moving into the first floor, but at this point, he doesn’t know much else.
“We’ve been waiting for so long, any news is good news now, so it’s not surprising that people really focused on that,” said Martz. “We haven’t even met them yet.”
[FROM 2019: Previous coverage of I-4 Eyesore construction]
Martz said there is still a long way to go before anyone moves in. The building is pretty much a shell.
“The outside is finished, most of the landscape around it, the parking garage is finished,” said Martz. “It looks like a bare bones warehouse looking for somebody to put up a wall. Maybe this is the person that’s finally going to put up walls.”
Martz said what he does know about the potential tenant is that they’ve been working with Claud Bowers, the president of WACX — also known as “SuperChannel Orlando.” The independent, religious TV station has been slowly building the Majesty building with monetary donations. Their website says they are now working on the interior, and that the exterior and 1,000-car parking garage are now “99% complete.”
Our News 6 team has been asking “what’s next?” for the project and has received multiple responses over the years. The last time Bowers told our crew that the building would be finished was in 2017. People noticed the lights came on in the building the following year, but no official opening ever came.
[RELATED: Here’s what’s next for the ‘Eyesore on I-4′ in Altamonte Springs]
When construction first started in May 2001, gas was just over a $1 a gallon, the song at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart was “All for You” by Janet Jackson, and the first Xbox and GameCube were released. In the time it has taken to build the “I-4 eyesore,” the first iPhone debuted, YouTube was launched along with the streaming era, and SpaceX was founded.
The ongoing construction has created countless memes and social media posts through the decades. People our News 6 team spoke with in Altamonte on Thursday said they’ve heard about the building so much over the years that they won’t believe the opening is official until they actually see it.
[BELOW: News 6 takes a look at the history of the Majesty Building]
“It’s become a gigantic meme. I’ve even seen people walk around with t-shirts of it. It may be one of the biggest staples in Orlando at this point,” said one man.
Another said, “Let’s be honest, everyone loves what’s been coming online. The memes are great. The jokes people are saying are great. I think once it is completed, there’s going to be a line of people who want to see the work that’s been done.”
Martz said once the interested tenant meets with the city, they’ll have to hire architects and submit plans. After 25 years, he said it’s an investment that may finally start to pay off.
“The most economic activity it’s generated is an image for socks and memes. Hopefully it’ll turn into something different soon,” said Martz.