Giant I-Drive wheel approved after owner backs off from huge sign
A project to build a giant wheel on
International Drive got the go-ahead from county commissioners Tuesday, after developers dropped plans to put a giant advertising logo in the middle of it.
Unicorp National Developments, the company behind the I-Drive Live project, said it would forego efforts to put the sign on the wheel, after it came up against opposition from some area businesses.
Rendering of the giant observation wheel proposed for I-Drive Live, with large circular sponsor/advertiser logo in middle of structure.
Company president Chuck Whittall, who early on in the process said corporate sponsorship of the $70 million wheel was essential to the project's financial success, said Tuesday he hopes to offset some of the lost revenue through job-creation incentives that he is discussing with the county.
"We're confident that everything we're doing with the tenants and the incentives we're discussing — that's sufficient for us to move forward," Whittall said.
The project is slated to be anchored by a 450-foot tall observation wheel, as well as a Sea Life aquarium and a Madame Tussauds wax museum. It will also include restaurants and shopping.
Whittall said work for scientists at the aquarium and engineers for the observation wheel may qualify for job-creation credits.
But county commissioners said they were not aware of any incentives being offered for the wheel, and staff members who handle such incentives were not available to provide any details.
Unicorp promised to break ground immediately on the $250 million project, located at the site of the former Mercado shopping-and-dining complex on International Drive. The giant lot in the midst of International Drive has remained vacant for years.
Now that
construction is slated to start, Unicorp said it expects the project to open in 24 months or less. When it first announced the project last year, Unicorp said it planned to open the entertainment complex in 2013.
While area business owners had expressed support for the general project, they'd argued that special waivers for signs and murals requested by Unicorp were beyond the scope of what should be allowed in the convention district. Eventually they reached a consensus with Unicorp on everything but the giant wheel sign, said Chrissy Martin-Foglesong, executive director of ETC, which represents several prominent businesses along I-Drive.
Commissioners approved several other waivers for signs on the property: They'll be able to paint giant murals on the aquarium and the wax museum and will get exceptions when it comes to certain other sign restrictions.
ETC, the group of International Drive business owners that had initially opposed the sign waivers, said it approved Tuesday after Unicorp's concession.
Commissioner Fred Brummer was the lone dissenting vote against the waivers.
"You get into these exceptions and the next person behind Mr. Whittall wants an additional exception," he said.