First Look Inside Planned I-Drive iSquare Project!

Abdul Mathin doesn’t ever want to hear the words “that can’t be done” from the design team involved in the I-Drive iSquare project – the 27-story luxury hotel and multi-level mall slated for Orlando’s International Drive.

Mathin, chairman and CEO of The Blackmine Group and developer of the $300 million-$400 million iSquare Mall + Hotel, is working closely with Atlanta-based hotel partner Capella Hotel Group LLC on coming up with ideas that can’t be found anywhere else in Central Florida — and perhaps in the world, he said.

“We’re going beyond expectations and creating things that have never been seen before,” said Mathin, who spoke to a group of business people about the project on May 14 at the monthly I-Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon. “We’re trying to design this building with new concepts in hospitality, entertainment and shopping.”

Dallas-based architect firm HKS Architects Inc. and Santa Monica, Calif.-based interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates are still knee-deep in finalizing plans that will eventually lead to construction drawings that can be submitted to the city of Orlando later this year. Construction is expected to start by January 2016.

Mathin is first focusing on the hotel part of the iSquare project, which will include a 5-star 500-room Solis Orlando Resort, and a 5-star-plus 100-room Capella Suites, Mathin told Orlando Business Journal. The hotel portion alone may create about 1,000 jobs.

The iSquare project also will include a multi-story retail mall plus ice-skating rink, performing arts theater, and rooftop restaurant and observation tower.

Though renderings are still in the early stages of being formed, Mathin shared a look at some of the designs iSquare is considering for the hotel interiors. Check out the photos below for a closer look at those: