The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1055 - 786: Kingdom Tower Completed_2

Chapter 1055: Chapter 786: Kingdom Tower Completed_2

The overall design didn’t differ much from the original Sydney Opera House, except for some minor details.

Due to the fact that the City of Sydney had recently allocated most of its funds to the construction of the King’s Building, the actual commencement of the Sydney Opera House had to wait for another two years.

When it came to investment, Arthur placed great importance on the Sydney Opera House. The total investment for the Sydney Opera House was close to 52 million Australian dollars, making it the most expensive landmark constructed in Australasia to date.

Of course, since the construction was expected to take five years, an investment of 52 million Australian dollars wasn’t considered excessive, with just over 10 million Australian dollars being spent each year.

Moreover, the Sydney Opera House was funded by three parties. Besides the original government and the Sydney City Council, the royal family would also participate in the investment of the Sydney Opera House.

Out of these, the royal family invested 22 million Australian dollars, expected to hold a 40% share of the Sydney Opera House; the government invested 18 million Australian dollars, expected to hold a 30% share; the remaining 12 million Australian dollars were invested by the Sydney City Council, and combined with the land provided by the Sydney City Council, it would hold a 30% share as well.

Beyond serving its nominal purpose for opera and theater performances, the Sydney Opera House had many other uses.

Apart from being an iconic landmark to bolster tourism in Sydney, it could also operate as an attraction, enhancing Sydney’s tourism revenues.

One must understand that the historic Sydney Opera House was one of Australia’s symbols. This building was also recognized as one of the seven wonders of the 20th-century world, a testament to the Sydney Opera House’s status in the hearts of the Australian people.

And now, even though many landmark buildings needed to be constructed at the same time, the Sydney Opera House still held the utmost importance in Arthur’s heart.

Arthur had also reviewed the blueprints of the Sydney Opera House. The land area of the Sydney Opera House in this world was slightly larger than its historical counterpart, spanning 2.03 hectares.

The planned construction area was 88,888 square meters—a specific request by Arthur. Originally designed to be 88,000 square meters, Arthur felt that five 8s were more pleasing to the eye, hence it was changed to 88,888 square meters.

The core structures of the entire opera house included a concert hall which could accommodate 3,250 audience members, an opera theater with a capacity for 1,720, and a smaller theater that could seat 550 spectators.

In addition to these three large venues, the opera house also housed varying numbers of exhibition halls, recording studios, bars, and restaurants—a total of 920 rooms that could meet most of the tourists’ needs.

Worth mentioning is that under Arthur’s special request, among these 920 rooms, there were about ten movie theaters for screening and promoting the films of Australasia.

Such a massive structure was scheduled to begin construction in the middle of 1934, with the projected completion date not until the end of 1939.

Since only one landmark building had been completed so far, the King’s Building still attracted considerable attention from people both domestically and internationally.

On November 1, 1931, the day the King’s Building was completed.

In addition to the news of the successful completion and opening of this landmark building, the fact that Arthur would personally attend the day’s events was also a reason why many Australasians flocked to the site.

As expected, the traffic in the city area of Sydney was successfully congested that day, and people could only walk to the building that was visible from afar.

This was also thanks to Arthur’s focus on environmental management. Even though Sydney had become the most developed and prosperous city in Australasia, the sanitation environment in the city area of Sydney wasn’t too bad.

Deficiencies seen in bustling European cities were not as severe in Sydney yet, with air pollution present but still within controllable limits.

After a series of speeches, Arthur stood up and pressed the button beside him.

In an instant, the lights of the entire King’s Building were turned on, indicating that this building, which took over a year to construct, was finally open to the public.

People were quite curious about this unfamiliar building. To share the joy with the public, by Arthur’s order, the King’s Building was made free to visit for one week, after which an entrance fee would be charged.

Of course, the fee wouldn’t be too expensive; the price for each ticket to the viewing floor was just one Australian penny, which is 1% of an Australian dollar. (1 Australian dollar = 10 shillings = 100 pence)

It’s noteworthy that the lower observation decks would be freely accessible to Sky Hotel guests and building users, serving as one of several measures to attract outside investment and tourists.

As for the highest observation deck, though free of charge, it was only open to hotel guests and building users who had passed a screening process, as well as a select few special individuals.

In other words, the top observation deck can’t be bought with money, it can only be accessed through power and status.

To avoid congestion throughout the entire building, there’s a daily limit on the number of visitors the building can accommodate.

After all, such a building doesn’t rely on tourists to make money, but on its real users, namely the commercial tenants.

As the largest urban city in Australasia, it goes without saying that Sydney is home to a plethora of companies.

Naturally, the users targeted by the Kingdom Building are these companies. For these companies, relocating their offices to the Kingdom Building is also a recognition of their honor and status.

Arthur didn’t stay in the Kingdom Building for too long, after all, there were many people on the opening day.

After a brief visit to the top floor, Arthur headed straight for the Sydney City Council.

Sydney is a rather unique administrative region in Australasia. The highest authority in the Territory of Sydney is the City Council, and the Mayor of the Sydney City Council is also the Governor of the Sydney Territory.

After all, the extent of the Territory of Sydney is the entire City of Sydney, so whether as a Mayor or a territorial Governor, their jurisdictions are actually the same.

Having inspected the work at the Sydney City Council and offered some encouragement, Arthur then returned to Saint Arthur Castle.

However, upon leaving, Arthur specifically instructed that after the first week of the Kingdom Building’s free opening, the Sydney City Council was to report the daily flow of visitors and the number of enterprises that had moved into the Kingdom Building.

Although Arthur didn’t expect the Kingdom Building to recoup its costs quickly, as a landmark building constructed with substantial funds, it was impossible not to pay it due attention.

Logically, if the Empire State Building constructed by the Americans could become one of the most famous, most popular, and most profitable buildings, the Kingdom Building in Australasia was surely not to lag far behind.

And things indeed turned out as Arthur had anticipated. After a week, the Sydney City Council reported on the situation at the Kingdom Building to Arthur.

First and foremost, the visitor traffic was hefty during the free opening week, with the Kingdom Building’s daily visits nearing the set visitor limit.

Even after transitioning to paid admission, this phenomenon didn’t show any signs of abating. After all, the entry fee for the Kingdom Building’s observation deck was truly affordable, merely the equivalent of an ordinary person’s ten-minute earnings.

What Arthur was most concerned about was the willingness of domestic and foreign enterprises to move into the Kingdom Building.

In fact, long before the Kingdom Building was built, numerous enterprises had already inquired about its future selling prices and rental rates.

Now that the Kingdom Building had successfully opened, there were even more inquiring companies, with a never-ending stream visiting every day.

But considering the Kingdom Building’s location in the most bustling city, on the most bustling street, in the most bustling spot of the country, it was only natural that the commercial area of the Kingdom Building would be expensive to purchase.

The cheapest level’s rent was close to 17,000 Australian dollars a year, and the starting price for sales was a high 750,000 Australian dollars.

As with later generations, the word “starting” proved to be very significant. With various taxes and other expenses, even the cheapest level would have a price tag of over 1 million Australian dollars, and there weren’t many enterprises that could afford an entire level of the building.

It was precisely because of this that most enterprises were more interested in renting. Although the rent for a single year on a single floor was at least 17,000 Australian dollars, there was room for negotiation.

The duration of the lease and the type of company also determined the final rent amount for each floor.

At present, only four floors had actually been rented out, taken by the Royal Bank, Nobility United Bank, Royal Relief Committee, and the Medical Group Headquarters.

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Speaking of which, all four enterprises were insiders. Although they could contribute more than 80,000 Australian dollars in rent to the Kingdom Building every year, for Arthur, it was just money moving from one hand to the other.

Moreover, the daily operation of the Kingdom Building was also a significant expense. The money earned would have to be shared with the government and Sydney City Council.

For Arthur, to achieve genuine profitability of the Kingdom Building, it was essential to get those enterprises, still on the fence, to move in as soon as possible.