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chicago spire

Home Tag chicago spire

Spire news.

Mar 24, 2009

The Spire from starchitect Santiago Calatrava may rise after all, if the developer can make a deal to have the AFL-CIO’s pension fund pay for it to secure five years of construction jobs.

Representatives from AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trusts are meeting with Chicago Spire developer Shelbourne Development Group on Tuesday to advance preliminary discussions that could have the deep-pocketed pension fund help pay for construction of the stalled skyscraper.

Discussions between the trusts and Irish developer Garrett Kelleher began in January, but the talks are in the “embryonic stage,” said Tom Villanova, president of the Chicago and Cook County Building Trades Council, which represents 24 trades locally.

“The main thing is jobs,” Villanova said. “We can use our own funds to benefit members. The Spire is going to be five years of construction, which is just phenomenal for us. It’s thousands of jobs.”

An investment by the pension fund would make the project a 100 percent union job.

“Obviously, the idea of pulling the unions together and making this a ‘Made in America’ project is very positive,” said project spokeswoman Kim Metcalfe, who confirmed ongoing discussions with the union.

“We’re exploring all of the financial options with the economy as challenging as it is, but clearly this is long-term,” Metcalfe said. “We’re working toward the success of the building. We continue to actively market the building. Clearly, the construction of the building is on pause, but nothing else about the building has stopped.”

The break in construction has left a hole 110 feet wide and 76 feet deep at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, making the Spire a worldwide symbol of the recession and shut-down credit markets. It has had numerous liens filed against it as consultants and contractors involved in the initial work sought payment for their services. Architect Santiago Calatrava, who designed the twisting building, filed liens against the project in October for more than $11 million.

The union has three investment trusts, including the Building Investment Trust, a pooled real estate fund with more than $2.5 billion in assets as of Dec. 31. It was created in 1988 as a vehicle to provide competitive risk-adjusted returns for its participants, as well as a way to create jobs in commercial real estate projects for its members.

The Chicago market has proved to be the biggest beneficiary of the fund, with more than $1 billion invested in local projects, including senior and affordable housing and Trump International Hotel & Tower, Villanova said.

The trust, Villanova added, also is interested in investing in the construction of an Olympic village, should Chicago win the 2016 Games.

[via Chicago Tribune’s Mary Ellen Podmolik]

Chicago Spire not spared.

Chicago Spire not spared.

Oct 22, 2008

Another USA financial crisis casualty. This bit of news not about Joe the plumber. On the contrary, it’s an example of the very wealthy feeling it. Make you feel better? Probably not.

Architect Santiago Calatrava is in the news suing the developer of the Chicago Spire.

Mary Ellen Podmolik and Blair Kamin, Chicago Tribune reporters spell it out.

“The Chicago Spire’s penthouse may be sold but there is growing doubt whether the project will rise out of the hole that’s been created at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive.

Consultants on the project are starting to line up seeking payment for their work on the development, designed to become the tallest skyscraper in the United States and one of the tallest in the world. The most well-known of the consultants, architect Santiago Calatrava, filed a lien on Oct. 8 through his Lente Festina Ltd., seeking more than $11.3 million in payment from Spire developer Shelbourne Development Group Inc.

Separately, Chicago-based architectural design firm Perkins+Will Inc. filed a lien against Shelbourne for almost $4.85 million in payment. The two liens were filed with the Cook County recorder of deeds.

The liens suggest the project’s financing, as well as its feasibility, is shaky.”

Recently, Donald Trump was in town to top off his 92-story Trump Tower. Here is an excerpt from the Chicago Tribune

DA editor’s note: Struggles of this scale and stature have not happened very often in the U.S. In other parts of the world it may be more commonplace. One enjoyable and very enlightening exhibition I attended at the Art Institute of Chicago was on Russian architecture. All the buildings on display were never built! Things were ( are? ) so bad in Russia at the time that the frustrated architects, who never could get funding, had competitions of concepts only. The guest architects laughed about the great deal of vodka drinking and story-telling taking place at these competitions. Creative therapy in action.

Let’s hope everything works out in the end. From a design perspective, Chicago would like to see a Calatrava somewhere in town – his work, inspirational. If it has to be utilitarian in this economic environment the city has many needy bridges. Until then, the Milwaukee Art Museum, an hour away, will not disappoint, especially at sunset when the “wings” unfurl.


( above ) Image found one week after original post: dynamic architecture next big thing! Inspiration strikes in the most unlikely places.

more information via chicago tribune wikipedia chicago spire

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