Developer Adds Units to 2,000-Ft Tall Chicago Spire

CHICAGO-The developer of the 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire has shared the new vision of the condominium tower, which includes the removal of a communications antenna, the addition of residences all the way up to the top of the building and the elimination of the retail and hotel components. Officials with developer Garrett Kelleher, executive chairman of Shelbourne Development Ltd. and the Shelbourne Group, said only condo uses make sense for the 160-story tower, to be located in the Streeterville neighborhood.

If completed on schedule in 2011, with 1,300 units and penthouse residences as high as 2,000 feet, the building will be the largest residential building in North America and Europe.

Tom Murphy of Thomas J. Murphy PC, general counselor for Kelleher, had told GlobeSt.com on Nov. 15 that though the twisting building height and silhouette of the former Fordham Spire plan will remain the same, the amount of hotel rooms versus condos may change. The development was to include 300 luxury condominium residences, ranging from $600,000 to $5 million, and a five-star, 20-story hotel. Additionally, 50,000 sf of retail and support space was planned for the floors overlooking the river and Lake Michigan.

"The complexity of having a hotel and condo business together, do you share amenities, or the lobby? Should there be separations? There was just a whole series of issues and decisions that forced the decision to take out the hotel," he tells GlobeSt.com. He also says Shelbourne has no desire to be in the antenna business. A parking switch was also made, with only below ground parking planned.

Another slight change was made to the design. With the antenna, the building slowly shrank in size as it tapered up, at a 2-degree rotation per floor. Now with the added condos on top, the building will have the spiral at the bottom, but will flatten out at the apex. Murphy also tells GlobeSt.com that though the company is not backing off from the $1.2-billion price tag of the former building, the firm is not discussing costs any longer. "We'll release more when we get better numbers," Murphy says.

Local developer Christopher T. Carley, who introduced the building concept, was taken out of the deal when Kelleher bought the property for $65 million in July. Carley will not be involved in the new project, Murphy says. The city's Planning Department will review the new plans on Friday, Dec. 8.

The three-million-sf structure's height will surpass the Sears Tower and Toronto's CN Tower, making it the tallest freestanding building in North America and Europe. The tower will be situated at the mouth of the Chicago River, just east of Lakeshore Drive. Pedestrian access to Lake Michigan will be provided via a walkway under Lakeshore to a new DuSable Park, being redeveloped by Shelbourne.

The renowned Santiago Calatrava, the designer of the original corkscrew-style Spire, is the lead architect and engineer for the 2,000-foot-tall building. Perkins + Will will be the architect of record, with Principal Ray Clark heading up the project.

The rest of the team includes the Thornton-Tomasetti Group Inc. as the structural engineers, with company founder Richard Tomasetti leading his team; Buro Happold will act as project consultant, with international director and principal Padraic Kelly leading that group; Savills PLC will be the property consultants, sales and marketing, with principal Dominic Grace leading his team. Also on the project are Altus Helyar as cost consultants, with senior director Colin Kelleher; Cosentini Associates as the mechanical, electric and plumbing engineers, with Director Bruno Spiewak; STS Consultants LTD as the geotechnical engineer, with senior principal Clyde Baker; and Knight E/A Inc. as civil engineer, with chief executive officer James Wolfe.