ChicagoSpire

Will Construction Resume On The Chicago Spire?

It could be said that the stalled construction of the Chicago Spire could be a symbol of what has happened in real estate construction in general over the past year or so--an ambitious project full of promise and hope, left lingering in a state of undoneness due to the economic shift. Construction on what would be North America's tallest building has been delayed since last fall when the architect, Santiago Calatrava, filed a lien against Shelbourne Development Group Inc,. the Irish developer of the 2,000-foot condominium tower, for $11.3 million. Perkins+Will, the Spire's architect of record and firm Thornton Tomasetti also filed liens. Now a group of union pension funds are in talks to loan $170 million to Shelbourne to get the project going again.

The loan would pay off the estimated $64 million loan made by Anglo Irish Bank and satisfy the various leans so that the project could be completed. The construction would provide jobs for many union workers but would also represent a bet that the Spire, when completed, will find buyers for its nearly 1,200 condos. Last I heard around 30 percent of the condos were spoken for but condos in general have been a hard sell in the current economic climate. The project would not be complete for several more years but the condos are some of the priciest the city has ever seen, most cost more than a million dollars. The penthouse, which was once priced at $40 million, was bought by Ty Warner, a man who has been facing his own economic woes recently.

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Tags: chicago, chicago spire, ChicagoSpire, construction, real estate, RealEstate

Contstruction Stopped On The Chicago Spire

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

It is to be perhaps Chicago's most recognizable landmark, but first Santiago Calatrava's planned Chicago Spire has to get off the ground. The building of the dramatic swirl of a building is currently stalled out. Construction has stopped and the architect, Calatrava, has filed a lien against Shelbourne Development Group Inc,. the Irish developer of the 2,000-foot condominium tower, for $11.3 million.Perkins+Will, the Spire's architect of record, is also seeking nearly $4.85 million from Shelbourne. And the hits keep coming, Architectural Record also reports that New York-based Thornton Tomasetti, which worked with Calatrava on the project's structural engineering, has filed its own lien for $1.3 million. A spokeswoman for Shelbourne president Garrett Kelleher, says the developer is working to resolve the payment issue. The reason for the problem, it's the new old refrain of "the credit crunch" or as Kim Metcalfe, Kelleher's spokeswoman puts it: "We're waiting for the banks to start acting like banks again."

As we mentioned earlier this year, about 30 percent of the tower's 1,200 condominiums are sold, including the penthouse,which was originally priced at $40 million and bought by Beanie Babies magnate Ty Warner. I'd be very surprised if this project didn't get completed but I do think it's another one that will be majorly delayed.

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Tags: chicago, chicago spire, ChicagoSpire, santiago calatrava, SantiagoCalatrava