construction

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

Rolex Watch Manufacture To Literally Grow Larger

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Watch making behemoth Rolex is like the Google of the watch world. Why? Because they are powerful and ubiquitous with an industry watching them that both love and hate them. Love them for their timeless designs and high level of quality, and hate them for often epitomizing watch snobbery and sequestering themselves from the rest of the watch industry. Rolex's ongoing theme is to be totally vertically integrated - meaning they will (or already do) make each component of their watches themselves.

A few weeks from now will see the beginning of a massive new construction project whereby Rolex is adding a huge new complex to the manufacture site in Bienne, Switzerland. The goal of the project is to contain the entire watch movement making process to one building. Most of the parts distribution and much of the manufacturing process is totally automated by robotics. Other than just focusing on trivial matters like making watches, the new structure will include features for people too. There will be a waste water treatment plant, underground parking, a restaurant, and cafeterias. The new physical arm of Montres Rolex is scheduled to be completed in 2012. The meaning of all this is that Rolex is totally un-alarmed by the "crisis" that is effecting watch sales, and is using what is likely times of cheaper construction and labor to focus on the brand's future when they will be one step closer to further domination of the mainstream luxury watch world.

Via Europa Star.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: bienne, construction, factory, manufacture, rolex, switzerland, watch

Russia Tower Project Stopped

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Real Estate Developments

The latest grand project to hit the skids is the grand Russia Tower in Moscow City, Russia. The 1,970-foot steel and glass tower designed by Foster + Partners has been called off due to lack of funding. The developer, Russian oil and real estate magnate Shalva Chigirinsky, didn't mince any words when talking to Reuters saying simply: "say thanks to Alan Greenspan and George Bush."

The tower would have been the dramatic focus of Moscow City, an old industrial site that was to be turned into a bustling new financial center. The tower is described by the Foster + Partners' website as the tallest naturally ventilated tower in the world. It was to have 118 occupied floors and be one of the greenest new buildings in Europe. it was to be a mixed-use, super-dense vertical city for 25,000 people, with offices, a hotel, shopping and apartments with private gardens. It would have an open 'green' spine creating a slender pyramid with the higher floors containing residential and hotel accommodation with access to fresh air, natural light and sky gardens. The top would be crowned with a public viewing deck with cafes and bars.

There have been no discussions on whether or not the project will resume once the economic picture becomes a bit brighter.

Gallery: Towers in Trouble

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Tags: construction, moscow city, russia tower, RussiaTower

Chicago's Latest Luxury Hotel Project

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Chicago's oldest hotel is getting more than a makeover, it's losing everything but its location and its name. The Dana Hotel, an old Queen Anne-style inn, will be torn down and replaced by the Dana Hotel and Spa. The The $60 million project will be a 26-floor, 216-room property where rooms will start at $350. Preservation Chicago had hoped that the old hotel could be renovated in a way that preserved the original building but the building was deemed unfeasible. Instead, the new slender tower designed by Chicago architect Walter Eckenhoff, will include a spa and fitness center, a rooftop lounge, a Japanese steakhouse and sake lounge, a sushi bar in the lobby, and a sidewalk cafe.

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Tags: chicago, construction, dana hotel, DanaHotel, development, hotel

A Diamond Tower Planned For Siberia

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Another amazing design from Foster and Partners. The innovative design firm that we most recently covered when they announced their plans for a carbon-neutral city in Abu Dhabi, has now created an ecological tower in Khanty Mansiysk in Siberia. The mixed-used building includes a tower which rises above two buildings that are designed in the shape of faceted diamonds. The design is created to keep the interior flooded with natural light and will have a viewing platform and restaurant at the top. Again Foster and Partners have been skimpy on the details, but the design is intriguing.

[via Sci Fi Tech]

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Tags: architecture, construction, design, development, foster and partners, FosterAndPartners, siberia, siberian, tower

Continue reading “A Diamond Tower Planned For Siberia”

The Oval Tower, Another Landmark For Dubai

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Oval Tower is the latest piece of architectural whimsy to come out of Dubai. As you might guess, it is shaped like an oval. The tower in the Business Bay area will be home to 19 floors of office space and a leisure deck with a gymnasium with a sauna, shower and lockers. The building as two distinct parts, the tower and the podium. The podium of the tower will hold a dining area with a panoramic lift and staircase. There will be parking in both the podium and the basement for 651 cars.

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Tags: construction, dubai, oval tower, OvalTower, skyscraper

The Opus, Zaha Hadid's Unique Vision For Dubai

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

This rather startling building is the Opus development in the Business Bay district in Dubai. The $266.7 million project is being created by real estate developer Omniyat Properties and will appear to hover above the ground. The development is actually three separate towers which appear as one single cube with an asymmetrical hole called "the void" in the center. The outside of the towers will be covered in a glass façade featuring patterns. The Opus will hold retail space and residences and the top floor will include a beach deck, reflective pool, shaded roof terrace and a gym. Construction is due to start later this year and the project should be completed by 2010.

[via ArabianBusiness.com]

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Tags: architecture, construction, design, development, dubai, opus, zaha hadid, ZahaHadid

The Village At The Vineyard

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Wine

Real estate in Napa is at a premium but real estate in Mexico's vineyard land is still reasonably priced. The Village at the Vineyard is a joint venture with Liceaga Winery and will be located in the Guadalupe Valley wine country east of Ensenada. The $40 million development will include a 50-acre winery, a 15-acre Tuscan-style village with 75 homes, a 20- to 36-suite boutique hotel, spa, cosmetic surgery center and wedding chapel. When home owners are away, they can rent their homes. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall and should be completed in 18 months. Sales are scheduled to begin July 15.

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Tags: construction, development, mexico, real estate, RealEstate, spa, wine, winery

The Ambitious Plans For The Elbe Philharmonic Hall

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates, Luxury Travel & Hotels

The other day I showed you a modern condo complex that is being built atop an old power plant, now check out a similar architectural feat, an airy glass structure being mounted atop an old brick warehouse. This is a picture of the plans for the Elbe Philharmonic Hall by Herzog & de Meuron. The striking building will be the centerpiece of HafenCity, a large urban construction complex that is redeveloping the underused industrial waterfront on the River Elbe in Hamburg, Germany. The impressive 380-acre area will be a mix of office, retail, residential, and cultural buildings to be completed by 2020.

The Elbe Philharmonic Hall is a $313 million project that will be a new home for Hamburg's NDR (North German Radio) Symphony Orchestra as well as a luxury hotel, residential apartments, conference center, wellness area, the Klingendes Museum (music museum for children), restaurants, nightclubs, and parking. The old warehouse will accommodate back-of-house facilities for the concert halls, the children's museum, public amenities, and the parking garage. The project is scheduled to open in 2010.

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Tags: architecture, construction, design, development, elbe philharmonic, ElbePhilharmonic, germany, hefen city

How You Get To The Hotels At The Palm Jumeirah

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

I found this picture of the sub-sea tunnel project on The Palm Jumeirah fascinating. The Palm Jumeirah is the palm-shaped created land in the Arabian Gulf that will be home to luxury hotels and resorts. The tunnel connects the tip of the island's trunk to the crescent and will give access to those seeking to visit the over 20 hotels clustered along the island's breakwater. The project is impressive, involving reinforced concrete, steel and sand to create this engineering feat. To build the tunnel under dry conditions, the project required the construction dykes and a dam to keep the water out. Once the tunnel structure was completed at the start of 2007 the water could be let back in which what is shown in this picture. The entire project is expected to be completed in May 2007.

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Tags: concrete, construction, nakheel, palm jumeirah, tunnel

Building 'Green' in a Big Way: The EcoManor

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

With global warming becoming such an unavoidably huge issue, pretty much everybody has a soft spot for all things "eco." But that being said, not everybody takes it quite as far as Ted Turner's daughter, Laura Turner Seydel, and her husband did when they decided to built the biggest environmentally friendly home in the United States, the EcoManor.

It wasn't cheaper to build, although with features like recycled water from the showers irrigating the drought-resistant lawn, and rainwater-filled toilets, it will be cheaper to maintain -- 80 to 90 percent cheaper than other homes of similar size in the area. And with beautiful white linen wallpaper (made of recycled newspaper, of course) and natural lighting via solar tubes, the Seydels didn't have to sacrifice any style while they were doing their part to help the environment.

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Tags: building, construction, eco, eco-friendly, ecofriendly, ecomanor, environment, environmentally friendly, EnvironmentallyFriendly, global warming, GlobalWarming, LEED, mansion, recycle, recycled, Seydel, Turner

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