Trump International Hotel and Tower - Chicago - by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

[DominicanoNYC]

http://www.natarus.com/images/press74.gif
I question it's design. It's not as great as a 1000ft building should be. :(

[Gulcrapek]

Is that the only picture you've seen of it?

[DominicanoNYC]

No. There are some more here: http://skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/102119/

[Kris]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.

[DominicanoNYC]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.

I wonder why the 7 South Dearborn was canceled. It seems some what better that the TTC. And about cancelling the TTC, I agree 100%, but it's been approved.

[Fabb]

7SD was cancelled because the finances were handled by an incompetent and the building itself was technically unfeasible.

The exact opposite of TTC.

[DominicanoNYC]

Oh. I though it's design was somewhat interesting.

[Fabb]

Somewhat interesting, really ?
How about fantastic ?

[NoyokA]

How about, no.

I think of Chicago I think of Sears and Hancock, I dont think of postmodernism or Smith.

[Kris]

7 South Dearborn would have been a more elegant and central skyline peak than the Sears Tower. This will just be a regrettable eyesore.

[Fabb]

It does remind me of Tower 42, a building that I don't like much.
But I have the impression that this one really belongs in Chicago. I can already feel its presence. It's not a pseudo-skyscraper or an intellectual object.
It fits.

If they start the construction soon, I know I'll spend much more time in the windy city.

[DominicanoNYC]

Quote: from Kris on 4:48 pm on June 9, 2003
7 South Dearborn would have been a more elegant and central skyline peak than the Sears Tower. This will just be a regrettable eyesore.

Yeah. The TTC is going to be a curvy version of the Sears Tower. I think that the 7SD would have been better for the skyline, but that's the way it is.

[TLOZ Link5]

I happen to like some parts it. *The lower portion looks very sleek as it fronts the street right next to the river. *But the setbacks make it look too much like a curvaceous Sears.

[Fabb]

Except that the skin will be very different, and undoubtedly, very appealing and contemporary.

[TLOZ Link5]

Supposedly it's going to match the masonry of the Wrigley Building.

[Fabb]

Does that make it a contextual building ?
That would explain why some people don't like it.

[DominicanoNYC]

Well that is an intersting thought. That isn't the reason i don't like it though. I don't like it because it's too similatr to the Sears Tower.

[Chicagoan]

Just to add, 7 Dearborn had financing problems. They just could not get tenants to sign up for the structure. The builders also could not get fianancing, which is tied to the first issue. Besides, its marketing was non-existent. The owners, in essence, really did not believe in the project.

This was the same problem with the Miglin-Beitler Tower of a few years ago. Both buildings would have been very sleek additions to our city. Also, construction for the foundations of M-BT had started when the project was shelved. Similarly, demolition for 7D started. Now there is a quarter vacant site in the middle of the Loop. It sucks!

I think the cyrrent design for TTC is MUCHO beuno that the bohemoth that was originally designed, but I would rather see two smaller, less tall building on that site than this one. But if it does get built, it will be alot better that much of the crap that has gone up here over the last four years.

(Edited by Chicagoan at 9:58 pm on June 11, 2003)

[Fabb]

Similarly, demolition for 7D started. Now there is a quarter vacant site in the middle of the Loop.

An office building is planned for that site. Not a very tall one.

[Chicagoan]

Quote: from Fabb on 2:01 am on June 12, 2003
Similarly, demolition for 7D started. Now there is a quarter vacant site in the middle of the Loop.

An office building is planned for that site. Not a very tall one.


But there is not a construction sign on the site... or as of two days ago there was not one. The office market n the city never took off as alot of developers had hoped. Many proposed buildings have been, including several thathave been approved for almost 10 years, have been shelved. I think that site will be vacant for some time.

[DominicanoNYC]

Do you have any rendering of it?

[matt]

I actually live in Chicago so ONLY my opinion matters...
Why is it that when we create a design for a new, TALL skyscraper, it gets CANCELLED at the end? It's not just the 7SD. Take the Skyneedle, Erewhon Center, the Illinois, or Project 2000 for examples.....weird...... I guess it really doesn't matter, but it would add some beauty and a little recognition to the city of Chicago.

[Freedom Tower]

Wasn't this the building Trump originally wanted to be 2,000 feet and 200 stories? I heard that on Sept 11th Trump actually called up the people planning that building and cancelled it on the same day. It was supposed to be a real WTB, no spires or slanty roof. That one would've really beaten anything Taiwan, or China would've made.

Oh yeah, btw, when Trumps building is done, Chicago will have "5" thousand foot buildings. NY only has 2 right now, 3 when the Freedom Tower is done.

(Edited by Freedom Tower at 8:59 am on July 15, 2003)

[NYatKNIGHT]

Is that just plain insensitivity or typical Chicago insecurity?

[Chicagoan]

NYatKNIGHT, I suppose it is a little of both. I am not native here, and after a few years I still get floored by it...: )

Anywhose, This is not the same building that Trump originally had as WTB. Different design at least, but it is the same site/project.

You cannot trust Trump. I heard from many people in the Real Estate Business that it was because the market for the initial building components was softening- condo's, offices, hotel. Moreover, it is not even on Michigan Avenue or a major retail street. So it was tweaked to have less space and a siplified program.

Finally, I do not think the spires on the AT&T Building should be counted, although the Council thinks so. Those spires add a high percentage of height. And although Trump's project has been approved, it is by no means done. The site is still occupied and he has yet to find a lead tenant or start to market the condos. Remember for the Miglin-Bietler Tower, they actually got as far as the foundations, then stopped to later put a beautiful Walgreen's *and parking garage on the site.

[TLOZ Link5]

The Freedom Tower is not the only 1,000-footer seriously being planned for New York. *There are two other buildings of 1000+ feet being developed at Ground Zero alone, not to mention the 90-story mixed-use development, One New York Place; or the New York Times' new HQ on Eighth Avenue. *That's seven buildings above 1000 feet, six if you disregard the large spire atop the Times Tower.

Hong Kong will soon have six, as well: 7 Union Square, Two International Finance Centre, Nina Tower 1, Central Plaza, Bank of China, and The Centre; seven if you also count the Gateway III Harbour City Building that is proposed for the Kowloon side, and possibly eight if you also include the 88-story Mega Tower Hotel project proposed for Wanchai.

[Freedom Tower]

TLOZ, that One New York Place building wasn't a hoax? I remember reading somewhere on this site that it may not really be a possiblity. And when you say there are 2 more thousand footers planned for Ground Zero are you reffering to buildings that will be built in addition to the Freedom Tower or in place of it? Besides the SOM design, I've heard of nothing else planned at the WTC.

Oh and by the way, yes i was disregarding the NYT building. That spire is just ridiculous

(Edited by Freedom Tower at 9:55 pm on July 15, 2003)

[TLOZ Link5]

For all I know, One New York Place isn't a hoax. *We don't necessarily have enough information on it to say otherwise, so for now we'll assume it's on the table, albeit very close to the edge and far away from a prominent position.

The Libeskind Plan does, indeed, include two other towers of more than 1,000 feet—one at about 1150 or so, and another at 1040. *You can check the "Hot 250" section of Stern's Website for the exact heights.

Chicago also has a residential project that might be tall enough to "Trump" World Tower—pun intended, of course:

Grand Pier Tower (http://skyscrapers.com/re/en/wm/bu/188160/)

[Freedom Tower]

Thanks TLOZ for all that info. I never knew that the Freedom/Garden Tower was going to be counted seperately from the 70 story tower it was attached to. I always thought that the 1776 footer was just counted as a spire, not its own individual building. And the 65 story tower is also going to be over a thousand. I never knew that. That's great. That means with Libeskinds plan 3 thousand footers will be built. Hopefully Silverstein won't get his fifth tower. If he does, we may not get so lucky. Great Site Stern, full of info! By the way, since you're so knowledgeable TLOZ, I have yet another question. The "Grand Pier Tower" in Chicago, the one that will Trump the world Tower :biggrin: ;Will that be taller than the new Worlds Tallest Residential Building? Which i believe is now in South Korea, if im not mistaken.


(Edited by Freedom Tower at 3:30 pm on July 16, 2003)

[Freedom Tower]

Oh yeah TLOZ, since Childs and Libeskind will be working together we may not get 3 seperate thousand footers "Childs has been working on drawings that place the skyscraping structure directly on top of the building, rather than beside it.". That'd make it two thousand footers


(Edited by Freedom Tower at 3:31 pm on July 16, 2003)

[TLOZ Link5]

I think that the Grand Pier Tower will definitely be taller than the Tower Palace 3 Building, which is only 5 feet taller than TWT. *And from what I've heard the Freedom Tower also includes the 70-story building attached to it, and the other two 1000-footers are both separate entities.

Oh, and for future reference, I'm TLOZ, not Zippy ;)

[Fabb]

Quote: from TLOZ Link5 on 8:49 pm on July 15, 2003
and possibly eight if you also include the 88-story Mega Tower Hotel project proposed for Wanchai.


This version of the Hotel was not approved.

I'd be very happy if Grand Pier was built, but I'm skeptical.

[Freedom Tower]

Oh my god, I did call you Zippy!!! What in the world!?!?


I think the Z's confused me *:confused:

(Edited by Freedom Tower at 3:30 pm on July 16, 2003)

[ZippyTheChimp]

A common mistake. We both have opposable thumbs.

[Eugenius]

I suppose that if we are looking at the universe of potential 1000+ft buildings, you can throw in a possible Bank of America tower at 1 Bryant Park (I know they were saying 850 feet, but that number sounds stale to me), as well as a tall 70+ story building planned for the FSM (or should I say "S" ) site near the East River.


(Edited by Eugenius at 6:19 pm on July 16, 2003)

[Freedom Tower]

Heres a list:

THOUSAND FOOTERS IN NYC

CURRENT:

ESB
CHRYSLER BUILDING

CONSTRUCTION:

NYTT

APPROVED:

FREEDOM TOWER
LIBESKIND TOWER #2
LIBESKIND TOWER #3

PROPOSED:

1 NYP
BofA??
FSM??

I think Ill stop now, getting a little off topic ;)

(Edited by Freedom Tower at 6:31 pm on July 16, 2003)

[Chicagoan]

Quote: from Freedom Tower on 7:30 pm on July 16, 2003
Heres a list:

APPROVED:

FREEDOM TOWER
LIBESKIND TOWER #2
LIBESKIND TOWER #3



This cannot be. These buildings have technically not been designed. There are no sets of plans of any of the WTC structures at "City Hall".

Althoug it is definite they will be constructed in some form.

They have to be put into the proposed category.

[Chicagoan]

http://www.natarus.com/press7-24-02.asp
This elevation, which is never shown, is insightful on the mass that this tower has.


http://www.natarus.com/press7-31-02.asp
A review by Blair Kamin.

[Freedom Tower]

This cannot be. These buildings have technically not been designed. There are no sets of plans of any of the WTC structures at "City Hall".

Althoug it is definite they will be constructed in some form.

They have to be put into the proposed category.


Yes, you're right. I know they will be constructed in some form or another, but I had forgotten that height changes may still be made. Just hopefully they won't get lowered :(

[Freedom Tower]

That site says "The Trump Tower Chicago development, currently home to Chicago Sun-Times building, will be an 86-story, 1,125 foot tall mixed-use building offering approximately 1.3 million square feet of office space and 500 residential units. *The Trump Tower building would rank as the second tallest in the city behind the Sears Tower." They must have forgotten of the existance of the AON building which is about 10 feet taller. I'm not even sure if it will make third place. The John Hancock Center is 1,127 feet tall. That would make the Trump Tower the 4th tallest in the city. Am I right?

Oh, whoops. I should've read the whole article first. It states that they are counting the spire, while the rest of the world isn't. So i guess its the "unofficial second tallest in Chicago". Spires are starting to piss me off *:angry:

(Edited by Freedom Tower at 11:17 am on July 17, 2003)


(Edited by Freedom Tower at 11:17 am on July 17, 2003)

[Freedom Tower]

A picture of the current building there can be found at:
http://chicagouncommon.com/photography/gallery/817/

Unfortunately they don't let you save or copy the picture so the link will have to do. The building that'll be knocked down is Chicago Sun Times. It isn't much and the Trump building will be much better.

[Fabb]

I'm surprised that the Chicago Sun Times building survived so long. It'll be a good riddance.

[jjackson]

The New Trump Tower Chicago real estate development is a fantastic addition to one of the world's greatest city's. I have lived here for 23 years and am thrilled to hear of such plans. The 7 South Dearborn proposition looked like a pencil and had no place in my city. God bless Donald Trump.

[Fabb]

7SD was extremely slender, much like Pelli's skyneedle.
I agree that the Trump Tower does a better job capturing the strength and majesty of Chicago.

[ddny]

This building will be awesome.

[Chicagoan]

Trump's power play

September 24, 2003

BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter Advertisement

Donald Trump, master of real estate showmanship, plied his art in Chicago on Tuesday.


He and an entourage flew into town, served comments to the media and wine to some 500 guests in the posh confines of the Peninsula Hotel, all to announce that what was inexorably coming is here: the start of condominium sales for his 90-story tower on the site of the Sun-Times building, 401 N. Wabash.

He's going to take down the old building on the river, home of the Sun-Times since 1958, and replace it with what he said would be the largest building constructed in North America since the Sears Tower in 1974.

At 2.4 million square feet, it is Trump in its elegance, scale and audacity. While paying homage to Chicago's architectural tradition, he wants to embellish it. He didn't need a PowerPoint presentation, just a 7-foot-tall model (the architectural kind) to announce his intentions.

"With all due respect to New York,'' the New Yorker said, "Chicago has got the great architecture.'' His Trump Tower Chicago, he said, "will be a very, very special building and we have spared no expense'' in the design. He added: "We're looking to make a statement that's top-of-the-line.''

A condo prototype that hints at the city and river views is open on the top floor of the Sun-Times building.

He promised not to scale back on materials if the profit margins get tight, pointing to the fits and finishes of projects that have redefined high-end construction in Manhattan, such as his Trump Tower and his Trump International Hotel & Tower. For Chicago, he hired Adrian Smith of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, who designed a curtain wall of stainless steel and glass, with gentle curves and strategic setbacks.

"We strive to have a building that both fits in and stands out,'' Smith said.

Speaking to an audience of brokers, Trump elicited gasps when he said he's been able to drive Manhattan residential prices to as high as $5,000 a square foot. In Chicago, the most expensive condos go for about $800 a square foot, a price level Trump is testing.

Ultimately, he hopes to push that to more than $1,000 a square foot. He talked of higher prices a couple years ago, but is now bowing to the reality of Chicago prices without acknowledging disappointment.

Lower land prices here make the venture still workable, and Chicago's high-rise builders know how to meet a budget, Trump said. "I think this building will create a whole new set of numbers [for the market] because it's going to be so good,'' he said.

Around Chicago real estate, there are plenty of doubters that Trump can pull it off. He has to sell 326 condos plus 174 units that'll be part of a Trump International Hotel here. There's some 351,000 square feet of office space in the package, too.

The Chicago condo market is steady but not robust, while office leasing remains in a slump. To questions prefaced by those observations, Trump bore down on the bravado.

He said he expects to begin demolishing the seven-story Sun-Times building in summer 2004 and to deliver condo units sometime in 2007. "We're talking a lot of years away yet,'' he said. "Markets will change three or four times by then.''

Trump insisted interest from buyers and tenants is extremely strong. He wouldn't specify sales or leasing thresholds required for financing, but said he expects little trouble clearing them. "We're going to do a lot of pre-sales'' of units before construction begins, he said.

"Every major financial institution wants to get involved in this deal.''

Trump is known to be talking with the law firm Jenner & Block, currently in the IBM Building at 330 N. Wabash, as a potential lead tenant. And the Sun-Times could move back to the site, which Trump owns in a joint venture with the paper's owner, Hollinger International Inc.

Talks with the Sun-Times continue, and the paper's publisher, F. David Radler, said he's looking at other space to either lease or buy in the River North area. Radler said the paper's space requirements range from 70,000 to 120,000 square feet.

Trump said he'd like to have a paper as a tenant, but joked about Radler when first asked about it. "I deal too much with David, and he doesn't want to pay the rent,'' Trump said.

[Chicagoan]

TRUMP TOWER CHICAGO

The numbers
Projected delivery: 2007
Area: 2.4 million square feet
Height: 1,125 feet with 90 stories
Residences: 326 super-luxury condominiums, including five penthouses
Trump International Hotel: 174 condominium guest rooms and suites
Initial prices: $470,000 to $1.8 million for residences, $3.6 million to $8.7 million for penthouses, $425,000 to $932,000 for hotel rooms
Health Club and Spa: 60,000 square feet
Offices: 351,000 square feet
Parking: 1,150 indoor spaces with deeded residences-only section
Retail: 60,000 square feet of boutique shopping and fine dining
Riverfront park: 1.2 acres with 500 lineal feet along Chicago River

the players
Owners: Donald Trump and Hollinger International Inc.
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Construction manager: Bovis Lend Lease Inc.
Residential marketing agent: Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate
Commercial marketing agent: U.S. Equities Realty LLC

[TLOZ Link5]

Sounds like the project has been altered. There was no hotel in the initial proposal, and "only" 86 floors.

[Kris]

ChicagoBusiness.com

Trump tower beckons the well-heeled

By Alby Gallun
September 24, 2003

http://chicagobusiness.com/images/random/trump200.gif
Artist's rendering of the proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower

Donald J. Trump jetted into Chicago Tuesday to crank up the marketing machine for his planned trophy tower along the Chicago River.

At a news conference announcing the opening of a sales center for the high-rise, the celebrity developer and his associates disclosed that the 2.4-million square-foot tower planned for the site of the Chicago Sun-Times is expected to cost $550 million to $650 million. Its 90 stories include four more than were outlined under the most recent plan.

Mr. Trump said he aims to begin razing the Sun-Times building, at 401 N. Wabash Ave., next summer and expects the new 90-story mixed-use building to open by 2007, an ambitious schedule given current market conditions.

“I really think we have the best site in Chicago,” Mr. Trump said.

Although the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks forced Mr. Trump to scrap plans to construct the world’s tallest building on the site, he said his new tower will still be the largest building erected in North America since completion of the Sears Tower in 1974.

The proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower, designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, will have 60,000 square feet of retail space and 351,500 square feet of office space—an amount Trump scaled back amid the weak leasing market. It also calls for 326 condominium units and 174 hotel units. The hotel units will be sold off individually, like condos.

Market challenges

Yet the developer faces some significant hurdles, including lining up tenants for the office portion of the building. Mr. Trump claimed interest in the space is high, noting that the development group—which includes Sun-Timesparent Hollinger International Inc.—will announce some office tenants in the next quarter.

Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate, the brokerage firm hired to sell the condo and hotel units, also must contend with a downtown condo market that many believe is overbuilt. Mr. Trump brushed off those concerns, saying the tower’s sales staff has plenty of time to sell the units.

“We’re talking about years away, really,” he said. “The markets will change three or four times before (2007).”

Interest in the units is there, he said, noting the sales center has already booked 97 appointments. The center, which reflects a model condo unit, now sits atop the Sun-Times building, next to a large banner with the development's phone number.

Another hurdle—securing a construction loan—won’t be a problem either, according to Mr. Trump. “Everybody wants to finance this gem,” he said. “That’s probably the easiest part.”

Wooing the well-heeled

Mr. Trump is aiming for the high end of the market, with one-bedroom units starting at $470,000 and half-floor penthouses on the 86th and 87th floors starting at $3.6 million. A full-floor penthouse on the 88th floor lists for $8.7 million.

The units feature expensive finishes, such as Sub Zero refrigerators and Italian wood cabinetry.

“We have spared no expense,” Mr. Trump said.

[Fabb]

The hotel units will be sold off individually, like condos.


I don't get that.
What kind of a hotel is that ?

[SUPREMO]

It looks like a contemporary version of the Sears Tower but the archetecture doesn't fascinate me! I would rather see the Sky Needle than this! If not, build the Sky Needle in NY!

By the way, any Simcity 4 players in here?

[NoyokA]

I don't get that.
What kind of a hotel is that ?

Its a timeshare property, and its probably the first of its kind in Chicago.

[TLOZ Link5]

Or a residential hotel, like the Ritz Tower. I'm guessing that the hotel rooms wouldn't have amenities like a full kitchen or laundry machines, unlike the condos.

[Chicagoan]

Yeah you're right. It basically means that the units will not have full kitchens and will not be for long-term stays.

It is interesting that Trump is doing the same thing in Toronto for his project there.

Some of the lower units in TIHT at 1 Central Park West are similar. The best thing about it is that you get to enjoy all the services of a hotel.

NEAT!

[Freedom Tower]

I think it'll be great for Chicago to have a new thousand footer. Especially its first thousand footer that has an all glass facade. The Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, and Aon Tower are all nice thousand footers, but this will be a much more modern looking thousand footer. And 90 stories!! I can't wait. It's going to be great, maybe they can put one in NYC. Hehe.

[TLOZ Link5]

Though I'd balk if a development like that in New York had Trump's name on it.

[Freedom Tower]

Why? You don't trust him after his last NY project? It wasn't his fault, it was the NIMBYS.

[TLOZ Link5]

Welllll...if something like that were built at Trump Place as opposed to the current, mediocre development...then definitely. Otherwise, I wouldn't want one anywhere else in the City.

$^&# those NIMBYs.

[Fabb]

Its a timeshare property, and its probably the first of its kind in Chicago.

Like 425, 5th Ave that contains extended-stay residences ?

[TLOZ Link5]

Who's your avatar, Fabb?

[Chicagoan]

Stern, I do not think that this feature of TTC is new in the city. It is a very old housing type, most popular in the 20's and 30's. In my neighbourhood, there a several huge buildings that are now apartment buildings, but were originally designed as apartment hotels. They have very small kitchens, ornate lobbies, and the units are small.

TLOZ, I think Fabb's avatar is Miss Milla Jovovich- fresh outta Resident Evil?

[NoyokA]

So it's not a timeshare?

Are you saying its just a small condo. A studio maybe?

[Chicagoan]

So it's not a timeshare?

Are you saying its just a small condo. A studio maybe?

Yes. That would be the term that non-real estate people, like me, would use to describe it. But some of them will have seperate sleeping areas and the like. But they are not timeshares, unless three people get together and buy one and share it through the year.

But legally speaking, there will be no difference between them and the codos except for the level and availibility of services. Most condos are not furnished, these probably will be. Most condos do not have room service and concierge. Most condos do not have daily maid service and a support staff. These probably will.

[TLOZ Link5]

TLOZ, I think Fabb's avatar is Miss Milla Jovovich- fresh outta Resident Evil?

Indeed. I was searching Google for that picture. Fabb's avatar is a cropped version of a more revealing pic.

[Fabb]

Well, you know, censorship again.

[Kris]

High Drama Over Chicago High-Rise

Deborah Smith

National Real Estate Investor, Jan 1, 2004

The planned Trump International Hotel and Tower along the Chicago River faces a complicated set of issues to be sure: a lack of project financing, a weak office market and an ever-widening scandal surrounding the Trump Organization's joint venture partner. All three obstacles have combined to raise questions about the viability of the planned mixed-use development. Yet even as the drama over the hotel and tower grows, the buying frenzy for the upscale condos continues.

The Trump Organization and Hollinger International — owner of the Chicago Sun-Times — are 50-50 partners in a $700 million development that combines 326 luxury condos, 174 hotel rooms and 350,000 sq. ft. of office space on the site of the newspaper's riverfront headquarters at 401 N. Wabash, on the north side of the Chicago River. The project will include a restaurant and retail component, health club and spa, as well as a riverfront park. The development is scheduled for delivery in 2007. The total amount invested in the project so far by both partners is almost $10 million, according to Charles Reiss, senior vice president at the Trump Organization.

But internal shake-ups at Hollinger International have raised red flags. Hollinger CEO Conrad Black and COO F. David Radler resigned amid allegations of financial malfeasance. Hollinger also is exploring a sale of its assets, including the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper.

Though both partners say the joint venture is on, there are lingering doubts, says one Chicago real estate veteran. “If the assets of Hollinger are for sale, it wouldn't surprise me if there was an ‘out clause’ in case the new buyer wasn't intrigued with the deal with Trump,” says John Goodman, executive vice president in the Chicago office of Studley, a national tenant representation firm.

Fueling the uncertainty is the fact that the developers haven't lined up financing for the project, though Reiss is confident that financing will be in place this spring. “Banks are coming to us,” he states boldly. Indeed, such widespread interest in the development could very well give the project an edge, according to at least one seasoned mortgage banker. “If they have legitimate pre-sales in excess of 50%, the project could be financed,” explains Steve Skok of Cohen Financial. “In addition, the sale of the Sun-Times may enhance liquidity, which would give construction lenders additional comfort.”

Still another concern is the weak office market. According to Studley, the fourth-quarter availability rate for Class-A space in the CBD registered 18.3%, including sublease space. Though negotiations with an anchor tenant are under way, no leases have been signed, according to Howard F. Meyer, senior vice president of U.S. Equities, which is handling the commercial leasing. He expects to announce a tenant in the first quarter of 2004. Though Meyer declined further comment, industry insiders predict a large law firm will take the space. The Sun-Times is not expected to be one of the tenants, says an industry source.

Still, the myriad concerns surrounding the project haven't put a damper on condo sales. More than 70% of the 326 luxury residences planned for the 90-story mixed-use tower have sold since September, says Trump's leasing director Tere Proctor. The condos start at roughly $500,000 for a one-bedroom. Four out of five of the penthouses — which cost up to $11 million — have already been snapped up. According to Proctor, who has worked in real estate for 25 years, it would take comparable luxury buildings at least a year to achieve this sales level.

More significant is the market share the proposed Trump tower has achieved. Trump has garnered 20% of the downtown market for new condominium construction in the third quarter of 2003, according to Gail Lissner of the Chicago-based Appraisal Research Counselors, a group that tracks residential real estate sales. “We've seen nothing like this since 1999 and 2000, she says. “It's a buying frenzy.”

© 2004, Primedia Business Magazines and Media

[Kris]

ChicagoBusiness.com

Trump cuts office space in tower

Residential portion of planned high-rise selling well

By Alby Gallun
January 22, 2004

http://chicagobusiness.com/images/random/ogtrumptower.gif

Amid a lousy downtown office market, Donald J. Trump apparently has scrapped plans to include about 350,000 square feet of office space in his proposed $650-million trophy tower along the Chicago River.
The high-rise on the site of the Chicago Sun-Times building will remain 90 stories tall, but Trump’s revised plan calls for an extra 200 condominium and hotel units, which will substitute for the lost office space, says a spokesman for the city Department of Planning and Development. The department approved the change on Jan. 5.

The Trump Organization’s recent proposal included 500 units: 326 condos and 174 “hotel-condo” units—hotel suites sold to individual owners like condominiums. Under the new plan, the New York-based developer plans to build as many as 700 units—500 condos and 200 hotel suites—according to the planning department spokesman.

Trump executives did not return phone calls. A lawyer representing the project declined to comment.

The move makes sense, considering how well the condo and hotel units have sold and how much trouble Trump has had luring office tenants to the 2.4 million-square-foot project. Office tenants have plenty of options these days, thanks to an 18.5% downtown vacancy rate, according to Chicago-based U.S. Equities Realty.

Architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, which designed the Trump building, had considered moving there, and Trump representatives also had talked to law firm Jenner & Block LLC, a logical target considering the firm is right next door in the IBM Building. Talks with another law firm, McGuire Woods LLP, broke off in late November.

Trump had already shrunk the project’s office space significantly, dropping it to 650,000 square feet from 1 million square feet after the September 2001, terrorist attacks. The developer reduced the office portion further last year, ultimately settling on about 350,000 square feet.

Popular pads

The condo and hotel part has fared better. Trump, which started marketing the units in September, announced in early December that it had contracts for more than 300 units, or about 60% of the total. That’s a significant accomplishment in such a short time, especially considering the soft condo market.

The condo units range from $512,000 to $11 million, while the hotel units range from $425,000 to more than $1 million.

Named the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the project is a joint venture between the Trump Organization and Hollinger International Inc., the Sun-Times’ Chicago-based parent. Trump executives have said the project will move forward despite the scandals that have embroiled Hollinger and recent plans to sell a controlling stake in the company.

It's unclear how many condo and hotel units in the revised project Trump will have to sell to obtain financing and start construction. Trump executives have said they want to break ground on the tower this summer.

[BigMac]

Large rendering at Emporis.com (http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=239122)

[finnman69]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.

(Edited by Christian Wieland at 10:44 pm on June 8, 2003)

Another piece of shit from SOM.

[TLOZ Link5]

"The Donald" was singing the tower's praises on the season finale of The Apprentice.

[MidnightRambler]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.

Another piece of shit from SOM.

um... i'm no fan of SOM, but what's actually so bad about this building?

[Archit_K]

Chicago you better love this one b/c uselly Donlad Trump Buildings are boxyhttp://www.trumpchicago.com/graphics/TRUMP_logo.gif
so don't hatehttp://www.chicagolimited.com/images/trump.JPG

[Kris]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.
Another piece of shit from SOM.
um... i'm no fan of SOM, but what's actually so bad about this building?
It's been refined since I made that remark. Still banal, but not as regrettable.

[MidnightRambler]

I too question this ungainly turd. It seems they compressed the design for 7 South Dearborn while staring at the Sears Tower and called it a day. Hopefully it will be canceled.
Another piece of shit from SOM.
um... i'm no fan of SOM, but what's actually so bad about this building?
It's been refined since I made that remark. Still banal, but not as regrettable.

hmm... it's not outstanding - not for a building of its size, at least - but i don't see it as banal. even so, there's something to be said for banality in context, and it really does work in the above rendering, and will likely attract similar development nearby.

btw, i was responding more to finnman69's "piece of shit" statement... i think we ought to be grateful for any supertall built in the current economic climate, provided it isn't as ugly as the freedom tower.

[Kris]

April 17, 2004

Chicago May Give 'Apprentice' Lesson in Reality

By MONICA DAVEY

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/04/17/national/appr.xlarge.jpg
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's 90-story Trump tower would replace the Chicago Sun-Times building on Wabash Avenue along the Chicago River.

CHICAGO, April 16 — Some experts in the real estate industry here have long wondered whether Donald J. Trump's plans for a glassy, high-end 90-story hotel and condominium tower along the banks of the Chicago River were reality or just some New Yorker's fantasy of leaving his mark on this town.

It seemed fitting, then, that the next stage of this dream of Mr. Trump's found its project manager on the finale of a reality television show.

Mr. Trump named Bill Rancic, who won NBC's "The Apprentice" on Thursday night and had earlier made a living selling cigars on the Web, as "president" of this $700 million project, which still needs financing, final signoffs from City Hall, and demolition of the Chicago Sun-Times building, which sits on the site of the tower-to-be.

"This is a large and sophisticated project, and the job is like being the conductor of an orchestra," Bruce R. Cohen, the chief executive of Cohen Financial Capital Management in Chicago, observed. "I don't know how somebody can conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra if they've never gone to a concert before, and if they've never played any of the instruments."

On Friday, Mr. Trump said he was still working out precisely what duties Mr. Rancic, 32, would hold as president of the Trump International Hotel & Tower, the gleaming project that Mr. Trump says will become the fourth tallest building in Chicago when it is finished in 2007.

"It will be an important job," Mr. Trump said. "He will be a project manager."

Why entrust such an important-sounding role on a complicated construction project to someone of Mr. Rancic's experience?

For one thing, Mr. Trump said, Mr. Rancic will be "working with a team of highly trained professionals who have done nothing but build buildings their whole lives — including me." And for another, he said, there was simple business to consider (as any successful apprentice would surely know): how better to show the world where they can buy sky-high condominiums in Chicago's downtown than on a national television broadcast with sky-high ratings?

"I felt that this was a great opportunity to promote a great project," Mr. Trump said.

This, Mr. Trump's first foray into Chicago, began bumpily.

He and his partner in the project, Hollinger International Inc., which owns The Chicago Sun-Times and other newspapers, announced three years ago that they planned to build a 150-story tower on the site of the Sun-Times, a squat and otherwise unimpressive boxlike building on Wabash Avenue along the architecturally rich Chicago River in the heart of downtown.

Few pretended they would miss the Sun-Times building (all seven stories of it), but Mr. Trump's dreams of building into the sky — with the tallest building in the world and, more disturbing to some here, the tallest in Chicago — did not sit well. This is a city that prides itself on its skyline and some here feared that Mr. Trump might leave a blemish.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, the desire for tall buildings vanished and Mr. Trump's plan shrank. Then, early drawings drew scoffs. Blair Kamin, the architecture critic for The Chicago Tribune, compared one version to a "bloated blob of a skyscraper" and a "skyline dud."

Eventually, Mr. Trump's people drew up a new plan, which won more praise from the architectural world, but many doubts from other developers and those who finance buildings here, because of its high prices.

The project has yet to receive financing, and some here wonder whether it will. Hollinger International has been fending off troubles in recent months: Conrad M. Black, the former chief executive, quit last November after directors questioned millions in payments to him. And Mr. Trump, meanwhile, has dealt with a troubled gambling empire, with his casino holdings stuck in almost $2 billion in bond debt.

"There is a lot of healthy skepticism about it, I would say," said Anthony R. Licata, the managing partner of Shefsky & Froelich, a law firm here that often deals with real estate. "That said, Trump has made a career of proving people wrong. I would never bet against that guy."

On Friday, Molly Morse, a spokeswoman for Hollinger International, said that she had no comment on whether the company's current troubles might affect the Chicago project, of which Hollinger would have half ownership, she said.

But Mr. Trump said that the doubters, if there were any, were wasting their time. He said he was discussing the financing with five major institutions, "all of which are dying to do the job." And he said that the project had the City Hall approvals it needed.

City Hall officials said that the tower had received the most crucial zoning and planning approvals, but that the plan would also require a final administrative signoff from the city staff once the most detailed drawings were submitted and Mr. Trump applied for demolition and building permits.

"This thing is happening," Mr. Trump said.

And even some early doubters said they could not ignore the success Mr. Trump has had, already, at persuading buyers to sign contracts for the building and put down earnest money. Though the units in the tower are selling at prices far beyond Chicago's usual levels (the condominiums range from $579,000 to $15 million) and though they are at least three years away, many units are under contract.

Buyers have signed contracts on 325 of the building's planned 461 residential units, and on 128 of the building's 200 hotel units (which buyers can rent out as hotel rooms), said Tere Proctor, the director of sales in Chicago.

"It was probably better received than what was expected by many of us," James M. Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties, said of those numbers. "I would anticipate it should be coming out of the ground. Still, a lot of things can happen between here and there. The young man has quite a project for himself."

In the tower's sales office on the seventh floor of the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday, phones rang incessantly, e-mail messages popped in, and a few buyers stopped by. The television show had helped. "The phone lines are exploding," said Ms. Proctor.

So, it seemed, real business had been dropped into the already odd mix of real life and TV land.

Mr. Rancic, meanwhile, said he felt prepared for his one-year apprenticeship, which will earn him $250,000, though he had yet to see the sales office or meet the local staff. Most likely, the most visible event that will happen this year is the demolition of the Sun-Times building, which is scheduled to begin this fall and will take months. (The Sun-Times expects to move to another building downtown.)

"I think I'm going to need some guidance," Mr. Rancic said. "But I think Mr. Trump has the right people in place. They'll take me under their wing."

"I've been working for this my whole life," he said, in a telephone interview squeezed in between flying from his TV victory in New York and a visit to "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" in Los Angeles.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

[JonY]

The Chicago Sun-Times was completed in 1957. Its archtectrual style is a hybrid of the tradtional Chicago style and functionalism.

The Chicago Trump Tower will commence construction this year which would include demolishing the Chicago Sun-Times building and its anticipated completion date @ this stage will be in 2007.

IMHO The 1,125ft/343m Trump Tower will be astonshing architecture on completion.

[sirhcman]

IMHO The 1,125ft/343m Trump Tower will be astonshing architecture on completion.

I agree!

[krulltime]

TRUMP GETS BUMP FROM BLACK SETBACK


By PAUL THARP
June 25, 2004

Conrad Black's downfall is proving to be a windfall for Donald Trump.

The New York developer is walking away with full control of one of Black's — and Chicago's — prize assets: a chunk of the city's downtown riverfront.

Trump had signed a 50-50 deal two years ago with Black's former company, Hollinger International, to erect a luxury 90-story condo tower along the historic Chicago River.

Together they had planned to build the tower on the site of the Hollinger-owned Chicago Sun-Times, which would be relocated six blocks away.

When Black's financial scandals erupted and drove Black out of the Hollinger media empire, the condo project appeared threatened.

That's when Trump stepped in to take over the deal.

Hollinger International's board, which is selling company assets to restore financial health to the embattled empire, offered Trump the deal of a developer's lifetime — the riverfront gem and all rights for a bargain $73 million.

Chicago billionaire-developer Sam Zell also tried to move in on the deal, but he was trumped by Trump's previous contract.

Trump and Hollinger yesterday announced that Trump will proceed to build the $750 million condo tower, The Trump International Hotel & Tower. It will be the tallest building erected in Chicago since the Sears Tower opened 30 years ago.

The newspaper will relocate this summer to rented space in the nearby Apparel Center.

Last season's winning "Apprentice," Bill Rancic, won a $250,000-a-year job — with his salary paid by NBC — to work as an executive apprentice at the construction site until the place is completed in Christmas 2007.

Many of the condos already have been sold, fetching record prices for Chicago.

Local athletes and TV personalities, including Oprah Winfrey, are sniffing around the apartments, which include $4-million, 90th-floor penthouses.


Copyright 2004 NYP Holdings, Inc.

[NewYorkYankee]

Will this buildings height take away NY's Trump Towers title of worlds tallest residential building?? :?

[TLOZ Link5]

Will this buildings height take away NY's Trump Towers title of worlds tallest residential building?? :?

No, partly because the Chicago tower is mixed-use and partly because there is an apartment building in Moscow that is now taller.

[Kris]

http://www.crystalcg.com/new/xinshang/003/tu/rijing/005.jpg

http://www.crystalcg.com/english/en/Renderings.html

[NewYorkYankee]

I wish this tower wasnt in Chicago and in NY

[TonyO]

The top is very Jetsons.

[Bob]

Jane! Start this crazy thing!!

[MrShakespeare]

Chicago Tribune
Copyright 2004, Chicago Tribune. All Rights Reserved.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Arts & Entertainment

BLAIR KAMIN answers the burning question: Will Trump's tower happen?

BLAIR KAMIN.

It seems odd that the most widely anticipated architectural event in Chicago this fall is not a new building, but a demolition. Yet such is the celebrity of Donald "You're Fired" Trump these days that the pending destruction of the barge like, seven-story Chicago Sun-Times building along the Chicago River, which is to make way for Trump's 90-story hotel-condominium tower, is sure to get a lot of attention, perhaps more than it deserves. There are a lot of other significant projects opening this fall, in Chicago and around the nation. And while they lack the gloss of being associated with a hit TV show, they nonetheless will be worth examining, especially because of the impact they will have on such familiar buildings and places as New York's Museum of Modern Art, Frank Lloyd Wright's Robie House and the National Mall.

TRUMP INTERNATIONAL HOTEL AND TOWER: Is it really going to happen? Trump's people say "yes," beginning with the tearing down of the Sun-Times building at 401 N. Wabash Ave. They've hired a demolition firm, they say, and demolition work is scheduled to start between Oct. 1 and Oct. 15. The architect of the hotel-condominium tower, a glass-faced setback skyscraper, is Adrian Smith of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, though Smith is get-ting considerably less airtime than Bill Rancic, the winner of the first "Apprentice" show. Rancic is working on the project as an "owner's representative."

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART: Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi was after something different from the "Bilbao effect" in his renovation and expansion of the high temple of modernism, which opens in midtown Manhattan on Nov. 20. His coolly contemporary effort, which will nearly double the museum's capacity and increase its gallery space by roughly one-third, features a restoration of the museum's vintage International Style 53rd Street facade and groups galleries around a 110-foot-tall atrium.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: New York architect Rafael Vinoly, a leader of the THINK team that lost to Daniel Libeskind in the World Trade Center master plan competition, had to contend with two distinguished neighbors on this project: the Robie House, Wright's Prairie School masterpiece, and Bertram Goodhue's Rockefeller Memorial Chapel, a Gothic Revival landmark. While part of the B-school is clad in horizontal panels, a doff of the hat to the earth-hugging Robie House, its signature move is a greenhouse-like "Glass Room," which flaunts a modern version of traditional Gothic vaults. The first day of classes in the building is Sept. 23.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN: Located on the National Mall, alongside the National Air and Space Museum, this five-story building will be the first national museum devoted solely to Native Americans. Opening Sept. 21 and clad in Kasota stone, it is strongly contemporary, with a curvilinear exterior that suggests an enormous mesa. The project designers include members of the Blackfoot tribe, as well as the Cherokee, Hopi and Navajo nations.

HYATT CENTER: Britain's Lord Norman Foster originally was supposed to design this skyscraper, but it went instead to New York architect Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners after the developers, including Chicago's billionaire Pritzker family, reportedly found Foster's plan too pricey. Built to house offices, including the headquarters of Pritzker's Hyatt hotel empire, the gently curving, 49-story tower sits just north of Sears Tower at 71 S. Wacker Drive. Cobb seeks to integrate security features rather than treating them as awkward add-ons. The tower is set to get its first occupants in late November.

OVERTURE CENTER: With this block-size performing arts center, Madison tries to establish itself as a major regional arts center. Designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates of New Haven, Conn., the center will house three theaters, including Overture Hall, a 2,251-seat venue that will be the home of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. A grand opening is scheduled for Sept. 18, though the entire project won't be completed until 2006.

PERSPECTIVES CHARTER SCHOOL: Architecture isn't just glitzy museums and skyscrapers. It shapes the way we live, right down to the fabric of city neighbor-hoods. A fresh example is the new Perspectives Charter School in Chicago, designed by Ralph Johnson of Perkins + Will to fit a triangular site at 1930 S. Archer Ave. Now open, the contemporary building serves students from grades 6 through 12.

CITY OF CHICAGO LAKEFRONT BRIDGE COMPETITION: After months of foot dragging by the Daley administration, the Chicago Architecture Foundation will mount an exhibition showcasing designs from the city's pedestrian bridge competition. The competition calls for five new lakefront bridges, including three on the south shoreline. The exhibition is expected to open Oct. 14 and run into January.

A CENTURY OF PROGRESS: Architecture and Chicago's 1933-34 World's Fair: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the closing of Chicago's second great world's fair (the first, of course, was the neo-classical "White City" of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893). But the Century of Progress was all about modern, or, more accurately, Moderne architecture, the streamlined forms that were all the rage in the 1930s. A Chicago Architecture Foundation show will feature images from the archives of the Chicago Park District taken by the fair's official architectural photographers. The show runs Sept. 23 through Nov. 21.

CHICAGO ARCHITECTURE: Ten Visions: Evoking Chicago's history of visionary design and planning, the Art Institute of Chicago has asked 10 Chicago architects to create a "spatial commentary" on a significant issue for the city's future. Their efforts will appear in a framework designed by Chicago architect Stanley Tigerman. The show runs from Nov. 26 to April 3 in the museum's Regenstein Hall.

[JerzDevl2000]

Something tells me this building is going up in the wrong city...

[Kolbster]

I totally agree

[BrooklynRider]

Nice looking. The curtain wall looks like Bloomber Tower.

[NewYorkYankee]

I get depressed when I looks at this. I wish it was in NY instead. :( :evil:

[TLOZ Link5]

And another 1,000-footer, with hotel rooms and apartments, is going up diagonally across the river.

[Bob]

So, essentially, it would appear that Chicago gets the equivalent of the Twin Towers, and New York doesn't.

[MrShakespeare]

TLOZ - What is the building being constructed across the Chicago River?

[NewYorkYankee]

Are either one of these buidlings going to be taller than ESB?

[TLOZ Link5]

Waterview Tower, 111 West Wacker Drive

http://www.teng.com/waterview/HTML/images/neighbor_montage.jpg

(© Teng and Associates)

1030 feet
85 stories -> 24 office floors, 61 residential floors
My bad, no hotel rooms in this one.

[BVictor1]

Actually. Waterview Tower will be:

89-stories

1,030' tall

It no longer has any office space, that space has been turned into 190 condo-hotels. Construction is supposed to begin sometime this spring.

[BVictor1]

ARCHITECTURE

Aspire to greatness
Trump's spire could be a thing of breathtaking beauty or end up a giant, ill-proportioned folly.

By Blair Kamin
Tribune architecture critic
Published February 27, 2005

You had to wonder when Donald Trump's Chicago skyscraper would descend into a circus. Last week, it showed signs of doing just that when city officials and Trump sources revealed that The Donald may stretch the spire atop his tower to potentially absurd lengths -- at least 359 feet, or nearly as big as the entire Wrigley Building. That would be tall enough to surpass Sears Tower as the nation's tallest building and even edge the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia as the world's second tallest building.

Let's run the numbers, as Mr. "You're Fired" has been known to do.

The roof of Trump's hotel-condominium tower, which will be built on the riverfront site formerly occupied by the seven-story Chicago Sun-Times Building, is supposed to reach 1,125 feet. A couple of weeks ago, after the Tribune revealed that Mayor Richard M. Daley had insisted that Trump retain an ornamental spire atop the tower, Trump's architects at the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill said the spire would rise another 235 feet for a total height of 1,360 feet.

Then, last week, the news hit the front pages that the tower might grow to at least 1,451 feet -- a foot taller than Sears -- or at least 1,484 feet -- a foot taller than Petronas. The "Beat Petronas" option would make the spire at least 359 feet tall, which would be -- gasp! -- nearly as tall as the 398-foot Wrigley. The spires atop Petronas, by comparison, measure a modest 241 feet, though it is difficult to call anything associated with such behemoths "modest."

Beyond the giddy numbers game lies a troubling issue: Is Donald Trump's spire going to be a thing of breathtaking beauty or is it going to be a giant, ill-proportioned folly whose impossible-to-hide agenda is to write The Donald's name in the Guinness Book of Records?

This being Chicago, where the deals are invariably cut before the mock public debate proceeds, we have no idea which outcome we're in for. Trump still refuses to make his drawings public because he doesn't want to alienate the all-powerful mayor, who hasn't signed off on the drawings yet. Planning department officials said last week that City Hall would be "amenable" to a taller spire.

You know we've entered a new realm of the bizarre when Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), who has let his downtown ward be overrun by block-headed concrete condo high-rises, suddenly begins sounding like the voice of sensible planning. He was bellowing last week that Trump "goes ahead and does anything he wants" without consulting the people in a neighboring high-rise -- or, of course, him.

Forget Trump's aura of celebrity and his "Apprentice" reality TV show. The paramount issue in Trump's Chicago apprenticeship has been, and always will be, the quality of his skyscraper, not its quantity; its aesthetic aspiration, not its yardstick height; its impact on the skyline, not Trump's bottomline. Which begs the question: What makes a good spire?

In the simplest sense, a spire is a decorative exclamation point. Its primary task is to culminate a tall building's journey from the everyday realm of the ground to the sacred realm of the sky. The church spire and its smaller cousin, the pinnacle, did this long before skyscrapers poked their heads into the clouds. The architects of early skyscrapers, among them the Tribune Tower and the Woolworth Building in New York City, clearly borrowed from such precedents to compose their "cathedrals of commerce."

Just how a spire is composed, however, is everything.

There is an enormous difference between the prosaic act of jamming a spike atop a building, which is what you get in such skyline duds as Two Prudential Plaza (a conspicuously under-detailed Chrysler Building wannabe), and the poetic art of making a graceful transition from a base shaped like a square or circle to a sharp-edged point.

The Chrysler's over-the-top top, a series of sunbursts accentuated by triangular windows that rise to a glistening spire, accomplishes this feat with dazzling exuberance. It's the ultimate party hat, the perfect statement for a glamorous city like New York. For all its romance and irrationalism, it stops just short, as The New Yorker's architecture critic, Paul Goldberger, has written, of being laughable.

For Trump and Skidmore's lead architect, Adrian Smith, that is the great risk: That the Trump tower spire will cross the line that separates respectability from laughability and become a gawky, ill-proportioned freak. Yet there is also, truth be told, an opportunity in Trump's decision to aspire to new heights.

Properly handled, a taller spire actually could improve the proportions of a tower that still looks chunky from some angles. And it might etch an iconic silhouette, one that would say "Chicago" with the same grace and power delivered by such knock-out Art Deco towers as the Chicago Board of Trade. The question is how to do that without offering up a bloated piece of postmodern nostalgia.

In the end, Smith's search for style matters much more than Trump's reach for the sky. The "record," in any event, will be a mere consolation prize -- the nation's tallest building, not the world's tallest, because there is no chance of catching the current No. 1, the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 tower in Taiwan. Even the nation's tallest building title might not last long, given that the Freedom Tower at ground zero is supposed to be 1,776 feet tall and is due to be finished in 2009, two years after Trump.

Why should The Donald go for an inconsequential, sure-to-be short-lived record if it would deform his skyscraper and cost him several million dollars extra in the bargain? He's got a skyscraper-size ego, of course. Yet when it comes to overbearing skyline supremacy, Chicago has been there and done that. The issue remains superlative architecture, not a big building.

[BVictor1]

As of today Trump Tower Chicago is officially classified as UNDER CONSTRUCTION. At around 2pm, the first caisson that will help to support the building was begun. It will be a caisson that reaches all the way down to the bedrock. They will have to go down roughly -105 feet.

[TLOZ Link5]

All the best to our favorite small town outside of Gary, Indiana.

j/k.

[TonyO]

BusinessWeek
3/28/05

Donald Trump: My Kind Of Tower, Chicago Is

Who's afraid of high living? Not Donald Trump -- or at least, not anymore. The celeb developer just signed off on his final plans for Trump Tower Chicago, a condominium/hotel that now will soar to 1,360 feet and rank second only to Chicago's Sears Tower as the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.

Never known for subtlety, Trump originally planned a 150-story tower that, at up to 2,000 ft., would have been the world's tallest. But within weeks of September 11, he halved the height, to 78 stories and 1,073 ft., recognizing that few people would want a home in what might become a new terrorist target.

Those fears apparently are over. With plenty of people putting down deposits, Trump has upped the tower to 92 floors and planted a 235-ft. spire on top, putting it within 90 ft. of the Sears Tower. "I like height," says Trump. "It gives you the view. It gives you the drama. It gives you the architecture." And, of course, more buyers.

By Michael Arndt

[Pottebaum]

The top is very Jetsons.

I know this is a very old post, but that part of the building was removed.
It now looks like this:
http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/41045231/original.jpg

[TonyO]

I know this is a very old post, but that part of the building was removed.
It now looks like this:


Thanks for the update.

Interesting...So this is with the additional stories and spire?

[Pottebaum]

I think so. They removed the ring-type structures at the top so your eyes set more on the height of the spire instead of the buildings top floors. I think it looks pretty good this way :)

[BVictor1]

This is from today's Chicago Tribune 03/25/05

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/graphic/2005-03/16854196.jpg

[BVictor1]

Graphics from today's Chicago Tribine 03/27/05

http://www.pbase.com/temper/image/41302591/original.jpg

[BVictor1]

A better diagram, directly from the Chicago Tribune website as well as the story that goes along with it.

Rooted in bedrock, reaching for the sky
Trump tower will go far above --and far below-- its neighbors

By James Janega
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 27, 2005

The tower will soar above the skyline, but right now there is only an open space by the Chicago River, a home to construction equipment and a matter of fascination to neighbors.

Construction of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will offer a three-year spectacle of modern construction as the building climbs, level by level, above its neighbors and into the ranks of the world's tallest buildings. When done, it will stand as tall as the John Hancock Center even before its controversial spire is added.

In full view of onlookers, the former Chicago Sun-Times building disappeared from its longtime spot in a matter of months.

Now, passersby watch as drills the size of telephone booths spin into muddy ground where the newspaper offices once stood, spewing damp earth into piles that steam briefly in the chilly air.

Unlike Chicago's other three giants--the Sears Tower, the Aon Center and the Hancock building--the Trump tower will be supported not by a framework of steel but by a spine and outriggers of concrete.

Without high-quality concrete, the structure would never support the building's 360,000-ton bulk--the weight of four aircraft carriers.

Without new chemical processes that make the wet cement more fluid or new pumping techniques to move it, it could never be pumped 92 stories and 1,125 feet into the air.

Without concrete, the building could never climb so high and still stay so thin.

The footprint of Trump's building will be 348 feet by 135 feet--not much bigger than the squat Sun-Times building.

"On a steel building, it would have had to be much wider," said William Baker, a structural engineer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the architectural firm that designed both buildings.

"We wouldn't have been able to put a steel building on this site."

When the building is finished, a skin of stainless steel and glass will reflect the sun. The tower's shape will mirror the buildings around it, its faceted setbacks nodding to the 1920 Wrigley Building and monolithic 1973 IBM Building next door.

The building's designers are using the tower's concrete-swollen weight to defy heavy breezes. By making it too heavy to tip easily, the designers have pitted one of the oldest enemies of skyscrapers, gravity, against its other foe, the wind.

In addition, the setbacks and rounded edges will prevent vortices from organizing into mini-tornadoes, reducing the wind's power.

To further secure it, the building will be cantilevered into a section of the Earth's crust, a limestone formation 420 million years old and 110 feet underground, so the building will touch sky and bedrock at the same time.

Though it will outreach its neighbors, the Trump tower must start far beneath them, on pillars extending like stilts into the ground. The holes for those 4-foot-wide pillars are being drilled now. Under the building, every 30 feet around its perimeter, steel-reinforced cement will be poured.

On top of that, an 8,400-ton concrete pad the size of a river barge will be built. From that pad the building's spine will rise, climbing as Wabash Avenue is rebuilt between the IBM Building and the future Trump tower.

The spine will consist of five gigantic concrete walls, each shaped like an I-beam standing on its 45-foot-wide end. At about eight stories, the exterior columns will begin to follow, with a concrete slab between the columns at each story for a floor.

It will climb like this: Spine, columns, slab. Spine, columns, slab. Eight to 10 floors below the highest slab, the curtain wall will rise on the outside of the structure. As the building climbs, it will narrow, the spine dwindling to two parallel I-beams from five.

As the building takes root, it has become an attraction for the curious. The two-story-deep construction pit extends toward the IBM Building, and a nearby sidewalk has become an observation gallery.

Crane platforms with their coils of heavy cable are at eye level. Viewers see the tops of bulldozers.

One day, the workers will point to the tall shape in the city skyline with a sense of ownership.

Earthmovers heap dirt into piles. The heads of hydraulic dinosaurs bob into the rubble, crushing and pulling scrap metal in their jaws. Rolled steel dangling a dozen feet above the ground is lowered into rows. Sounds echo from the pit.

Above, people watch.

"It looks weird," said bicycle messenger Lee Towne, 47, of Chicago.

"It looks like a whole different site."

- - -

Designed to fit

When built in downtown Chicago, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will be one of the tallest concrete buildings in the world.

Because the Trump tower needed to fit within the site of the former Chicago Sun-Times, architects chose to build with concrete instead of steel. Concrete allows them to build the building taller without making it wider. Using fluid cement and new construction techniques, workers can pump cement hundreds of feet up into the air.

ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE

- Does not require a large base for construction

- Virtually fireproof, easier to isolate a high-rise fire

- Floor slabs typically can be thinner, allowing more living units to be built

Designed to handle wind

The asymmetrical design and weight from concrete give the 360,000-ton tower additional stability against the wind

DISRUPTING FORMATION OF VORTICES

Vortices are small forces of whirling wind that can cause the tower to sway.

- Curved edges allow the approaching wind to wrap around the building's corners more easily than around a building without an aerodynamic design.

- Setbacks further disrupt the wind's constant push on the building's shaft and limit formation of vortices.

Building from the ground up

The building process begins several stories below ground. The tower will be layered floor by floor until it reaches 92 stories.

Core: Spine of the building

Columns and slabs: Provide support for each new floor built above.

Caissons: Reach about 110 feet into the bedrock and act as stilts to support the structure.

1. Laying the foundation

Caisson shafts are drilled into the ground, then filled with cement.

2. Forming the concrete structure

The core, columns and slabs are added. This process is repeated for each floor.

3. Enclosing the building

Stainless steel, glass and aluminum panels are attached at each floor.

4. Finishing the interior

Interior components, such as drywall, electrical and mechanical systems, elevators and doors, are added.

CONSTRUCTION TIMELINE

Approximate times

1. (Early 2006)

2. (Mid-2008)

3. (Mid-2008)

4. (Early 2009)

To build the tower with steel, the building would need to be 25 feet wider.

Concrete: 135 feet

Steel: 160 feet

Height excluding spire: 1,125 feet

Spire

Will rise to 1,360 feet, which will make the tower 90 feet shorter than the Sears Tower.

Inside

- Penthouses

Floors 86-89

(Ranges from a 2,343 sq. ft. two-bedroom unit to a 14,260 sq. ft. seven-bedroom unit)

- Residential condos

Floors 29-85

- Hotel condos & executive lounge

Floors 17-27

- Hotel restaurant, ballrooms & conference center

Floors 16-17

- Health club and spa

Mezzanine and floor 14

- Parking

Floors 3-12

- Lobbies, restaurants and retail

On lower floors

Stainless steel/glass/aluminum panels

Sources: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP; Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate; Bovis Lend Lease Inc.; Joe Nasvik, senior editor of Concrete Construction magazine

Graphic by Gentry Sleets and Keith Claxton.

Chicago Tribune

- See microfilm for complete graphic illustration.




http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/graphic/2005-03/16887267.jpg

[Zzed]

Those fears apparently are over. With plenty of people putting down deposits, Trump has upped the tower to 92 floors and planted a 235-ft. spire on top, putting it within 90 ft. of the Sears Tower. "I like height," says Trump. "It gives you the view. It gives you the drama. It gives you the architecture." And, of course, more buyers.

By Michael Arndt

Given that foundation work has begun, how many extra floors could be added at this stage, and what would the maximum roof height be?

[NewYorkYankee]

Will the spire count in the "official height" of this building?

[BVictor1]

Given that foundation work has begun, how many extra floors could be added at this stage, and what would the maximum roof height be?

No more floors will be add. The floor count stands at 92 stories, and the maximun roof height is 1,125'


Will the spire count in the "official height" of this building?

It's being debated, but I don't see why it won't be. I'm 99% sure that the spire will be included in the official height. You can't count the spires on some buildings and not include them on others. How fair or unfair would that be?

Height to roof - 1,125'
Height to tip of spire - 1,360'

[BVictor1]

These are photos of the construction that's taking place at the Trump Tower Chicago site. I took these pictures Wednesday April 20, 2005.

http://img158.echo.cx/img158/567/mvc001f2ja.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/299/mvc003f0cm.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/7682/mvc004f7he.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/4536/mvc005f6zv.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/6613/mvc006f6fp.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/1020/mvc007f5ch.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/324/mvc008f9wn.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/3411/mvc009f3os.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/1135/mvc010f9lr.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/4604/mvc011f7cg.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/8255/mvc012f6gj.jpg

http://img250.echo.cx/img250/8551/mvc013f9um.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/8123/mvc014f7bp.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/1280/mvc014f0yd.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/323/mvc016f0lr.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/2290/mvc017f3cr.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/2194/mvc018f5gq.jpg

http://img256.echo.cx/img256/2672/mvc019f6kc.jpg

[krulltime]

Thanks for those amnazing construction site pics... I was in chicago like in november... is amazing how fast this is going... Good for my second favorite city in the USA.... Chicago!

[Kolbster]

Great news. Cool pics, the size of that metal tubing! the one with the picture of the construction worker and that thing really shows how big it is.

[BVictor1]

These are the most recent rendering of Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago that are availiable. I received these renderings from a person at Skidmore Owings & Merill which are the archirects of this project. There have been some minor changes, including an enhancement of the vertical expression.

http://img231.echo.cx/img231/179/riverwalk0328053pu.jpg


Looking south down Wabash Avenue.
http://img231.echo.cx/img231/5299/wabash0328053qv.jpg

A skyline view.
http://img231.echo.cx/img231/6449/lakeview0328058ma.jpg

[krulltime]

GREAT JOB!!!!

Simply Amazing Tower... Wow it sure is changing the skyline. Go Trump! Go Chicago!

[NewYorkYankee]

AGreed. Greta job! Amazing tower, really improves the skyline!!! I was in Chicago this month and loved it! Also, my 2nd fav city!

[thirduncle]

One thing this clumsy design does is make Gwathmey's Astor Place look like a work of sheer genius.

If you're going to stack a lame version of Erich Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store, then why not just stack Erich Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store?

http://www.pbase.com/mrudolph/image/42833566.jpg

[kmistic]

I like it! I need check out Chicago soon.

[BVictor1]

Trump Tower Height Adjustment

Myself along with several other members of Emporis got the opportunity today to get a brief look at the blueprints for Trump International Hotel & Tower chicago today in the Bovis construction trailer. You guys might be happy with these numbers :)

Roof height: 1130' 10"

Structural (to the top of the structural screen): 1171' 0"

Tip (top of the spire): 1361' 6"

There will be 4 lower levels

I'm sure that we will make several treks back to the construction trailer throughout construction.

[BVictor1]

This is a series of images showing the instalation of a roughly 75' long rock can. The inmages were taken May 12, 2005.

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (A).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362268.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (B).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362271.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (C).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362273.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (D).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362275.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (E).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362280.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (F).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362277.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (G). This is the hole that the rock can will be placed within
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362282.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (H).
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362284.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (I). Penetration (1)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362286.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (J). Penetration (2)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362288.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (K). Penetration (3)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362290.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (L). Penetration (4)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362291.jpg

A sequence of photos showing the raising, positioning and lowering of a large steel rock can into a caisson hole (M). The rock can is now in place
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/362293.jpg

[BVictor1]

Here are a series of images showing a precussion hammer and its contents. I took these images May 26, 2005.

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (A)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366414.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (B) This one also shows slurry pouring out as the top is raised.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366418.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (C) this image shows the rush of slurry down the embankment
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366419.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (D)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366421.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (E) Shaking off some of the crushed rock.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366422.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (F) Workers shoveling off the debris.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366423.jpg

A series of images showing the percussion hammer and it's contents, crushed bedrock (G) A loader coming in to help remove the debris.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366424.jpg

A series of images showing the precussion hammer and its contents, crushed bedrock (H) A loader coming in to help remove the debris.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/05/366425.jpg

[NoyokA]

Good work.

[czsz]

Thirduncle- where was that Mendelssohn store designed for?

[BVictor1]

Here are a few shots that I took of the construction site recently:)

Workers smoothing freshly poured concrete for the Wabash Avenue viaduct - 2005-9-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396706.jpg

Workers beginning to erect the steel rebar cage of the foundation mat - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396725.jpg

A view to the northeast across the excavation site - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396727.jpg

A view into the excavation pit with caisson tops and steel rebar visible - 2005-9-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/396730.jpg

[BVictor1]

Went by the site today. Damn!!!! They're moving fast on the rebar cage. From what I understand, the pouring of the concrete mat might begin this Friday, and I believe that it would be a continuous pour; meaning that it would last into Saturday.


A view to the southwest across the construction site - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401724.jpg

A view to the northeast into the construction site - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401714.jpg

Construction workers relocating a large piece of steel rebar - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401715.jpg

A bundle of rebar being delivered for installation - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401716.jpg

A construction worker using hot tar to help seal the Wabash Avenue viaduct - 2005-9-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/09/401721.jpg

[pianoman11686]

Trump's Big Pour
It took 30 trucks 600 trips to make concrete history

By Mike Conklin
Tribune staff reporter
Published October 3, 2005

Builders of the Trump Tower, which will be the world's tallest concrete-reinforced building when it's completed in 2009, got serious over the weekend about their concrete.

Really serious.

In what contractors called the "big pour," trucks worked round-the-clock for nearly 24 hours to bring 5,000 cubic yards of concrete to the site and dump it into a single hole called the mat. This steel-reinforced opening that measures 200 feet long, 66 feet wide and 10 feet deep will be a below-ground level anchor for the 92-story building.

Unlike the Sears Tower, Aon Center and Hancock Building, which are all steel-reinforced, the Trump Tower is using concrete because there is less room available on the site for the foundation. Without the concrete mat, say architects, the structure could never climb as high and still stay as thin.

"This mat is the heart of the building," said McHugh Construction's Dale Hendrix, a 45-year senior vice president -- and veteran in concrete -- who coordinated the pour. "This was a really unique challenge, something you're going to look back on some day and be proud of. I love this."

The Trump Tower has a $600 million construction budget, and the concrete-only portion handled by McHugh will be an estimated $130 million of that total. The building is expected to require 180,000 cubic yards of concrete when it is completed, but at no point, said Hendrix, will anything be as complex as the weekend's big pour.

Highly anticipated by everyone on the Trump project, the big pour kicked off Friday at 12:10 p.m., a few minutes early. As pedestrians above walked by mostly unaware, workers scrambled to witness the convoy's first ready-mix truck -- its huge drum turning -- rumble onto the Lower North Wabash Avenue site.

This was the first of 30 green, orange and white concrete trucks used non-stop by Prairie Material Sales Inc., the Bridgeview-based supplier. Before this marathon of mixing ended late Saturday morning, the fleet would make 600 trips between the company's sprawling distribution site at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street and the mat. An observer clocked the last delivery at 10:45 a.m.

Prairie, the largest privately owned ready-mix company in the U.S., used two shifts of drivers, and each truck carried up to 9 cubic yards, or slightly more than 1,800 gallons.

"We've had projects where maybe we've taken more concrete to one location -- O'Hare for one, but never with all the specifications like this," said Gerry Krozec, a Prairie vice president. "This [pour] involved things that have never been done in this business."

The sunny yet cool weather was perfect for the pour, which required a special formula for the cement -- the powderlike material mixed with sand, gravel or crushed stone, and water -- to create the concrete. Because this was the first time the formula has been used, chemists were on hand to test the concrete's consistency and temperature throughout the pour in a makeshift laboratory.

Conventional concrete is made to sustain weight at 7,000 pounds, or less, per square inch (psi). For the Trump Tower mat, where it will have to support the building's 360,000-ton bulk, it was specially mixed for 10,000 pounds psi, according to Krozec. This was done by making a concrete mix that was cooler and thicker than normal.

High-powered, portable lights ringed the pour as it continued through the night. McHugh and Prairie workers used suites booked at the Hotel 71, just across the Chicago River from the site, to catch a few winks during the long hours of work.

The fleet of Prairie trucks assembled four hours before their scheduled 12:30 p.m. site arrival at Prairie's distribution center, where they were gassed, warmed up and filled with concrete.

Their route, a five-mile round trip, took them east on Chicago Avenue past the old Montgomery Ward headquarters, under elevated tracks, past Moody Bible Institute and south on Clark Street, where they turned east on Kinzie Street to continue eastward into the street's lower level and onto the site.

On the return, Hendrix was careful to have the trucks go east on Kinzie to Lower Michigan Avenue, where they turned north and worked their way back to the Prairie premises to reload via Grand Avenue and Dearborn Street.

"It would've been closer, and probably easier to maneuver, if they'd used Rush Street instead of Lower Michigan," he said, "but that would've taken them within a few feet of an outdoor restaurant [Phil Stefani's 437 Rush] while everyone was eating. That's a trick you learn in this business."

When the Prairie drivers arrived at the Trump site, they proceeded to one of two points ringing the mat. They dumped the concrete on conveyor belts that could carry as much as 170 yards per hour.

Then McHugh workers spread the material across the mat opening and, when the pour was complete, covered it with protective sheets of Styrofoam and plywood purchased for this one-time use. They will remain in place for at least a month.

There still is plenty to be poured -- 5,000 yards of concrete is a small percentage of the 180,000 total to be used in the project. But now that the mat is complete, the concrete will flow on a floor-by-floor basis. It will take a custom-built pump imported from Germany to handle the job on the high-rise's uppermost levels.

"Some of our pumps would have to struggle to get it that high," said Hendrix. "That won't be a problem with this new one."

According to Emporis, a construction research database service, the tallest concrete building in the world now is CITIC Plaza in Guangzhou, China, which is 80 floors.

Chicago has seen its share of record-holders: the 64-story Two Prudential Plaza, completed in 1990, was the world's tallest reinforced concrete building until it was supplanted by the 65-story building at 311 South Wacker Drive completed the same year.

Decades earlier, Marina City, just a block from Trump Tower, held the title as the world's tallest concrete-reinforced structure. The two distinctive 60-story towers were a four-year project completed in 1964 -- and Marina City was the first job Hendrix worked in construction.

- - -

By the numbers

5,000 cubic yards of concrete poured for the mat

180,000 cubic yards of concrete to be used in total

30 trucks carried the concrete to the site

7,000 pounds per square inch is the strength of conventional concrete

10,000 pounds per square inch is the strength of the concrete for this mat

Copyright 2005 The Chicago Tribune

[BVictor1]

Here are some photos of the concrete pour. The pour began at about 12:30pm Friday September 30, 2005 and didn't finish until about 10:45 Saturday morning. It was a continuous pour.

View to the northwest (mat pour A) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402573.jpg
One of the concrete pumps at work (mat pour B) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402575.jpg
A view to the northeast with 2 concrete pumps at work (mat pour C) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402576.jpg
A parade of concrete trucks ready to deliver their load (mat pour D) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402578.jpg
View to the southwest (mat pour E) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402579.jpg
A concrete pump delivering material (mat pour F) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402581.jpg
Concrete trucks under the Wabash Avenue viaduct (mat pour G) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402583.jpg
View over the excavation site with 3 concrete pumps now at work (mat pour H) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402584.jpg
Many concrete trucks ready to deliver their load (mat pour I) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402585.jpg
View to the northwest (mat pour J) - 2005-9-30
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/10/402587.jpg

[BVictor1]

And these are the most recent shots that I took. This was 3 weeks ago, on the day after Thanksgiving.
View to the northeast across the construction site - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418707.jpg
Horizontal rebar interlaced with the vertical rebar of the caissons - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418710.jpg
Excavating more clay to reveal a steel retaining wall - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418740.jpg
Steel rebar beginning to rise above the river - 2005-11-25
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/11/418701.jpg

[BVictor1]

A few recent photos from the construction site.
View to the southwest across the construction site - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422645.jpg
Excavating clay and dirt at the east third of the building footprint - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422646.jpg
View to the southwest from the plaza between the Wrigley Building - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422650.jpg
View to the west from the Michigan Avenue bridge - 2005-12-13
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422653.jpg
View to the northeast from the Wabash Avenue bridge.
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2005/12/422655.jpg

[BVictor1]

Here are some shots that I took yesterday. One shot is from last week.

View to the northeast from the Wabash Avenue bridge - 2006-1-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430030.jpg

View to the west from the Michigan Avenue bridge - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430032.jpg

View to the north from Wacker Drive - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430041.jpg

View of the eastern one-third of the tower base and formwork - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430045.jpg

View to the southwest from the plaza between the Wrigley Building - 2006-1-19
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/01/430050.jpg

[NYatKNIGHT]

Now we're getting somewhere. Great shots, thanks.

[BVictor1]

I took these photos this past friday the 24th.

http://images.snapfish.com/346647%3A3%3B%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3238%3E868%3E492%3E WSNRCG%3D32335%3A9596%3C95nu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/346647%3A3%3B%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3238%3E868%3E492%3E WSNRCG%3D32335%3A9596%3C9%3Anu0mrj

http://images.snapfish.com/346647%3A3%3B%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3233%3E4%3B8%3E58%3B% 3E23244%3B867%3C23%3Bot1lsi

[spyguy999]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/roed...n-roeder05.html (http://www.suntimes.com/output/roeder/cst-fin-roeder05.html)

Trump looks in mirror, finds perfect customer
April 5, 2006
BY DAVID ROEDER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

Donald Trump is taking a little off the top, in a manner of speaking. He's reserving the top-floor penthouse in his new Chicago tower for himself.

Trump has withheld from sale the full-floor unit, which had an asking price of $28 million. He said he "probably" will use the 89th-floor unit as a part-time residence. It will measure 14,000 square feet, with 16-foot ceilings. "I'm in Chicago a lot, and I expect to be there more," in part because he plans to use the city as a stage for a future season of "The Apprentice," ratings permitting.

"I'm intrigued by the layout of the unit. And I love the building. It's already setting sales records in Chicago," Trump said. He said he's also looking at three other sites for a second development act in Chicago, but confessed to a problem with pursuing any of them.

"I've already got the best site in Chicago, so it would be hard to backtrack," he said. The 92-story Trump International Hotel & Tower is under construction on Wabash along the north bank of the Chicago River. A late 2007 delivery has been promised for the hotel, with the condos due in 2008.

Told that a cynic might suggest he's taking the penthouse because he can't sell it, Trump said, "That's absolutely not the case. This building has recorded $729 million in sales.'' He said that translates into 77 percent of the condo and hotel units being sold.

Trump Tower Chicago "is already paid for,'' he said. Unbidden, he drew a comparison with his rival for skyline glory, the proposed 124-story Santiago Calatrava-designed lakefront tower. "That building can't be built at the numbers they're quoting [$550 million]," he said. "It's going to cost at least $900 million in hard construction numbers. Any bank that finances that deserves to lose money."

[BVictor1]

Images taken 4/8/06

View to the west from the Chicago River
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449425.jpg

View from the river of rising columns
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449427.jpg

View to the northeast from the river
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449430.jpg

[BVictor1]

A few shots taken on 4/10/06

View of the western half of the construction site from atop a nearby parking structure - 2006-4-10
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449940.jpg

View of the eastern half
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449941.jpg

Construction workers laying down rebar - 2006-4-10
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/04/449942.jpg

[ablarc]

What a commanding site!

Chicago River is so urban. Its width, built up quays and frequent bridges make me think of the Seine.

[spyguy999]

This hasn't been updated for a while, so some pics from BVictor


Some shots from yesterday May 16th

View to the west from the Lake Shore Drive Bridge
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/05/458271.jpg

View of the western half of the structure
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/05/458274.jpg

View of the eastern half of the structure - 2006-5-16
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/05/458279.jpg

Workers on the Fifth Level
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/05/458304.jpg

A worker climbing into the formwork of the core
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/05/458315.jpg

[BVictor1]

From the afternoon of 5/18/06. The images were taken from the 20th floor of IBM Plaza.


http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B23252%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3233%3E66%3A%3E634%3E23 2466%3A72575%3Aot1lsi

http://images1.snapfish.com/346%3B23252%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3233%3E66%3A%3E634%3E23 2466%3A725762ot1lsi[/

[BVictor1]

Recent shots
View to the west from the Michigan Avenue Bridge - 2006-6-5
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/464909.jpg

View to the north from the corner of Wabash Avenue and Wacker Drive - 2006-6-8
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/464912.jpg

View of future elevator corridors and where a mezzanine level will be constructed - 2006-6-8
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/464913.jpg


Here are shots from Monday afternoon 06/12/06
I bet that I could make it :)
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466251.jpg

View to the northeast through the lobby area - 2006-6-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466253.jpg

The concrete beams in the lobby area merging together at a column - 2006-6-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466254.jpg

View to the east through the lobby level - 2006-6-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466256.jpg

View to the northeast through the lobby area with elevator openings visible - 2006-6-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466257.jpg

View to the northeast along the eastern half of the north face - 2006-6-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/06/466261.jpg

[antinimby]

Oh damn.
:eek: Look at the size of those concrete columns and how thick the floorplates are.
In New York, the floorplates are paper thin even on the most expensive projects like 15 CPW. :(

[BVictor1]

I have a few pictures of my own. Taken Thursday June 28, 2006

View of the construction site from the 20th floor of IBM Plaza - 2006-6-28
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/07/470290.jpg

Someone before asked why was there a change in the thickness of the floor plates at the edge of the building. The answer to that question, is because in these areas, the floorplates act as beams. The span between columns in this part of the building is 60'
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/07/470295.jpg

Clips from where the curtain wall will be hung - 2006-6-28
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/07/470294.jpg

Pipes and duct work being installed - 2006-6-28
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/07/470296.jpg

[spyguy999]

Also from SolarWind on August 8

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/117/p8080124tv1.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/3240/p8080123oq2.jpg
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/725/p8080121ih7.jpg
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/1955/p8080120wv0.jpg
http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/919/p8080109dl5.jpg

But from today - the first glass pane is up! :)

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1531/windowtc6.jpg
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/7601/p8100141vv8.jpg

[macreator]

Glass looks great!

[pianoman11686]

Oh damn.
:eek: Look at the size of those concrete columns and how thick the floorplates are.
In New York, the floorplates are paper thin even on the most expensive projects like 15 CPW. :(

I think that may have something to do with the large number of parking spaces this building will have on its lower levels (I believe they are located on floors 3-12). In New York, for the most part, the land/air rights are too valuable to put parking above ground.

[sfenn1117]

New York hasn't ever seen a 1,100 foot + building built with concrete either.

This is one of my favorite buildings u/c right now. It just has the perfect location in the city, and overall skyline. It seems too good a spot to be anything but an office building though....but I guess Chicago doesn't seem to be building any major office towers (if any at all).

Pianoman, when do you go back to Duke? I head back to Vermont Sept. 1st.

[spyguy999]

It seems too good a spot to be anything but an office building though....but I guess Chicago doesn't seem to be building any major office towers (if any at all).

Originally it was to contain some office space, but that plan was eventually scrapped.

There haven't been any 1,000 foot office towers lately, but there were some major towers finished recently, one under construction and another has enough tenants to start soon, and a few other proposals floating around.

111 South Wacker
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/8925/14138520111w20ext20from20nw20nightaw5.jpg
Hyatt Center
http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/603/exterior38ol.jpg
UBS Tower
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/7392/si10503towerag5.jpg
1 South Dearborn
http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/3484/7019bs6.jpg

are the main ones that come to mind.

[pianoman11686]

Pianoman, when do you go back to Duke? I head back to Vermont Sept. 1st.

I fly back August 27th.

[kz1000ps]

That Hyatt center is really sleek and classy. It reminds me of a cross between the Citicorp Center and the Lipstick Building.

[pianoman11686]

I think the new Goldman Sachs HQ, which was designed by the same firm, will look very similar to the Hyatt Center (well, the curved side of the building, at least). Interestingly enough, Goldman Sachs is one of the major tenants of the Hyatt Center. Here are some renderings for the GS Tower:

http://207.44.228.232/photopost/data//508/85886pa03.jpg


Just try picturing that facade on this side of the building:

http://207.44.228.232/photopost/data//508/8goldman1.JPG


I think it should come out pretty nice.

[sfenn1117]

Yeah I'm excited about Goldman Sachs. It's a fatass but the curtain wall is going to be fantastic.

I assumed the Hyatt Center was a hotel, for obvious reasons.

[macreator]

I assumed the Hyatt Center was a hotel, for obvious reasons.

As did I ;)

The tower is all office space. I assume at least a few floors of the building serve as Hyatt Group's HQ.

[BVictor1]

Here are several recent shots

View to the west from Lake Shore Drive - 2006-8-31
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/484301.jpg

View over the construction site from the 20th floor of IBM Plaza - 2006-8-31
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/485029.jpg


Workers installing a window
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/484310.jpg


View to the west from the Michigan Avenue Bridge - 2006-9-2
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/485594.jpg

[macreator]

The glass is a little wavier than I had previously thought, although I still think it looks pretty good.

[Vengineer]

The glass is awesome. If only 1 Bryant Park had glass like this.

[TREPYE]

^ The glass is pretty phat. Bryant would look pretty cool with that glass also.

[spyguy999]

Image from SolarWind
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/2221/ttcnm1.jpg

BVictor
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/489176.jpg
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/09/488029.jpg
^Gives you a nice, cozy feeling

[pianoman11686]

I don't like the glass. It's too reflective.

That is a great shot of a packed segment of Chicago's skyline, though. Lots of diversity in the buildings, and Trump Tower will only add to that.

[ablarc]

Some reckless madman like Trump should enlist Bill Clinton to help get the ball rolling on building up the Harlem River like the Chicago River, which it resembles in width. Tie together the Bronx and Harlem as the 21st Century wears on, and give Manhattan its third major skyline. Burnham would be proud.

[spyguy999]

A few more from SolarWind
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5642/p9260256lf5.jpg
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/2010/p9260260ry2.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4765/ttc8qr8.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/3909/p9260265yv4.jpg

[pianoman11686]

Some reckless madman like Trump should enlist Bill Clinton to help get the ball rolling on building up the Harlem River like the Chicago River, which it resembles in width. Tie together the Bronx and Harlem as the 21st Century wears on, and give Manhattan its third major skyline. Burnham would be proud.

I think Garvin and Doctoroff's crew are on it. Except they'd probably be in favor of a piecemeal development scheme.

[wns808]

I like the glass for Trump Tower Chicago. Has that reflective look identical to 7WTC below. Can't wait to see the official finished Trump Chicago

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v202/mynameisjacob/DSCN0525.jpg

[Vengineer]

The glass for 7 WTC is actually more transparent than Trump's. It just appears to be super-reflective in this amazing shot. Great picture, who took it?

[STR]

While 7's glass IS more transparent, there's another difference. Trump Chicago's glass looks cheap. It's not something that shows up easily in photos, but when you're there looking at it, and comparing it with Mies' masterpiece across the street, Trump looks like he bottom dollared the facade.

[antinimby]

$$ Well . . . it'$ all about the bottom line. $$

;)

[BVictor1]

3 photos from 10/24/06


View of the arcaded main and mezzanine levels on the south side of the structure - 2006-10-24
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/10/496387.jpg


View up the southwest edge of the structure - 2006-10-24
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/10/496394.jpg


View to the northeast towards the helix ramp - 2006-10-24
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/10/496403.jpg

[malec]

A few night pics taken by BVictor1 over on SSP


11/12/06

View to the east from the top of a parking structure - 2006-11-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/499300.jpg

View of the northeastern edge of the structure with the Wrigley Building to the left and the Sheraton Hotel in the background - 2006-11-12
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/499301.jpg

View to the west from the Michigan Avenue Bridge
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/499302.jpg

View of the structure from Wacker Drive
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/499303.jpg

[BVictor1]

From the 20th floor of 330 North Wabash 11/15/06
I mentioned all the rebar that's being used, well here it is.
Lots of rebar coming together that will form transfer beams - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500159.jpg

Partially bumped core - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500164.jpg

Working on decking for the 17th floor - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500167.jpg

View of the structure from the 20th floor of 330 North Wabash - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500161.jpg

Transfer beam connections to a concrete perimeter wall - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500162.jpg

Working on the rebar for the core walls - 2006-11-15
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500173.jpg

[BVictor1]

Here are a few shots from 11.20/06

This is the setback for those who didn't already know. The columns visible are for the east curve.

Rebar cages, formwork and pole shores visible for the future construction of the 17th floor - 2006-11-20
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500873.jpg

Here's is abetter view of the steback. View of the northwest face from the top of a nearby parking structure - 2006-11-20
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/500876.jpg

[BVictor1]

I couldn't help myself. Here are some shots from yesterday. I was basically trying to study the texture of the building in a different lighting condition. That is what I like about the glass thus far, and glad that it's being installed now. Like Steely said, it is a moody building because of the glass.
Tell me what you think?

View to east down Hubbard Street - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502123.jpg

I didn't realize until yesterday that it appears 2 floors are being built at the same time.
Formwork for two levels - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502125.jpg

Pouring concrete into formwork to form a column - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502139.jpg

Parking structure's interaction with the building - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502137.jpg

The reflection of 330 North Wabash on the glass facade being installed on Trump Tower - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502144.jpg

I'm liking the texture of this building
View to the east of the rising northwest glass face - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502141.jpg

View from the riverwalk - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502146.jpg

View to the east at the rising glass facade - 2006-11-27
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502130.jpg

Top of the parking ramp
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502132.jpghttps://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/11/502135.jpg

[pianoman11686]

As with so many projects these days, the effect of the glass is much different than what the renderings portrayed. So far, I think it looks nice during darker conditions; I don't like it much during the day.

[finnman69]

One thing this clumsy design does is make Gwathmey's Astor Place look like a work of sheer genius.

If you're going to stack a lame version of Erich Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store, then why not just stack Erich Mendelsohn's Schocken Department Store?

http://www.pbase.com/mrudolph/image/42833566.jpg

just saw this, and like what you did a lot

[finnman69]

The glass is awesome. If only 1 Bryant Park had glass like this.



1BC's glass is going to be a lot flatter looking than Trump's building, in fact, it will be a big disappointment. The mirror finish stainless steel on the eliptical mullions should add quite a bit of sparkle. I think I will dig this glass a lot, although the massing of the tower is atrocious. SOM should be commended on creating what will be a very luxurious and rich curtainwall.

[finnman69]

As with so many projects these days, the effect of the glass is much different than what the renderings portrayed. So far, I think it looks nice during darker conditions; I don't like it much during the day.

With darker tints and a mirror finish mullion, this skin will be a chameleon.

[BVictor1]

Photos taken December 12, 2006

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506120.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506126.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506131.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506136.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506138.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506139.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/506140.jpg

[lofter1]

Looking a might bit ^^^ garish (or should I say, Trump-ish :confused: )

[finnman69]

Looking a might bit ^^^ garish (or should I say, Trump-ish :confused: )

It's a beautifully detailed and proportioned curtainwall. The stainless steel (very very expensive) gives just a bit of sparkle. I'd like to see more walls like this in NYC.

[lofter1]

Glass looks too harshly reflective ...

[BVictor1]

My last Trump Tower post for 2006.

These pics were taken Wednesday December 27, 2006

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508568.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508569.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508571.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508575.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508581.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508587.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508592.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2006/12/508596.jpg

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE...... BE SAFE......

[BVictor1]

Shots from Tuesday January 2nd, 2007

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509220.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509227.jpg

TEXTURE COMPARISON
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509235.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509240.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509245.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509244.jpg

The facades of 3 gems
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/348%3A%3A%3B785%7Ffp6%3C%3Dot%3E2335%3D45%3C%3D36% 3C%3DXROQDF%3E2323653%3C68999ot1lsi

Notice the reflection of Trump in 330 N. Wabash (IBM)
http://images.photo.walgreens.com/348%3A%3A%3B785%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2335%3D45%3C%3D36%3C %3DXROQDF%3E2323653%3C689%3B%3Bot1lsi

[ablarc]

^ As beautiful as curtainwall detailing gets. Rivals Seagram in thoughtfulness.

[finnman69]

^ As beautiful as curtainwall detailing gets. Rivals Seagram in thoughtfulness.

I hate the massing, love the skin. Beautiful.

[finnman69]

Shots from Tuesday January 2nd, 2007


TEXTURE COMPARISON


https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/01/509245.jpg





I love the elliptical mullion and the effect in this picture. It's reflecting the spandrel and creates the illusion that the side of the mullion has a scalloped detail. It makes it very light, and ornate. Your comparison with the terracotta building is perfect. This building is very much in the tradition of Chicago Architecture.

[NYatKNIGHT]

I just visited Chicago and of course went to check on the progress. I had forgotten how prominent the location was, for some reason I had it in my head it was further west on the river. Guess I should have paid more attention to these photos, which are great, but didn't prepare me for how great this building is destined to be. Yes, the glass is fantastic.

[BVictor1]

I'm curious, has Trump ever pulled this stunt in his New York developments??


http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...l=chi-news-hed (http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0701160194jan16,1,2295743.story?coll=chi-news-hed)

Trump undoing deals
Condo buyers who got discounts in friends/family program told contracts voided

By Susan Diesenhouse
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 16, 2007

http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/thumbnails/blurb/2007-01/27399279.jpg

The letter from Donald Trump's lawyer didn't say, "You're fired." But it said something close.

Back in 2003, when Trump was planning his downtown residential tower, he gave about 40 insiders an attractive deal: They could sign contracts to buy condominiums in the Trump International Hotel & Tower at a discount. In some cases they agreed to pay about $500 a square foot.

But units in the building, still under construction, are on the market for as much as $1,343 a square foot. That would represent a tidy profit for these early purchasers. Except that Trump has notified them that their agreements are "null and void."

That's not as catchy as Trump's stock phrase on "The Apprentice," but it has been enough to upset some would-be purchasers who participated in what was called a "friends and family" sales program.

Since the summer, Trump has notified this special class of buyers, many with a professional connection to the project, that their deals have been canceled. If they want to close on units in the tower, now due for completion in 2009, they must pay closer to current asking prices.

Some real estate experts strained to cite a precedent for a developer offering contracts at a preconstruction discount to get the ball rolling on a project and then canceling the deals later as selling prices rose.

"I never heard of this before," said Richard Peiser, a professor of real estate development at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

If a developer asks firms they work with to buy units "to help a project appear successful and achieve certain hurdles," Peiser said, "it would seem the buyer should enjoy the upside."

"In my experience it would be very unusual for a developer to get out of a purchase-and-sale contract because prices have gone up," said Kevin Ahearn, president of Boston-based Otis & Ahearn Real Estate, which sells luxury residences.

One of Trump's unhappy "friends" is Judi Diamond-Falk, an Evanston architect who designed an early sales office for him here.

"Anyone who buys preconstruction gets a financial benefit for the risk they take," Diamond-Falk said.

Trump also benefited from the early sales, she added, because he "could say that a certain percentage of units are presold to get his financing and tell the public a certain percentage was presold. People didn't know they were friends and family sales."

In April 2003, the Diamond-Falks paid about 10 percent less than the asking price, put down an initial deposit of 5 percent rather than the then-required 15 percent and would have been permitted to sell their unit before they closed on it, Diamond-Falk said.

But Trump said in an interview Monday that the sales contract included wording that allows him to raise the prices for the friends and family units. Neither he nor the Diamond-Falks would provide the Tribune with a complete copy of the contract.

In June, Trump attorney Jason Greenblatt wrote to the Diamond-Falks to notify them that the sale was "null and void," citing "Paragraph 12 (b)" of the contract. That clause refers very generally to "matters beyond [the] seller's reasonable control" as a reason for the developer to default on the contract.

This clause "is only part of our rights and remedies," said Greenblatt. The friends and family sales "were a gift" to a small group, he said.

"From Day One, they understood that if the project was successful, the windfall would go to Mr. Trump," he said.

About 42 units were sold to friends and family. Contracts were renegotiated or terminated on at least 27 units, Greenblatt said. Two or three buyers balked at the new deal, he said, and a dozen still must be contacted.

Since 2003, of the 472 residential condos available, 373 have been sold. Of the 286 condo-hotel units, 220 have been sold, said Tere Proctor, Trump's sales director here.

As of November, residential asking prices ranged from $998 to $1,343 a square foot, compared with $400 to $750 in September 2003, according to Appraisal Research Counselors.

Most of the sales occurred by January 2005, said Jim Kutill, a vice president at Appraisal Research.

In the past two years the slowdown in the residential market has affected the approximately $775 million tower, Trump acknowledged. About 21 percent of the residential units remain unsold, Proctor said. At the same time, construction costs have skyrocketed.

Trump said one reason for canceling the friends and families contracts is to "have more income to handle potentially higher construction costs."

"This job has become a tremendous success because of me," Trump added. "Everyone knows, with a friends and family program, if a job is very successful, people have clauses whereby you renegotiate or terminate."

Of these early buyers also employed to work on the tower, he noted, "Don't feel bad for them. I paid them many millions of dollars in fees."

- - -

Trump giveth and taketh away

The "Friends/Family Sales Program" allowed key people who participated in the Trump tower project to purchase one traditional condo or hotel condo unit at 10 percent below the initial sales prices. An initial deposit of 5 percent was required, in contrast with a 15 percent deposit others had to put down.

"As we anticipate raising prices periodically throughout the pre- and post-construction period, this opportunity would become increasingly more worthwhile with each price increase," says a Sept. 24, 2003, letter from the Trump Organization and Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate, the sales agent. Purchasers could "flip" their units, or assign their purchase agreement, to any third party at any time after construction began, according to the letter.

Jason Greenblatt, a New York lawyer representing the Trump Organization, has sent letters telling purchasers their purchase agreements are null and void "in accordance with our rights under the contract, including, without limitation, paragraph 12 (b)" (cited below):

Paragraph 12 (b): If seller defaults on any of seller's covenants or obligations hereunder, and such default is caused by matters beyond seller's reasonable control, then purchaser's sole and exclusive remedy ... shall be a refund of purchase's earnest money deposit and interest which may have accrued thereon to which purchaser is entitled pursuant to Paragraph 2 hereof and all payments theretofore made by purchaser. Upon refund to purchaser of said earnest money and payment of interest thereon, if any, and refund to purchaser of other amounts paid by purchaser, this purchase agreement shall be thereupon null and void with no further liabilities of either party hereto.

----------

sdiesenhouse@tribune.com (sdiesenhouse@tribune.com)



Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

[shocka]

I just visited Chicago and of course went to check on the progress. I had forgotten how prominent the location was, for some reason I had it in my head it was further west on the river. Guess I should have paid more attention to these photos, which are great, but didn't prepare me for how great this building is destined to be. Yes, the glass is fantastic.


It is an interesting spot, North is decent, south is dead after 6pm. I was there for 4 months in the Club Quarters right across the street.
I would think Trump would have gotten something on lakeshore drive instead, better water views.

BTW, I dont know if it has been mentioned, apparently Trump went back on his orignal offer to people he considered friends/family of 500/sqft. Guess it is all business no matter who you screw over.

[BVictor1]

It is an interesting spot, North is decent, south is dead after 6pm. I was there for 4 months in the Club Quarters right across the street.
I would think Trump would have gotten something on lakeshore drive instead, better water views.

BTW, I dont know if it has been mentioned, apparently Trump went back on his orignal offer to people he considered friends/family of 500/sqft. Guess it is all business no matter who you screw over.

You obviously didn't read the BIG ARTICLE WITH THE BOLD HEADLINE ABOVE DID YOU???

He chose the location because of the proximity to Michigan Avenue, and seeing as it's a skyscraper that will reach 96-stories, I don't think that water views will be an issue. Besides the building is being constructed along the river.

[SolarWind]

January 26, 2007

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/6176/dsc0385copykh3.jpg

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/8725/dsc0380copyck0.jpg

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/9243/dsc0394copyne8.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/1513/dsc0399copypj1.jpg

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/2750/dsc0418copyvm6.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/8499/dsc0387copynp3.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/172/dsc0405copyao0.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/9800/dsc0414copywz5.jpg

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/6647/dsc0466copywc3.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/2095/dsc0433copyer8.jpg

[Alonzo-ny]

that parking garage ramp is unbelievably horrible!

[ablarc]

^ Is it meant to remind you of Marina City?

[Geer]

The garage itself will get cladding also. The view will change. This detail is from ssc.

http://img359.imageshack.us/img359/8941/tparkan5.jpg

[lofter1]

Hilarious how they photoshopped in some trees ^^^ next to the ramp in order to obscure it. Notice in the photo above that there is a building where those trees appear.

[OmegaNYC]

My eyes hurt looking at that picture. What the hell is it?

[BVictor1]

Taken by AdrianXSands of SSP Forums on 2/8/07

http://a698.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/35/l_48d6081805bba804dc7912ec0d386ce1.jpg

http://a288.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/17/l_ae731f9355fca2255aa462c1ab2c89ff.jpg

http://a640.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/42/l_b7b896444e21ca750fa7ef8351493fa7.jpg

http://a178.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/8/l_6bb4d00975bf5167b5b73cbd9c46c391.jpg

http://a618.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/30/l_34b792adc7cee09f0376426b8cbbd221.jpg

http://a35.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/6/l_23a9f00d1d4135e6f5bb0c667b0b60ba.jpg

http://a732.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/14/l_cdd22adbd49c5b7deea44aa56bb0a423.jpg

http://a524.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/38/l_b2150e44b46d6bd6e3f2a4210072a99b.jpg

[spyguy999]

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/8315/387643828d35d752772boj6.jpg
vxla

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g32/zipzip727/TT/6_000_.jpg
xrl

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/8599/3887027817fd569899ablx1.jpg
http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/1449/388696401a46da25763biv3.jpg
Ryan Sullivan

[SolarWind]

February 15, 2007

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/3865/dsc0578copyma3.jpg

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/1627/dsc0598copyvt3.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/1128/dsc0594copyvr5.jpg

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2316/dsc0585copybj2.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/4803/dsc0593copyit6.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/151/dsc0595copyhu4.jpg

http://img250.imageshack.us/img250/1381/dsc0588copyuq8.jpg

[SolarWind]

February 21, 2007

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/7123/dsc06923copygp5.jpg

[lofter1]

Please excuse me, but having only passed through Chicago and never had the opportunity to walk about there ...

Regarding that bare and bleak looking plaza at the base of the building to the left of the Trump (first picture above): does that now appear in the way originally intended?

[SolarWind]

Yes, bare and bleak. That's the look they were striving for. I guess it was an unqualified success. Hey, did you check out the building under construction in the photo? Pretty cool, huh?

[lofter1]

Looking good -- but I do see a similar plaza with bare columns at street level there, too.

What's the plaza plan for Trump?

[SolarWind]

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/2793/tplazach7.jpg
http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/3258/trumptowersitemapfa1.jpg
http://img133.imageshack.us/img133/2874/pa130389fm5.jpg

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/6470/p1050310sz7.jpg

[lofter1]

Hmmm ... Terraces, landscaping, fountains :)

Looks promising -- and good for actual people.

[MidtownGuy]

I've always been jealous of the interesting corridor of water created by the Chicago River, snaking through skyscrapers. It looks very cool.

[SolarWind]

February 22, 2007

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8797/dsc0717copyzx1.jpg (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/trurl_pagecontent?lp=fr_en&trurl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.growingchicago.com%2fimages %2fmypicsII)

[Bob]

Whoa!! That last picture...is that a Raymond Hood building I see in the frame, there?

[SolarWind]

Whoa!! That last picture...is that a Raymond Hood building I see in the frame, there?
Yes. Tribune Tower completed in 1925.

[BVictor1]

Photo by SolarWind 2/22/07

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/771/dsc0749copyvk0.jpg

Image ghosted into the rendering by Ghost of SSP

http://i7.tinypic.com/2mdfjx1.jpg

We are very near the second setback.

[lofter1]

Another black box hidden from view -- (almost) always a sign of progess ;)

[spyguy999]

Another black box hidden from view -- (almost) always a sign of progess ;)

The IBM Building - a Mies masterpiece? No, I don't mind that building one bit.

[lofter1]

What do I know from Chicago :o :confused:

[Alonzo-ny]

mies masterpiece? black box? is there a difference? eye of the beholder i guess

[lbjefferies]

Am I the only one who doesn't like this building? It may have nice glass, but does that really make up for an incredibly boring design? Every time I look at a rendering I just want to look away.

[SolarWind]

March 8, 2007
http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7725/dsc0146copywr2.jpg

March 9, 2007
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/7018/dsc02122copyag5.jpg

[SolarWind]

From Ghost over at SSP:

http://i17.tinypic.com/4g6xclv.jpg

[SolarWind]

March 13, 2007

http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8780/dsc0243copygh1.jpg

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/9840/dsc0275copyts9.jpg

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/8043/dsc0244copysv0.jpg

[lofter1]

It's a bit unrelenting from the broad side view :confused:

[macreator]

I agree. Too late now :D

[SolarWind]

March 20, 2007

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/1928/dsc0348xi0.jpg

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/9528/dsc0404copyig0.jpg

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1240/dsc0406copyci1.jpg

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/4525/dsc0403copywo9.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/5899/dsc0410xh3.jpg

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3386/dsc0397copyeh3.jpg

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/1184/dsc0395copyuu3.jpg

[homeandaway]

i so cant wait to see this one finished, looks very modern yet large!.
~AleX~

[SolarWind]

April 5, 2007

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/5482/dsc0033wb9.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/4817/dsc0028ko6.jpg

http://img395.imageshack.us/img395/1462/dsc0039ao4.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/6364/dsc0043ib8.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/1060/dsc0049kz7.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7013/dsc0056copyrm8.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/6121/dsc0108copyvm9.jpg

http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/8335/dsc0115copyfm2.jpg

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/7962/dsc0109copypw4.jpg

[BVictor1]

Ghost on SSP put this together

http://i19.tinypic.com/2u4kknc.jpg

[SolarWind]

April 13, 2007

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/3217/dsc0068copycopydp0.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/8527/dsc0138da9.jpg

[BVictor1]

I was driving south down Wabash yesterday, and was almost blinded from the glow off of Trump Tower. It was seriously bright. Beautiful but pratically blinding. Daylight Savings Time coming earlier this year has helped get nice photos later in the evening earlier in the year.

View to the south down wabash Avenue from Superior Street - 2007-4-17
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/04/529187.jpg

View to the south down Wabash Avenue from Ohio Street - 2007-4-17
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/04/529188.jpg

View to the south from Hubbard Stree - 2007-4-17
https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/04/529189.jpg

[BVictor1]

This photo is about a month old, but I thought it was pretty cool!!!

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/04/531028.jpg

https://extranet.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/04/531040.jpg

[SolarWind]

May 3, 2007

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1497/dsc0070copytq1.jpg

[RandySavage]

At the very least it will completely wipe away any attention that little black POS behind it ever got.

[Ed007Toronto]

You're calling a Mies van der Rohe designed building a POS?

[Bob]

I'm going to miss the George Jetson top that originally was planned for this building. It would have set it apart from the rest of the glass jungle in Chicago. Oh well.

[devels]

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4144&stc=1&d=1178675709

[devels]

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4145&stc=1&d=1178676288

[devels]

4150[/ATTAhttp://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4150&stc=1&d=1178679802CH][ATTACH]4150

[SolarWind]

May 21, 2007
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9421/dsc0168hu2.jpg

May 23, 2007
http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/7674/dsc0278copykc6.jpg

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8599/dsc0266copycf0.jpg

[SolarWind]

May 21, 2007

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/8371/dsc0171cf2.jpg

May 23, 2007

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6353/dsc0336copygj9.jpg

[Alonzo-ny]

This tower seems to be taking an eternity to grow.

[kliq6]

I agree, was in Chicago over the weekend and after taking that boat tour of the chicago river, i said to my self I thought this would be much higher since it it to be done next year. Chicago Spire however I cant wait to see

[sfenn1117]

Yeah I was in Chicago in mid July last year and it was 12 floors or so up. What is it now, about 30-35?

10 months, an average of 2 floors a month. Is it going to pick up once the size of the floorplates decrease?

[ramvid01]

32 I believe. I think the reason for the big slowdown is the setbacks, those things take about 2-3 months to get out of. Takes up a huge chunk of the last yr (4 months at least).

[SolarWind]

June 1, 2007

http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/9828/dsc04845copyij1.jpg

[SolarWind]

June 1, 2007

http://img480.imageshack.us/img480/5506/dsc0448copyex2.jpg

[BVictor1]

shots from yesterday. 06/07/07

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/540022.jpg

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/540023.jpg

[SolarWind]

June 8, 2007

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3889/dsc0238copycopyhr9.jpg

http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8674/dsc0239copysx9.jpg

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2067/dsc01293copyxf8.jpg

[SolarWind]

Originally posted by Chitown at SSP:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4160/progresslv2.jpg

[SolarWind]

Originally posted by Ghost at SSP:

http://i11.tinypic.com/52n7dsk.jpg

[SolarWind]

June 14, 2007

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/8341/dsc0052wm4.jpg

[BVictor1]

Taken 06/12/07
https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/541120.jpg

Taken 06/13/07
https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/541122.jpg

[SolarWind]

.

[Alonzo-ny]

the different glass doesnt work.

[SolarWind]

June 12, 2007

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1301/dsc0267copyes9.jpg

[BVictor1]

A few shots from Friday 06/15/07

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/541562.jpg

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/541564.jpg

[ablarc]

Impressive.



A pipedream: with enough investment, the Harlem River could look like the Chicago River (only even better, because the Harlem River has the high bridges).

[Fabrizio]

Not dumb flashy, but stylish, high-quality flashy. It works.

[TREPYE]

Originally posted by cbotnyse at SSC:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f21/cbotnyse/Picture003.jpg


This glass looks so much better in apperance and quality than the one used in 1BP (BoA Tower). Lamentful wasted opportunity for NYC.

[BVictor1]

06/21/07

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/542239.jpg

https://community.emporis.com/files/transfer/6/2007/06/542240.jpg