The Chicago Spire may have new hope of becoming something beyond a really expensive hole in the ground. According to a report by the Tribune, the building's developer, Garrett Kelleher, is slated to meet with today leaders of AFL-CIO pension investment trusts which could get the ball rolling on a new loan. That land loan would total $170 million and, according to the Trib, "would retire Shelbourne Development Group Inc.'s loan from Anglo Irish Bank, pay off liens and restart work on a project dormant for more than a year." If this sounds familiar it's because similar talks happened earlier this year but were shelved when the trusts decided to make a potential deal to help build an Olympic Village the top priority. With the Olympics not coming to Chicago, that's put the Spire back at the top of the list. Per the Trib: more ›

Things are getting rough for Donald Trump as the lead lender on his tower going up downtown has filed suit, seeking to collect $40 million in guarantees Trump made about the building. The suit was filed Friday by Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas, claiming Trump has defaulted on the $640 million loan when he didn't pay off the remaining $334.2 million to the bank and other lenders by November 7. Trump has previously filed suit against the lenders in which he "asked a judge to uphold a so-called force majeure clause in the loan agreement, which permits an extension due to an extraordinary event — in this case, the global financial crisis, according to the complaint." more ›