Calatrava Aiming For the Stars
By Andrew Peerless in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 26, 2005 2:04PM
Chicagoist leapt for joy a while back when we heard that superstar architect Santiago Calatrava was working on Lake Shore Drive residential highrises - but we had no idea just how high those rises would be. The Fordham Company, the developer of high-end residential real estate properties that is pushing this project forward, is expected to announce today a proposed $500 million building that would be the country's tallest, nearing 1,500 feet at its habitable top and topping out at 2,000 (with spire). The "Fordham Spire" would be a mixed-use structure (not unlike Bill Rancic's baby across Michigan Avenue), housing a twenty-story hotel and more than 200 residential units above.
Like so many record-breaking highrise proposals before it, this project is just that: a proposal. While Calatrava denies setting out to design the country's tallest building (claiming he was just trying for sumpin' special and "ideal proportions"), the Spire is already raising eyebrows and concerns from neighborhood groups, City Hall and... Donald Trump, who basked in the glory of his own lost Chicago ambitions by questioning the logic of a new record-breaking tower for our town. The influential and notoriously bitchy Streeterville Organization of Active Residents is likely to have a mixed reaction to its towering new neighbor, though - as of now - Alderman Burton Natarus seems okay with the project (praising its slender shape and the relatively small shadow it will cast over the surrounding La La Land). At this point, the city remains mum and says they'll "consider" it.
Financially speaking, if the project comes to fruition, only time will tell if people have gotten over post-9/11 acrophobia enough to shell out hella dough to live in a very tall, very vulnerable landmark buiding. And we mean hella dough: condiminium residences in the tower are expected to cost between $6.5 and 7.5 million. If things move forward as planned, residential marketing will begin in September and construction will commence once 40 percent of units are under contract. This would put the Spire's completion date somewhere around 2009.
So, back to the building's appearance: Developers have compared it to a drill bit, a twisting tree or a blade of grass, but Chicagoist sees just one thing when it gazes at the rendering: soft serve ice cream. Mr. Calatrava must be just as excited as we are about Southport's new Dairy Queen location, and after spending the past five years in a city with nary a Butterfinger Blizzard in sight, we're totally feelin' him. Santiago, your next Peanut Buster Parfait is on us.
Image courtesy of the Chicago Tribune