Chicago's Tallest Buildings Face Difficulties

By Ali Trachta in News on Sep 10, 2008 7:25PM

Construction of the Chicago Spire’s foundation is well underway, as can be seen in a photo the Tribune published today. The 2,000-foot condominium tower will be anchored in a circular concrete hole, 110 feet across and 76 feet deep. Though construction of the actual building is to begin in the middle of next year, interestingly the Spire’s developer, Garrett Kelleher of Shelbourne Development, has yet to hire a contractor to build the thing. This continues to fuel the buzz of skeptics, who are not convinced the Spire will ever actually come to fruition.

This should stoke the ego of Sears Tower, considering the Spire is set to overtake its place as the tallest building in the country. The Sears Tower is likely losing the lease of its largest tenant, Ernst & Young, adding 387,000 square feet of vacancy, which is only slowly diminishing after a post-9/11 dip in occupancy. [Trib, S-T, photo by Kookybites]