New Plans For The Infamous Chicago Spire And The Riverfront Prairie Are In The Works

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 7, 2016 5:29PM

The hole in the ground that is the Chicago Spire site, seen in April 2010 during the collapse of the commercial real estate market. (Scott Olson/Getty Images photo)

Two potentially major real-estate developments—both at highly desirable locations, at sites well-known for previous false starts—could begin early stages of development as early as next year. Crain’s reported on Wednesday that Related Midwest has recruited architect Michael Pfeffer to assist with plans for the two sites: the space that was once to house the ballyhooed-but-cursed Chicago Spire and the 62-acre prairie land designated for a “new neighborhood,” between the South Loop and Chinatown

The news is potentially transformative, especially from a local architecture perspective. “This is a rare opportunity for Related, for Mr. Pfeffer, and for the city of Chicago to do something memorable,” wrote the editor of Chicago Architecture. “Something important. Something that the city, in spite of its naysayers, can be proud of.”

"Those are two projects that are so compelling that I thought I would have missed an opportunity if I didn't at least talk to Related about it," Pfeiffer told Crain’s. Indeed, the locations and potential for grand ambitions both make ex-Spire space and “new neighborhood” insanely desirable.

The Spire, in the eyes of developer Garrett Kelleher, was a grand supertall skyscraper project, but it never got off the ground. In fact, after years of non-development, the site infamously became nothing more than a literal hole in the ground. Kelleher sold his $93 million in debt to Related Midwest in exchange for the property in 2014.

Likewise, the riverfront prairie has had its snags. A judge ordered in June that billionaire landowner and Related partner Nadhmi Auchi—who purchased the land from convicted felon Tony Rezko—took part in a scheme “amounting to theft.”

But if Pfeiffer’s timetable is correct, we should be seeing the seeds of some literally huge projects in the very near future—ones that, as Curbed put it, “could potentially redefine Chicago’s skyline.”