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Mad about the home as it is a space to remove yourself to and escape the world. Home is a private place that allows you to express yourself.
Also, it is a project that is never complete! There is always an opportunity to keep improving and personalizing.
Also, it is a project that is never complete! There is always an opportunity to keep improving and personalizing.
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Blog
Times Online: Reach for the sky That is, if it gets built. The launch party last week was to mark the opening of off-plan sales. But a hold-up with regulatory documents has forced the developer, Shelbourne Development Group, to put the date back to January. Some believe that Shelbourne may be waiting for the property market to improve, which would certainly be wise: the annual house survey by Chicago magazine recently showed that sales for $1 million plus properties fell 4.3 per cent in August alone. There is no shortage of competitors. Chicago has more than 13,000 apartments due for completion by 2010 – and those in the downtown area alone. Two part-residential buildings tower – in prestige terms – above the others: The Trump International Hotel and Tower will stand at 1,362ft and consists of 486 studios, one, two and three-bedroom apartments and two, four and five-bedroom penthouses with a five-star hotel. The Waterview Tower and Shangri La Hotel, a 90-storey, 1,047ft tower, will comprise 233 luxury flats and penthouses, and 200 hotel apartments at the five-star hotel. Both are under construction and due for completion in 2009, although the Waterview Tower has not yet managed to secure all funding for the build and Trump Tower had more than 200 apartments unsold in June – the most recent available figures – despite a completion date of 2009. Meanwhile, the Spire is located on a two-acre site where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. The 150-storey building will consist of 1,193 apartments – each with 10ft ceilings and ranging in size from 534 sq ft studios to four-bedroom apartments and 10,293 sq ft penthouses. Those on the 50th floor or above have uninterrupted views. A spa, restaurant and pool for the exclusive use of residents will be coupled with a cigar room, a library and a private cinema, but a one-acre landscaped plaza on the riverside will be open to the public. The developer has agreed a makeover of DuSable Park, a public park owned by the Chicago Park District in honour of Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, the first nonNative American settler of the city. Not convinced that these features – not unheard of in other luxury developments – will not be enough to sell the apartments? Garret Kelleher, chairman of Shelbourne Development Group, believes it is: “It’s simple – Calatrava. He gives the development integrity. People are attracted to excellence and this is magnificent.” Calatrava made his name in Europe with the Bach de Roda Bridge and the Montjuic Communications Tower, both in Barcelona. In the US projects include the Milwaukee Art Museum and the World Trade Centre transportation hub to be built at Ground Zero in New York. The Spire, Calatrava’s first residential building, will havea distinctive twisting sculpture, to be made from glass and steel – it has been being compared to a drill piece (pictured left). He has not stopped with the design of the shell, having designed the interiors of the apartments with some quirky details such as door handles modelled on clay he gripped and, in some units, a circular bed that can be enclosed by sliding glass doors. Such designs are priced at a premium: apartments range from $750,000 to $40 million – yes, $40 million. The UK agent Savills predicts that buyers will be happy to shell out such staggering sums. Ed Harris, of Savills, says: “Because of the iconic nature of the building, there will be a large interest from local and foreign buyers: such developments sell themselves.” Buyers will do well to takea pragmatic view. Kelleher admits that he has yet to raise all the funding needed to complete the project. Despite the credit crunch and dire outlook for US property, he is confident he can – yet he says he is waiting to bag presales before he approaches a lender. He says: “We have already had over 4,000 inquiries. There is pent-up demand all over the world.” Such confidence is impressive. Judging by some – but not all – of the conversations overheard at the launch, it might just work. FACTFILE The world’s first skyscraper, the Home Insurance Building, was built in Chicago in 1885 by William LeBaron Jenney. At 1,450ft, excluding its antenna, the Sears Tower in Chicago was the world’s tallest building for 25 years until the Petronas Towers were built in Kuala Lampur in 1998. 311 South Wacker Drive in Chicago is the world’s tallest building without a name, standing at 961ft. Chicago has the 19th-largest economy in the world and includes the largest derivatives centre in the US. When built, the Spire will have the world’s longest elevator run at 1,864ft. The sales office for the Chicago Spire will open in January. Savills: 020-7409 9997, www.thechicagospire.com -
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