Look at the photo http://tmrw.se
http://tmrw.se/wp-content/uploads/20...Darknights.jpg

Geeze they are putting an awful lot of time into this. Someone must be bored. Don't renderings like that usually cost a few bucks? I guess it's good advertising in hopes of landing a commission from Related. The question being weren't we supposed to hear something in the first half of this year about the new project for this site? Wonder if Related solicited visionary proposals in a little mini competition. Perhaps this was Gensler's submission?

Chinese companies need to see what companies can do before plopping a few megatalls around China. Seems to me like a worthy investment.

Seems like a Swedish poster on SSC trying to build a portfolio, maybe someone with an account over there can ask him to do a "future Chicago" rendering.
LINK HERE

February 22, 2017





I noticed a couple of changes since Harry's Feb 6 picture. It looks like wires are stretched across the hole and a bunch of ribbon tape is strewn across the site. Two trucks are visible in the upper left hand portion of the picture.

Related, please, we implore not to value engineer this. Please please please raise the bar and do something noteworthy for the city that's been so good to your bottom line.

man, that rendering is so sick

The Gateway Tower (seen in post 268) is magnificent, isn't it? A centrally located tower looming hundreds of feet over the other skyscrapers, occupying a front seat at Lake Michigan. It's such a wonderful vision, as the Chicago Spire once was. But now it's just a pit in the ground, sitting endlessly as time goes on. That's sad.

Chicago has been looking forward to this site redefining our skyline for 12 years. Hopefully the wait is worth the payoff. As far as our place in the "tallest buildings in the world" department, we're getting edged out of even being in the top 15 since apparently post design antennas don't count for whatever bs reason.

my gut feeling is the next recession will be whenever they start building on this site again lol

At this point, I'm just hoping this thing is as tall as Vista.

Couldn't agree more. How the Sears Tower's cladded antennas don't count but WTC-1's un-cladded (and uncompleted) cable-guyed skeleton counts is beyond ridiculous.

CTBUH likely caved to 911 sentimentality pressure, at least that's what my money is on.

OMG yes! If built, this would be by far the most magnificient skyscraper in North America, not just in terms of sheer height but of design as well.

I was in Chicago earlier this week and was surprised that the Sears/Willis Tower no longer looked very tall; it used to seem taller to me. I have seen the 2074-foot Shanghai Tower in person and it appeared much, much taller. Even the 1588-foot International Commerce Center in Hong Kong looked obviously taller than Sears. Chicago deserves this 2000-footer. This height would qualify it as a "megatall", wouldn't it? I think 600 m is usually used as the threshold for megatalls.

I absolutely agree. There is a healthy global competition in skyscraper development and Chicago is losing ground. A nice 2000 footer would put us back in the ballpark.

This is correct; CTBUH members who voted even privately cited (subtle) pressure in approving the uncompleted skeleton as being architectural. One person said he didn't want to be the one guy denying it, especially after all the complication and delay getting the building up. It didn't help that the CTBUH is based in Chicago and they would look very biased if they denied it, thereby keeping the record-holder in Chicago, in what would be viewed as borderline situation.

Those trees kind of look like they're gathered for a funeral...

^^ such a good call. Or to put a positive spin on it...

gathered for a ground-breaking ceremony? for NA's tallest tower ;)

Can we lock this thread, so depressing....

^^ I would hope so. Jeez! Can you imagine the carrying cost on this thing? I'd imagine Related would want to get going ASAP. They may have missed the boat already. I'm guessing there is a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment including some wooing of Chinese money like their competitor across the river.

That's going to get a lot harder going forward, at least for projects with big price tags, as Chinese regulators are starting to really step up enforcement of the strict capital controls.

They did have a mini competition this time last year for at least a supertall, but didn't go with any of the submissions.

I believe it's the opposite. As soon as Vista broke ground the vision for this site was scaled back, and now it's likely to be 2 shorter towers.

This is what I've heard as well. Two towers, SOM design.

Hopefully the design on Rush happened because the top Chicago talent's been working on this...

That ticks me off so much. Frankly if they decide to go smaller I hope that site gets downzoned to a parking lot.

Woah, let's not go crazy here.

and may I ask where are you getting your information from?

This was the most recent article of substance regarding the spire site...

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...uth-loop-sites

Twin Towers design by SOM is what Related submitted for the site 15 years ago, before the Spire won. It may still be a Twin Towers design that they go with, but I think people are reporting old info.

I heard this recently from someone in the know. I have no reason to doubt the information I was given.

Same here.

^ .. I think your both the same person trolling....I mean what are odds you both only have 19 posts on this forum ...lol...:uhh:

Its time will come. I think its better to wait because the land will most likely be developed.

I think given the location, a mixed used would be great. It at least offers more to the city in terms of its functionality than a single tower catering as a fortress for the super rich. Given the lakefront views (literally like right by the lake), a hotel, and residential would make sense.

I don't think anyone expects this to be a 2000 ft tall tower anymore (though I contend that the market could support it if they went with a mixed use design). Anything less than 1000, though, and they shouldn't even bother building it.

Ultimately, the market will decide its fate. I think we may see an 800-900 foot tower. Just a guess here. I can't see the city at the moment supporting a 2000 ft residential tower to a sector of the market willing to buy $15 million+ condos or apartments. Unless the developer is seriously confident or Chicago starts booming in the financial or tech sector. Something like One Grant Park could work. Which, wouldn't be bad if it had a high unit count. Possibly rentals. At least a 1 Grant Park style development is realistic. Once you factor in what it will take to make a tower profitable in this market, 1400+ ft starts to look like a pipedream.

Does the prominance of it being the tallest building in the Western hemisphere add to the selling point of the tower? Man I really want a 2000+ ft tall building here.

Maybe that Aramco IPO could be used for good tower investment. Could a mega tall in theory work thats residential. Sure! But it would require an investor who would rather wait for profit and fund the whole thing while it fills up. Similar to the Kingdom Tower, which will take a loss at first. Actually, I remember reading about how the developer expects a loss for the first couple of years until it fills up. More of the case where its a status symbol and profit can wait for a couple of years.

Unless they do it Miami style where they have pre-development sales 2 or 3 years prior until they reach a certain % of sales. A tower that is seen as an investment opportunity would greatly increase the chance of it happening. Unfortunately, it will probally go the way of One57 where it sits empty most of the time. Unless they can find a way to reduce construction costs but I think the cost of anything 500m+ will be the boon to this. But quality comes with costs plus the extra height requires good engineering. Just look at the concrete used in 432 Park. Might seem like a slender Virginia slim cigarette tower, but there quite some engineering in that tower. Expensive unfortunately.

Kinda why a mixed used with a hotel portion would make more sense. It would add more to the city rather than just being a pretty tall symbol.

Let it sit for another ten years and see how the market goes. And then another ten years after that, if thats what it takes to get a 2000+. I'm probally the most impatient person in this forum of wanting to see sites developed. But this is too prime to let it slide for a 700'-900' ft, if we even get that. The building that can go here, if done right, wont just change the skyline but the impact of the entire city worldwide.

HA! good catch...

Anyway, aren't the foundations covering almost all of the site... not only for the tower, but the underground parking?

I find it hard to believe that related would scrap the underground parking foundations and invest the $ by partially or completely demolishing them for a second tower... but, I could be wrong...

There is a 70-80' deep wall around the entire site, a bunch of rock socketed caissons, and dozens of hardpan caissons.

I understand "sunk-costs" but I always hope that these will be viewed as big discounts on similar endeavors.

Hahaha you know I noticed that as well and was worried somebody would get suspicious.

I used to post a lot on skyscrapercity back in the day, then everybody migrated over here it seems.. and I just kinda stopped checking everything after the recession and end of the building boom.

FrankLloydWrong joined the forum only 4 short months ago.

Reinsdorf Sucks joined nearly a decade ago (just hasn't posted very much).

IP addresses are nowhere close to a match.



If FrankLloydWrong really is a second account that Reinsdorf Sucks created just to troll you about 400 N LSD, then the man plays an EXTREMELY long game. :haha:

Is there any market in the US that can support a 2000 ft tall tower today? I know NYC is the most likely, but their tallest proposal is 1500. China and the MidEast are building them with govt dollars.

Structural engineers on the forum are in a better position to answer this, but I'm not sure any market can support a 2,000 foot tower on the basis of sound economic logic. The US has mostly moved beyond the dick-measuring phase of urban development. Places like China, Dubai and Saudi want symbolism.

There absolutely is the ability to build it in NYC or Chicago but the problem is that most companies are unwilling to build a 2000+ foot sky penis that will have less return on investment than a couple thousand footers or 4 middle tier skyscrapers.

Maybe pre-Recession this could have be viable, like with the Spire(though there is no way of knowing that would have been completed even without the crash), but after that situation I just don't see anyone risking everything on a single building that has a big chance of failing. I just don't see anything bigger than +1200 feet getting built there. It appears that has roughly become the cap of big buildings in Chicago this day an age, and for me that's not a bad thing. Not every city needs a cloud dong to be proud of their city.

Chicagoans, 1974-2005: Chicago has the tallest building in the world!
Chicagoans, 2017: We don't even need to talk about how tall our buildings are!

In all honesty, I hope this thread is locked until actual news appears.

He said sky penis.

Huh? I'm saying that companies won't do it, not that we don't want it. My one comment hardly speaks for Chicagoans on the whole

June 11
 

Those trees around the foundation rim are a slap in the face reminder of the staleness of this site. Seems even nature is embarrassed by what transpired (pardon the hidden pun) and is trying to conceal the scar

We just need to see something iconic in that location. It doesn't need to be a supertall.

Imagine the Via57 building in Manhattan on this site instead: https://www.via57west.com

please lock this thread