Spire pay dispute spurs doubt
Calatrava among consultants filing millions in liens against developer
By Mary Ellen Podmolik and Blair Kamin | Chicago Tribune reporters
October 18, 2008
The Chicago Spire's penthouse may be sold but there is growing doubt whether the project will rise out of the hole that's been created at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive.
Consultants on the project are starting to line up seeking payment for their work on the development, designed to become the tallest skyscraper in the United States and one of the tallest in the world. The most well-known of the consultants, architect Santiago Calatrava, filed a lien on Oct. 8 through his Lente Festina Ltd., seeking more than $11.3 million in payment from Spire developer Shelbourne Development Group Inc.
Separately, Chicago-based architectural design firm Perkins+Will Inc. filed a lien against Shelbourne for almost $4.85 million in payment. The two liens were filed with the Cook County recorder of deeds.
The liens suggest the project's financing, as well as its feasibility, is shaky.
Who wuda thunk it??
1 comment:
Financing was always dicey for this project, which is why the plans for the building were changed a couple of times.
My feeling is that this building is not going to get built. If they could scarcely get it financed at the peak of the easy money rampage, then I don't see who would mess with it now. We've crossed some kind of a rubicon on really large buildings, and we are probably not going to be building any more 100-story plus buildings into the future. These buildings consume too much energy, and, if you look at values in, say, the Hancock, relative to other types of housing in the same area, it has not held it's value very well.
There's just a limited demographic that really wants to live on the 112th floor, or the 87th, and is also rich enough to support these places with their massive internal loads and demanding managmenment. Additionally, these really mega-large buildings place heavy demands on first responders and on the local water and sewer infrastructure.
The savings in energy and concentration of services to be realized from high density housing, are realized most in buildings between 4 and 20 stories. It might be a good idea to limit heights to 20 stories are less in the future.
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