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Calatrava's Chicago Spire Officially Hole in Ground

     

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[August 2, 2007] A controversial 2,000 foot-tower starts to show stirrings of life.

 -by Lynn Becker

 



 

Right now, it doesn't look much different than any one of a dozen or more sites of new Chicago skyscrapers.

But for Garrett Kelleher, the Gatsby-like developer behind the $2 billion Chicago Spire, a project he's launching without a single pre-sale, it has to represent an initial, if preliminary, vindication. Kelleher had said he expected to get architect Santiago Calatrava's twisting, 150-story tower into the ground quickly, and if its not quite the spring launch he predicted before the Chicago Plan Commission last April, it's close.
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect

There's an armada of equipment on the Spire's site, west of Lake Shore Drive, between Ogden slip and the Chicago River. And while there doesn't seem to be much being accomplished yet, you can see the start of the drilling for the supersized caissons that will support the tower.
Chicago Spire, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Here's a few photos from July 30th, 2007:
Chicago Spire, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire., site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
So now, it's just a few simple steps from here . . .
Chicago Spire, site, Santiago Calatrava, architect
. . . to here
Chicago Spire, Santiago Calatrava, architect

 

 

 

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lynnbecker@lynnbecker.com

© Copyright 2007 Lynn Becker All rights reserved.

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