What follows was composed in the same time frame as Ms. Forsyth's piece, quoted in Solar Wind's post above. David Roeder, the real estate columnist for Chicago Sun-Times, has long been an opponent of the Chicago Spire but has recently backed off a bit when that Calatrava building cleared its final approval gauntlet and went into the construction phase. Christopher Carley was involved with both Chicago Spire (then known as Fordham Spire) and now the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel and Residential Tower.
A kid bro in Spire's shadow
September 28, 2007
BY DAVID ROEDER
Chicago Sun-Times
A developer is showing plans for a 100-story hotel and residential tower for Streeterville that, if built, would look like a little brother of the proposed Chicago Spire.
Christopher Carley, chairman of Fordham Co., wants the building placed north of the Sheraton Chicago hotel that's along the Chicago River. Carley bought the site during the summer and has formed a partnership with another Chicago developer of note, Michael Reschke.
At about 1,100 feet, the building would be shorter than such skyline titans as the John Hancock Center or even the new Trump Tower. But it would command attention and be only a couple of blocks from the proposed spire, a 2,000-foot composition of celebrity architect Santiago Calatrava.
... Carley used to own the spire property along Lake Shore Drive and interested Calatrava in the site before being bought out ...
For the new site, Carley said he's appropriated some ideas from his attempt at the Calatrava deal. ...
Waldorf-Astoria, a Hilton Hotels Corp. brand, has agreed to run the hotel as part of a limited national expansion of its legendary Manhattan name. Other Waldorf-Astorias are planned or under construction in Beverly Hills, Calif., and Orlando, Fla.
While decidedly upscale, the Carley site has more limited ambitions than the spire. The spire's developer is using Calatrava's reputation to market the units internationally and the prices could start at $1,200 a square foot.
Carley said his sales will come locally, and he's aiming for around $800 a square foot, still near the top for the market.
His architect is Chicago-based DeStefano & Partners, which got instructions not to imitate the spire but to give it a "tip of the cap," as Carley put it. The result was a building that toward the bottom has a conventional square shape but sharpens to a scalpel at the top.
Citing the long-term nature of the project, Carley said he's not overly worried about the steep slowdown in housing. "The market's down now, but that's not a bad time to plan something like this. I'd rather ride the market on its way up," he said.
Construction could start in early 2009 and last three years, he said. Timetables depend on advance sales. ...
His argument for building tall rests on the "thin is in" ethic that has taken hold in Chicago planning circles and with Mayor Daley. It's a belief that tall, skinny buildings block fewer views and less light than a shorter building containing the same square footage...
Reschke is chairman of Prime Group Inc. and represented Waldorf-Astoria in the partnership with Carley. Reschke has a minority stake in the venture, Carley said.
