Seriously? The building isn't even 2/3'rds done yet and people are living in it already. It must be pretty weird living in a construction site.
Yes
Conrad Black, I am serious, although that was intended to be a bit of a teaser at the end of the post in which I left it.
There are certain types of skyscraper buildings, in certain cities, and for various reasons, that developers push to get people into as early as possible - usually in phases.
Chicago has done this in the past, and continues to do it now, on a case-by-case basis. I know that
Aqua and
Trump International Tower Chicago were going to try this because each announced this plan in advance. It will actually be easier with
Trump Chicago than
Aqua, because of the way that skyscraper is vertically zoned in relation to services (electrical, mechanical etc). But the wild card is the lot itself, because a portion of it borders the Chicago River. I will explain later.
Having been in this business for a number of years as a Structural Engineer and Consultant, I know that this is worked out with the General Contractor and the Developer first. Then arrangements are sought with the city, and liabilities are discussed with the lending banks and the appropriate city offices that must grant the licensing. Finally, the potential immanent customers - residents, businesses, hotels - are made aware before a general announcement is made. That is what is happening at
Trump Chicago in a textbook fashion up to the first phase.
The site must be managed well to pull this off, so certain General Contractors are in demand. One such GC in Chicago that I will discuss is
McHugh Construction, for which this is a decided specialty, and they are being used by both
Aqua and
Trump Chicago.
If you look at Toronto, which is typically 'sloppy' in most of its construction sites this would not work. But there is an example that goes counter to this, the well-managed
Met construction site. If an early move-in scenario were contemplated here, the GC(s) at the Met would be the first ones I would interview, or have interviewed. But the topic is narrowed here to
Trump Chicago, and I will post only to that in the next post(s).