santiago calatrava's chicago spire will not be built

santiago calatrava‘s chicago spire will not be built. the tower which was to spiral up to 2000 feet, included 1,200 apartments and was to be situated on the shoreline of the city’s lake michigan. now, the anglo-irish bank is seizing control of the stalled chicago spire’s site from shelbourne development.

the chicago spire in the context of the chicago city skyline

santiago calatrava‘s proposed chicago spire was originally announced in 2006 following the acquisition of the land at 400 lake shore drive in chicago by shelbourne’s executive chairman, garrett kelleher. the structure was to have 124 storeys, plus an antenna that would take it above the chicago’s sears tower and the CN tower in toronto, canada to be the largest freestanding structure in the western hemisphere. construction began in 2007, but there has been no activity on the site for some two years, with the laying of the foundation suspended as pre-sales dried up following the collapse of lehman bros in september 2008.