It seems that the change of the seasons here in Chicago brings with it a new design for the Chicago Spire. The winter model was a bit too beefy for the tastes of… well, everyone, so architect Santiago Calatrava trimmed up the Spire for springtime. The latest design is more slender and down to 150 stories from 160. The planned height remains at 2,000 feet. The Tribune, the Sun-Times, Lynn Becker and Chicago Business have all weighed in on the presentations developer Garrett Kelleher made with Calatrava yesterday before the Grant Park Advisory Council and the Streeterville Organization of Active Residents.
The main complaint from Streeterville residents remains the increased density that a 1,300-unit “mini-city” will bring to a part of the neighborhood that has already experienced a boom in high-rises over the past few years (at least six are currently under construction south of Ontario Street, and more are on the way).
Our complaint, since we don’t live in Streeterville, is the fact that we’ll never have the scratch to set foot inside the luxury condo building. Should the most architecturally significant Chicago high-rise of the new century — not to mention the tallest building in the country — be, as it is planned now, completely closed off to the public?