fordham spire update

The Chicago Spire was a supertall skyscraper project in Chicago, Illinois that failed financially after beginning construction.
On 4 November 2014, Spire developer Garrett Kelleher signed over the property location at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive to the
project's biggest creditor after not being able to make required payments. Related Midwest President Curt Bailey said they
would not build the Spire when they received control over the property. [7]
When originally proposed as the Fordham Spire in July 2005, the design had 116 stories.[8] Chicago developer Christopher
T. Carley of theFordham Company was spearheading the project. The building was planned to include a hotel and
condominiums and also featured a tallbroadcast antenna mast. On 16 March 2006, the initial design of the building passed
unanimously during that day's meeting of the Chicago Plan Commission.[9] The court ruling of 4 November 2014 brings the
extended litigation of the nine-year-old project to a relative conclusion concerning its original plan of architectural
development.[10]
The Riverview located at 445 E. North Water St. offers the ultimate in luxury waterfront condo living overlooking the Ogden
Slip of the Chicago River. The expansive views oversee not only the river, but also the city skyline which can be enjoyed
from every window and your private balcony. This building is also situated on a one-way tree lined street which offers private
surroundings for its residents. Condo units range from 1,200 square feet to 5,200 square feet with as many as 1-5 bedrooms
and 1-4 baths; there are many unique floor plans to choose from. constructed - East Tower–2000, West Tower-2004
Nicholas J Melas Centennial Fountain is located on the north bank of the Chicago River at McClurg Court in Near North
Side, Chicago.[1] It was dedicated in 1989, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
of Greater Chicago, perhaps best known for its major achievement in reversing the flow of the Chicago River in 1900;[2] and
in 1999, this system was named a "Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium" by the American Society of Civil
Engineers (ASCE).[3] The fountain is designed by Lohan Associates, architects. Every hour, on the hour, the fountain shoots
a massive water arc across the river from a modernist tiered waterfall for 10 minutes. [4] The fountain was named after
Nicholas J. Melas who was elected in 1962 to the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
of Greater Chicago. Melas was re-elected 5 times, serving for 30 years; the last 18 as President of the Board. [5][6]
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/aqua/
From the moment it appeared on the Chicago skyline, the Aqua Tower has earned numerous awards for design excellence.
However, it hasn’t kept all the glory for itself. It’s fair to say Aqua is a star-maker, with its 2009 completion putting the city’s
newest neighborhood, Lakeshore East, on the tip of everyone’s tongue. And though Aqua certainly wasn’t architect Jeanne
Gang’s first project, it is the one that put her on Chicagoans' architectural radar.
The Aqua Tower’s design is a brilliant new approach to the problem
long ago identified by Louis Sullivan – how to create an aesthetic for
a functional tall building. The basic structure is a standard, modern
box. But Jeanne Gang and her firm, Studio Gang, surrounded this
box with slow-rippling, white concrete balconies, giving the
skyscraper a sculptural quality.
Each individual balcony is unique in size, shape and protrusion,
allowing residents to chat with neighbors above or below. The
balconies also help to break up wind vortices, minimize wind shear,
shade neighboring apartments and prevent birds from colliding with
windows. Each balcony is part of a greater floor slab. Contractors
used GPS coordinates to precisely pour each of the 82 designs.
Building Aqua was a feat of engineering.
Those not staying in Aqua’s Radisson Hotel (floors one through 18) or living in the residential units (floors 18 through 81)
can experience the building’s majesty, even from afar. The curving white concrete balconies and colored glass create the
impression of water cascading down the sides.
Situated next to Lake Michigan in Lakeshore East, the building’s water motif connects residents and visitors to the city’s
most remarkable natural landform. Also paying homage to the Midwest’s natural beauty is Gang’s decision to make the
Aqua Tower planet-friendly through rainwater collection systems, heat resistant and fritted glass, and energy-efficient
lighting.
Illinois Center
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois_Center
Illinois Center is a mixed-use urban development in downtown Chicago, Illinois, USA, lying east of Michigan Avenue. It is
notable in that the streets running through it have three levels. Elsewhere in Chicago, some streets have two levels, with
the lower level for through traffic and service vehicles and the upper level for other local traffic. In Illinois Center, the lower
level has been split, with a middle level for through traffic and a lower level for service vehicles.
The development was built on land that had formerly been used for railroad yards (owned by the Illinois Central Railroad).
The west half was built out first; the east half was initially turned into a temporary golf course on the lowest level, where the
rail yards had been. The golf course has since been turned into a park, now surrounded by an "urban village" of high-rise
buildings called Lakeshore East.
The development consists of four blocks with a large area to the east. It is bounded on the west by Michigan Avenue, which
has two levels. Just east of that road, the upper level rises to become a higher third level, only accessible on the west edge
of the development and at the east end of Upper Wacker Drive. Stetson Avenue and Columbus Drive run north-south,
and Lake Street, South Water Street, and Wacker Drive run east-west. Randolph Street lies a block south of the main part,
and forms the south border of the east half. All of these streets are at least partly triple-decker. In the south half of the
complex, the Metra Electric Lines and the South Shore Line terminate, halfway between Michigan and Stetson Avenues,
at Millennium Station. There is one remaining vacant lot in the Illinois Center complex
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/michigan-avenue-bridge-dusable-bridge/
The place where Michigan Avenue crosses the Chicago River is one of the most iconic urban spaces in the world.
Looking up at some of Chicago’s famous buildings, pedestrians and motorists might not notice the bridge they’re crossing
– but they should. The DuSable Bridge is all at once a beautiful work of public art and a great feat of civil engineering.
DID YO U KNOW
Each leaf weighs 3,400 tons, but due to the fine balance of the counterweights, two 108-horsepower motors are able to
open and close the bridge.
There wasn’t always a bridge here. The 1909 Plan of Chicago recommended that Michigan Avenue be widened and
extended north of the river. But this didn’t happen until 1920, making it one of the later bridges built across the main branch
of the river. Its completion began a transformation of Michigan Avenue allowing it to become the elegant boulevard we know
today.
Like Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago itself, the bridge’s design is Beaux Arts. It has a distinctly
Parisian flair. Thomas Pihlfeldt, Hugh Young and Edward Bennett designed it to resemble the Alexander III Bridge over the
Seine.
The four bridge houses provide a canvas for bas-relief sculpture depicting pivotal moments in Chicago history:
 The arrival of French explorers James Marquette and Louis Joliet
 The first settlers, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable and John Kinzie
 The Fort Dearborn Massacre
 Rebuilding after the Chicago Fire of 1871
Like most bridges over the Chicago River, the DuSable Bridge is movable to allow boats to pass underneath. Trunnion
bascule bridges, like this one, are distinctive features of Chicago's infrastructure. They’re movable bridges with
counterweights that lift by rotating around large, fixed axles called trunnions. The enormous underground counterweights
balance the bridge’s leaves and allow relatively small motors to open and close the bridge. DuSable’s two double-deck
leaves carry both Michigan Avenue and a lower-level service road over the river, allowing for two levels of vehicular and
pedestrian traffic. When the bridge was first constructed it was said to be the only double-deck bridge built with highways
on both levels. At one time, the bridge opened thousands of times per year. Now, to minimize disruptions to traffic on the
Magnificent Mile, it only opens on a limited seasonal schedule.
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/wrigley-building/
The Wrigley Building is so recognizable it hardly needs an introduction.
It stands proudly where Michigan Avenue crosses the Chicago River, a luminous white beacon known the world over as a
beloved symbol of Chicago’s preeminence in architecture and commerce.
GATEWAY TO THE MAGNIFICENT MILE
DID YO U KNOW
In order to comply with laws against branch banking in Illinois,the 14th-floor bridge between towers was constructed to link
two offices of a bank.
When Michigan Avenue was extended north of the river, it opened up a gritty landscape of small buildings and industry to
a complete transformation. Chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. touched off the boom when he decided to build a
new headquarters for his company on an oddly shaped lot west of Michigan Avenue and just north of the river. It was the
first, and quite possibly the finest, of the buildings that have come to define the Magnificent Mile.
Such a prominent site demanded a notable building, and architects Graham, Anderson, Probst & White delivered. Modern
in its height and steel-frame construction, its facade nonetheless bears the weight of history. As a young man, Wrigley
visited the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893 and never forgot the famed White City or its nighttime light displays. Those
memories live on in his namesake building. Six different shades of gleaming white terra cotta become brighter as the building
rises, and its facade is illuminated at night.
A second tower was commissioned shortly after the completion of the first, presenting a harmonious front to Michigan
Avenue. The two buildings are linked by a third-floor bridge. They’ve been immaculately maintained since completion with
regular cleanings to keep them sparkling white. A thorough restoration followed the Wrigley Company’s recent sale of the
building, and it received official Chicago Landmark status in 2012.
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/trump-tower/
When our docents explain that the Trump International Hotel & Tower reflects its surroundings, they aren’t only referring to
its shiny glass and steel exterior.
DID YO U KNOW
The Trump Tower uses Chicago River water to cool the building. The cooling system recirculates water back into the river,
avoiding the costly pump and tower system that would traditionally eject water vapor from the roof.
The reflection they’re referring to isn’t only a literal one. When the Chicago architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
(SOM) envisioned this contemporary tower, the building’s place and neighbors influenced its design. While it is true that the
building’s materials mirror its neighbors, it can also be argued that its design communicates its relationship to them.
The Trump Tower is designed with three setbacks. Each setback points toward an architecturally significant neighbor. The
setbacks allow for "communication" with surrounding buildings. At 16 stories, the first is to the east of Trump Tower and
corresponds to the height of the Wrigley Building. At 29 stories, the second points both north toward River Plaza and west
to Marina City. All the way up at 51 stories, the third setback is west of Trump Tower and relates with Mies' last Chicago
project, 330 N. Wabash Ave.
SOM’s attention to the building’s location and architecturally significant neighbors wasn’t what earned the firm this
prestigious commission. Donald Trump originally considered three architecture firms for the project: Lohan Associates, Kohn
Pedersen Fox Architects and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. But it was SOM’s experience building tall towers in the U.S. and
abroad that clinched the deal. The firm was, and continues to be an innovator in structural design throughout the world.
To enable the Trump Tower to withstand Chicago’s punishing wind loads, SOM used a concrete structural system often
referred to as core and outrigger construction. The building has a central core of concrete with concrete arms (outriggers)
that reach out across several key floors. The outriggers connect its central core with an exterior ring of structural columns.
This method– also used in the Burj Khalifa that was designed by the same SOM engineers – allows for design flexibility and
structural strength.
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/carbide-and-carbon-building/
Luxurious, exuberant and dramatic, the Carbide and Carbon Building is a metaphor of America’s sumptuous décor in the
1920s. The Carbide and Carbon Company, which developed the first dry cell battery, needed a regional headquarters to
house its rapidly expanding business. Company executives wanted the building to make a statement, to communicate their
success and to attract clients. They commissioned the Burnham Brothers (sons of the deceased Daniel Burnham), who
completed the structure in 1929.
DID YO U KNOW
Imitation gold leaf was originally considered for the building’s top, but ultimately rejected in favor of the real thing.
A dazzling building on Chicago’s skyline, the Carbide and Carbon Building epitomizes the lavish excitement of Art Deco.
The facade is composed of luxurious polished black granite, green and gold terra cotta and gold leaf with bronze trim. The
building’s interior is known for its extravagant lobby, originally used to display the company’s products. Frosted glass fixtures
and Belgian marble greet visitors at its Michigan Ave. entrance.
The building’s cap is ornamented with genuine 24 karat gold, though it is only one five-thousandths of an inch thick. Bronze
trim extends from the tip of the spire to the ground level.
All good things must come to an end, as they say. With the market crash of 1929, a planned sister building to the Carbide
and Carbon Building was cancelled, making it the sole fully-colored skyscraper in the world at the time. The building was
landmarked in 1994 and in 2014 it underwent a $106 million restoration. After being sold to a realty company, the building
became the new home for Chicago’s Hard Rock Hotel. It still stands out as one of the most unique structures on the city’s
skyline.
35 E. WACKER DRIVE BUILDING: Also known as the Jeweler's Building. Completed in 1927, this stunning building was
co-designed by Joachim G. Giaver and Frederick P. Dinkelberg. Exquisite details everywhere you look, it has a neo-baroque
feel to it.
330 N. WABASH BUILDING: Designed by famed architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (who died in 1969 before construction
began) and completed in 1973. At 695 feet, 330 North Wabash is the second-tallest building by Mies van der Rohe. It was
his last American building.
The vision for the Main Branch of the Chicago Riverwalk is to establish a unique pedestrian waterfront environment along
the south bank of the Chicago River. The Riverwalk will be universally accessible to all visitors and contain a variety of
spaces that accommodate both passive and active recreation. This will be accomplished by the expansion of the riverwalk
twenty to twenty-five feet in width to provide the area needed for underbridge connections. The riverwalk will be expanded
fifty feet at the river confluence, located between Franklin and Lake Streets, to create a new civic focal point and green
amenity for the City.
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/marina-city/
“In our 'cities within cities' we shall turn our streets up into the air, and stack the daytime and nighttime use of our land." Bertrand Goldberg
Downtown Chicago (sometimes referred to as the Loop) is now one of the fastest growing residential neighborhoods in the
Chicagoland area. But downtown living hasn’t always been so trendy. When architect Bertrand Goldberg envisioned Marina
City, it was an urban experiment designed with the intent of drawing middle-class Chicagoans back to the city after more
than a decade of suburban migration. By creating a city within a city, Goldberg hoped the convenience of living and playing
close to work would help make Marina City a success. After all, the mixed-use development was so much more than just
the two “corncob towers.” When completed in 1967 it included two residential towers, plus an office building, a theater,
parking for your car or boat and plenty of retail space. But were Chicagoans ready to move back to the city from the outlying
suburbs? its time, Marina City dared to be different. Looking at this engineering marvel from any angle afforviews of its
various geometric shapes playing off one another.
If Goldberg’s intention for Marina City was to get residents living close to work, it should be considered a wild success.
When the development opened, eight percent of residents worked within the development and 80 percent could walk to
work. Marina City was certainly a vision for a new way of living in the 1960s. And the vision was one Chicagoans embraced
then and still do today. There are now many residential mixed-use developments in the Loop. Marina City was a concept
and development very much ahead of its time.
1967 MARINA CITY AMENITIES
 Retail Shopping and Restaurants
 Theater
 Marina
 Gym
 Laundry Facilities with Panoramic Views of
the City
 Swimming Pool
 Ice Rink
 360-Degree open-roof deck on top of each
building
 Bowling Alley
 19-floor Parking Garage
MID-CENTURY MODERNISM WITH ORGANIC INSPIRATION
DID YO U KNOW
The towers’ central cores were built to full height before most of the habitable structure was raised around them.
Forward-thinking architect Bertrand Goldberg was a student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and the influence of
Mies’Modernist principles can be seen in his work. But his own ideas of modular, prefabricated, curved forms are also
highlighted in the design of Marina City. Goldberg believed since no right angles exist in nature, none should exist in
architecture. That belief is clearly at work in the 65-story residential towers’ design. Goldberg compared the bays on Marina
Towers to the petals of a sunflower. They radiate from the building’s strong central core and provide stunning balcony views
for each wedge-shaped residential unit. The curvilinear reinforced concrete forms became a trademark of Goldberg’s style.
The SS Eastland was a passenger ship based in Chicago and used for tours. On July 24, 1915 the ship rolled over while
tied to a dock in the Chicago River.[1] A total of 844 passengers and crew were killed in what was to become the largest loss
of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.[1][2] Following the disaster, the Eastland was salvaged and sold to the
United States Navy. After restorations and modifications the Eastlandwas designated as a gunboat and renamed the
USS Wilmette. She was used primarily as a training vessel on the Great Lakes, and was scrapped following World War II.
On the fateful morning, passengers began boarding the Eastland on the south bank of the Chicago
River between Clark and LaSalle Streets around 6:30, and by 7:10 a.m., the ship had reached its capacity of 2,572
passengers. The ship was packed, with many passengers standing on the open upper decks, and began to list slightly to
the port side (away from the wharf). The crew attempted to stabilize the ship by admitting water to its ballast tanks, but to
little avail. Sometime in the next 15 minutes, a number of passengers rushed to the port side, and at 7:28,
the Eastland lurched sharply to port, and then rolled completely onto its side, coming to rest on the river bottom, which was
only 20 feet below the surface.
In 1915, the new federal Seamen's Act had been passed because of the RMS Titanic disasterthree years earlier. The law
required retrofitting of a complete set of lifeboats on the Eastland, as on many other passenger vessels.[7] This additional
weight, ironically, probably made the Eastlandmore dangerous as it worsened the already severe problem of being topheavy. Some argued that other Great Lakes ships would suffer from the same problem. [7] Nonetheless, it was signed into
law by President Woodrow Wilson. The Eastland was already so top-heavy that it had special restrictions concerning the
number of passengers that could be carried.
325 N Wells
Architect: L. Gustave Hallberg - 1912
Booth Hansen & Assocs. – 1984
300 N LaSalle
Architectural firm Pickard Chilton
Developed by Hines..
Completed: 2009
This 60-story building, has LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, which establishes the building as a
major sustainable design development.
Reid Murdoch & Co. Building
Also called Central Office Building..
Artchitect: George C. Nimmons
Completed: 1914..
Address: 321 N. LaSalle, Chicago IL..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: November 15, 1976..
It was built as a central food processing plant for Reid, Murdoch & Company. It was one of the first designs to respond to
the 1909 Plan for Chicago's goal for riverfront redevelopment. Docking facilities are recessed at the water level, while a
promenade extends at street level. The most distinguishing feature is the clock tower with four massive internally illuminated
translucent glass faces.
321 N Clark
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Completed: 1987
IBM building..
Architect: Mies Van der Rohe
Completed: 1971
Location: 330 N Wabash Avenue..
This is Mies’ last American building and his largest. Like most International style buildings, this skyscraper has a glass
curtain wall, with aluminum and bronze-tinted glass. But unlike many later curtain-wall skyscrapers with uniform facades,
IBM's facade is characterized by differentiating glass, spandrel and mullion - window frames are raised and spandrel panels
recessed. Now Langham Hotel.
The building's corporate namesake no longer owns nor has offices in the building. IBM sold Plaza IBM to the Blackstone
Group in 1996. IBM all but completed its move out of IBM Plaza as of early 2006, taking up space in the new Hyatt
Center building closer to Union Station. Current major tenants are the American Medical Association, Langham Chicago
managed by Langham Hotels International, and law firm Latham & Watkins. Former prime tenants IBM and Jenner &
Block moved to other locations in Chicago.
The former IBM Plaza has several design features that are rare in an office building but understandable given its original
owner. The building's electrical system, environmental system, floor strength, and ceiling height (on certain floors) can
support large "raised floor" computing centers. Also, the "banked" intelligent elevator system is a model of efficiency and
rarely keeps anyone waiting for service. IBM Plaza stayed dry during the 1992 Chicago Flood.
In 2007, plans were announced to convert floors two through thirteen of the fifty-two story building into a high-end hotel.
The Langham, Chicago which opened in 2013, occupying floors two through thirteen. The building was declared aChicago
Landmark on February 6, 2008 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 2010. It is also the
newest building in Chicago in terms of age on both lists.
On December 9, 2011, the American Medical
Association announced it would move its headquarters and entire workforce to 330 N. Wabash from its previous
headquarters on State Street. The move occurred in September 2013 and the building was renamed AMA Plaza.[3]
http://www.architecture.org/architecture-chicago/buildings-of-chicago/building/merchandise-mart/
Size has always mattered in the Midwest. From the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas, to the World’s
Largest Catsup Bottle in Collinsville, Illinois, the pursuit of bigger and better is evident in the region’s landscape. The
Merchandise Mart, situated on the Chicago River, occupies over 4 million square feet (approximately 372,000 square
meters) or the equivalent of 2 1/2 city blocks. Upon its completion in 1930 it was the largest building in the world and served
as Marshall Field’s wholesale warehouse where retailers could buy stock.
ANOTHER CHICAGO EXAMPLE OF ART DECO
DID YO U KNOW
It was one of the first buildings in the city to be built over railway air rights.
Designed by Alfred P. Shaw for the architecture firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, the Merchandise Mart is one of
Chicago’s many Art Deco buildings that reflects the optimism of the 1920s. The steel-framed structure is clad
inlimestone, terra cotta and bronze and its ornamentation displays many of the style’s popular motifs. The recessed vertical
windows with dark spandrels emphasize the building’s verticality and balance out its horizontal mass. Rows of decorative
chevrons (zigzags) and diagonal towers at each corner of the building are common motifs used during the Art Deco era.
The Merchandise Mart began as a wholesale warehouse store for Marshall Field that included rental space for other
wholesalers. The idea was to unite sales of furniture, fabric and other decorative materials under one roof. However, it
wasn’t the financial success investors expected. The Great Depression forced Field & Company out of the wholesale market.
In 1945 the building was sold to a group headed by Joseph P. Kennedy for about a third of its original cost.
The Kennedy family held onto the property for over three decades and sold the building in 1998 to its current owners,
Vornado Realty Trust. In the last ten years the building has undergone retrofits to implement energy efficiency measures
and integrate real time data into its operations. It’s still a designer showcase venue today. More than one quarter of the
building is leased by tech companies including tech startup incubator 1871, and Motorola Mobility.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulton_House_(Chicago)
Fulton House is a former cold storage warehouse converted into a residential building at Wolf Point, Chicago.
Fulton House was built in 1898 by Frank B. Abbott as a 15-story warehouse structure. In 1908, the building was converted
to a cold storage warehouse with an addition of a section to the north and a 16th floor. The split of the original south section
and newer north section can be seen from the outside by a large crack on the exterior wall as well as a few details on the
facade. The building's fame came from the conversion as a residential building by Harry Weese from 1979 to 1981. The
16 story building now contains 106 residential condo/lofts located at 345 North Canal Street. Once in a run down
neighborhood, the area is now under renewal and revival.
Wolf Point South Tower is the tallest of three planned buildings to be developed in the Near North Side community area on
the Wolf Point property at a fork in the Chicago River in downtown Chicago. The building is planned to be 950 feet (289.56 m)
tall.[1] On January 26, 2012, the Chicago Sun-Times broke the story that the Kennedy family was planning a three-tower
development at Wolf Point.[2][3] On May 8, 2012, Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly announced that a three-tower proposal
for Wolf Point had been made including buildings of approximately 900 feet (274.32 m), 750 feet (228.60 m) and 525 feet
(160.02 m) and that plans would be made public on May 29. The South Tower would be the tallest of these buildings. [4][5] The
property upon which the development was planned is historic and drew scrutiny by critics. [6] Plans for the tower development
were presented as scheduled by the Kennedy family on land that they own in the River North neighborhood at the confluence
of South, North, and Main Branches of the Chicago River southwest of the Merchandise Mart complex.[7][8][9] As plans for
the Kennedy proposal were developing on the north bank of Wolf Point, a plan for a 45- to 50-story office building on the
west bank called River Point were progressing according to Robert Sharoff of The New York Times.[10]Chicago
Tribune Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin felt that the initial plans presented by Christopher G.
Kennedy needed some work.[11]
On October 30, 2012, a revised plan was presented that included more open space. In November the responses to the
revisions were negative, and Reilly withdrew the proposal on November 27. The Chicago Plan Commission approved the
plans for the entire three-tower development that included 1,410 residential units, 450 hotel rooms and 1,285 parking stalls
on January 24, 2013. In May 2013, opponents of the planned development filed suit in United States Federal Court.[18] On
November 19, 2013, U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve ruled that the valuable and iconic views of downtown are not
something that can be constitutionally protected saying "Illinois courts do not recognize property values, air, or light as
constitutionally protected property interests."[19] The Wolf Point Towers broke ground in March 2014.[20] Neighboring Wolf
Point West Tower had its groundbreaking ceremony on July 18, 2014.[21] In July 2015, a rumor emerged that the tower
might exceed 1,000 feet (304.80 m).[22]