The Gateway Tower is a conceptual proposal to illustrate a potential use of the abandoned site once planned to house the

Chicago Spire The Chicago Spire was a skyscraper project in Chicago that was partially built between 2007 and 2008 before being cancelled. Located at 400 N. Lake Shore Drive, it would have stood high with 150 floors and been the tallest building in the Weste ...

in the

Streeterville Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River. It is bounded by the river on the south, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the west, and ...

neighborhood of the Near North Side of Chicago.

Details

The plan calls for a building tall and feature commercial elements that augment residential use. It was the result of a company-wide internal competition at

Gensler Gensler is a global design and architecture firm founded in San Francisco, California, in 1965. In 2021, Gensler generated $1.235 billion in revenue, the most of any architecture firm in the U.S. As of 2021, Gensler operated offices in 49 citi ...

to replace the Chicago Spire. , the building is conceptual, and ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...

'' writer, Scott Tharler, considered the project unlikely. The building would include condos, apartments, a hotel, a Skylobby, a Skydeck with a restaurant, an amusement ride and sky-garden. The base of the building would be in a public park and its supports would span over

Lake Shore Drive Lake Shore Drive (officially Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable Lake Shore Drive, and called DuSable Lake Shore Drive, The Outer Drive, The Drive, or LSD) is a multilevel expressway that runs alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan, and adjacent to ...

as well as provide access to the skydeck.

Property background

The

, originally called the Fordham Spire, was originally proposed in July 2005. In March 2006, the initial design of the building was approved by the

Chicago Plan Commission The Chicago Plan Commission is a commission implemented to promote the ''Plan of Chicago,'' often called the Burnham Plan. After official presentation of the Plan to the city on July 6, 1909, the City Council of Chicago authorized Mayor Fred A. Bu ...

, the city's Zoning Committee and the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

. In December 2006 and March 2007, the design of the building was revised. The Chicago Plan Commission, Chicago's zoning committee and the Chicago City Council approved the final plans of the Chicago Spire in April and May 2007. By October 2008, the

late-2000s recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At t ...

led to the suspension of construction and a $11.34 million (

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

)

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

on the construction site. On October 31, 2014 the project's biggest creditor, Related Midwest, compelled the developer, Shelbourne Development Group, to surrender the deed to the property after failing to make the necessary payment. The pre-development of the Chicago Spire left a wide, deep hole in the ground which has since been developed over with the 400 Lake Shore Drive towers.

Notes

{{Supertall proposed skyscrapers , state=collapsed Proposed buildings and structures in Illinois Proposed skyscrapers in the United States Residential skyscrapers in Chicago Skyscraper hotels in Chicago Residential condominiums in Chicago