Start 3: Trump International Hotel & Tower
Cost: $750 million

The Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago will stretch to an elevation of 1,360 ft. and be the second tallest building in the city after the 1,450-ft.-tall Sears Tower.

"At one time, there was discussion to add a spire to make it (the Trump) the tallest building in Chicago," said Paul James, senior vice president in Chicago with New York-based Bovis Lend Lease Inc., the general contractor. "But the spire would have been disproportionately tall."

The finalized plan calls for a 235-ft.-high spire whose proportions make it suitable for the 92-story building. In general, construction professionals accept the definition of the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat that includes a spire length in assessing a building's overall height.

When complete, Trump will probably be the 12th tallest building in the world, assuming each announced project taller than it is constructed according to plan.

Ironically, Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLC, the architect of the Trump, also designed the Burj Dubai tower under construction but not topped out in the United Arab Emirates. Burj will probably the tallest in the world even though its height remains secret.

What a Project

The Trump as itself represents a major construction challenge because of its sheer size.

It will encompass 2.6 million sq. ft. and hold 472 condominium units, 286 hotel-condominium units, about 1,000 parking spaces and retail, James said.

Amenities will include an 87,000-sq.-ft. health club on the 14th floor, and two amenity floors in the hotel-condominium, which will be located on floors 16 through 27.

The hotel-condominium unit owners will make up the ownership of that portion of the project, and the New York-based Trump Organization, the overall developer, will manage the hotel for a fee. The unit owners can elect to occupy their units but then diminish the ownership's profit potential.

With the exception of the mechanical space on level 50, the condominiums will be on floors 29 through 89, James said.

Concrete is the main structural support, and curtain wall will dress the building.

A substantial amount of sitework has gone into the project, starting with the demolition of the Chicago Sun-Times building. Only rock caissons are being installed because of the building's immense load.

The 1920-era Upper Wabash Avenue viaduct, which had reached the end of its design life, was rebuilt as part of the project.

"The first issue was to get the viaduct rebuilt so we could open traffic there again and maintain access for our sitework," James said.

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