Trump International Hotel & Tower, which will achieve a total height of 1,362 feet, currently stands at more than 500 feet. The Waterview Tower has just emerged from the ground on the corner of Wacker Drive and Clark Street and will reach 1,047 feet when completed, while the Spire on Lake Shore Drive will be the nation’s tallest building at 2,000 feet. The Spire currently is only a hole in the ground, but contractors will soon pound steel and concrete caissons 120 feet into the bedrock below.
Each tower will use a core and outrigger system that allows a tower to place more usable square footage at the exterior of the building, allowing more natural light and larger surrounding views. Concrete “arms” will extend away from the building’s core and attach to high-strength structural columns at or near the perimeter. The enormous weight of the concrete core and super columns reduces the wind-caused oscillation.
Completion dates for the superstructures are: Trump in 2009, Waterview in late 2009 or early 2010 and the Spire in late 2010.