FANCY living it up? As in at around 2,000 feet high, where you can look down on helicopters and see the earth curving? Well, for about $40 million, you can, right at the top. The world’s tallest residential building project is unusual in more ways than one. The building, which will the be tallest in the western hemisphere and second tallest in the world, is unlike most other such structures, which are a mix of residential and commercial, purely residential. It’s being developed by an Irish entrepreneur, designed by iconic Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and is hoping to sell its 1,193 units to buyers across the world, including in India. And it’s an icon for Chicagoans, where architecture ranks as a local obsession. Chicago natives are as proud of their skyline as they are about their famed friendliness, eating out, and shopping. The Chicago Spire will tower to 150 storeys, almost twice the height of the Sears Towers, way higher than the new Freedom Towers or the CN Tower in Ontario, Canada, currently the highest. Definitely higher than it’s neighbour and rival, the Trump Towers. Ask Garrett Kelleher, chairman of the Dublin-based Shelbourne Developers why he’s not aiming for the world record, which the still-rising Burj Dubai is determined to achieve, and he says it isn’t about ego, it’s about a marketable commercial project. “Don’t you think it’s tall enough? A lot of people have told me to put an antenna on top, but I don’t want to do that,” he told ET. As it is, the building will notch up quite a few world records — the longest elevator run at 1,864 feet, deepest underground parking — and so on. The building’s corkscrew design, where every floor turns at 2.4 degrees to the pinnacle, is inspired by nature like Calatrava’s other works. If it’s not to be just an architectural marvel, but a commercially viable project, we come to the bill while there are no official figures, one estimate puts the cost of the building at $1.5 billion. Ranging from about 500 to 10,000 square feet, the cost of the apartments will be from $7,50,000 to $40 million. Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Fancy living it up? How about at 2,000 ft?
FANCY living it up? As in at around 2,000 feet high, where you can look down on helicopters and see the earth curving? Well, for about $40 million, you can, right at the top. The world’s tallest residential building project is unusual in more ways than one. The building, which will the be tallest in the western hemisphere and second tallest in the world, is unlike most other such structures, which are a mix of residential and commercial, purely residential. It’s being developed by an Irish entrepreneur, designed by iconic Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and is hoping to sell its 1,193 units to buyers across the world, including in India. And it’s an icon for Chicagoans, where architecture ranks as a local obsession. Chicago natives are as proud of their skyline as they are about their famed friendliness, eating out, and shopping. The Chicago Spire will tower to 150 storeys, almost twice the height of the Sears Towers, way higher than the new Freedom Towers or the CN Tower in Ontario, Canada, currently the highest. Definitely higher than it’s neighbour and rival, the Trump Towers. Ask Garrett Kelleher, chairman of the Dublin-based Shelbourne Developers why he’s not aiming for the world record, which the still-rising Burj Dubai is determined to achieve, and he says it isn’t about ego, it’s about a marketable commercial project. “Don’t you think it’s tall enough? A lot of people have told me to put an antenna on top, but I don’t want to do that,” he told ET. As it is, the building will notch up quite a few world records — the longest elevator run at 1,864 feet, deepest underground parking — and so on. The building’s corkscrew design, where every floor turns at 2.4 degrees to the pinnacle, is inspired by nature like Calatrava’s other works. If it’s not to be just an architectural marvel, but a commercially viable project, we come to the bill while there are no official figures, one estimate puts the cost of the building at $1.5 billion. Ranging from about 500 to 10,000 square feet, the cost of the apartments will be from $7,50,000 to $40 million. 
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