Tall Tower

UPDATE 12.03.06:

Although the first proposed site for this tower apparently was nixed in March, Beitler is now reported to have procured a 99-year ground lease for a prime vacant lot at Illinois Street and Columbus Drive from Sunbelt Development. Sunbelt once planned a 43-story office tower for the site but never followed through. Beitler has told reporters he already has deals with broadcasters and plans to re-propose the building early in 2007. 

Chicago Tribune referring to tower as "Tall Tower," as neither developer has yet declared an official name. Chicagoans have nicknamed it "The Tweezer" owing to the shape of its three antenna prongs, and as a complement to their lovingly nicknamed "Drill Bit" -- Santiago Calatrava's proposed tower of the same height exactly three blocks south.

Proposal has caused skeptical murmuring among local real estate insiders; while a joint announcement of a monumental project by the city's two biggest developers got the public's attention, murky details left many questions. Developers will not release further information or images, claiming they are under contractual confidentiality obligations to their TV broadcast partners. Some industry observers believe the tower proposal is a feint by local broadcasters to force operators of the Sears and John Hancock antennas to lower rents, using the threat of constructing their own independent broadcast beacon.

If completed, spire would not be considered actual "building" but rather a "tall structure," in the vein of Toronto's CN Tower (whose height crown it would steal), and would not be eligible for skyscraper height rankings. Restaurants and observation deck planned for top level.

UPDATE 3.24.06:

In mid-March 2006, the Chicago real estate media began reporting that the project apparently is on hold, perhaps even cancelled. LR Development, which allowed Beitler to propose the tower on its Streeterville parcel, has resumed plans for for a standard 58-story residential tower on the site. In addition, some of the broadcasters who originally were to have partnered to operate the antenna beacon are now said to be looking at the antenna atop the planned Fordham Spire.