CHICAGO ALDERMAN REJECTS TWO-TOWER PLAN FOR SPIRE SITE

Related Midwest's plan to build 1,100- and 850-ft.-tall towers designed by One World Trade Center architect David Childs with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on the former Chicago Spire site at 400 North Lake Shore Drive in Chicago’s Streeterville neighborhood has been rejected by 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly, The Architect’s Newspaper reports. The stepped, tapering towers would have included 850 residential units and 175 hotel rooms atop a four-story podium overlooking Lake Michigan. Reilly says the developer failed to address residents’ concerns including eliminating the hotel component, reducing the size of the podium, redesigning the traffic system and creating a security plan. The proposal, in close proximity to midrise residential structures, requires a zoning change and alderman approval before it can move forward.