The Spire Rises From The Ashes

The building site is a hole in the ground and the property was taken back by the bank owed the money used to buy the parcel. The starchitect has sued for payment for his work in creating the plans for a spiraling tower.

Garrett Kelleher believes in himself. He believes he can resurrect The Spire from the ashes like a phoenix, breathe life into a default and put Chicago back on the map of ground-breaking architectural design.

How, you might ask, could a developer who went broke in the real estate crash find the financing to try this whole thing again?

There are rumours floating around banking circles that Mr. Kelleher would like to buy up his debt from the Irish governmental agency that acquired it after the banks went under, crushed by mortgage debt that had no chance of being repaid.

The National Asset Management Agency is looking for buyers of all the debt it currently owns, and has taken bids for the Chicago site. If, by some miracle, he has financing to back him, Mr. Kelleher has every right to place a bid and possibly regain what he lost, at a discount.

Whoever buys up the mortgage may or may not seek to construct the spiraling tower for which the above pictured hole was created. Originally envisioned as the tallest building on the planet (more or less), the developer who takes over the project might choose to scale down the building to something more affordable. The real estate market is still weak, and there is a glut of condominiums and office space available and unoccupied.

In any case, the city of Chicago will want to take another look at the revised plans. There is a new mayor in town these days, one more interested in bringing the arts and culture to the City of the Big Shoulders. Something unique, like a giant drill bit embedded in the bedrock, might have an easier journey through the planning process than an ordinary slab of glass and concrete.

Could it be possible that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pushing for Garrett Kelleher's bid to be accepted? Maybe he's sending word to NAMA over in Dublin, that a new developer might not find the planning process quite as, shall we say, amenable to a different design. Campaign contributions, however, are always welcome and may sway the Mayor's heart.