Trump International Hotel and Tower - Chicago - by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

**Chicagoan** · September 24th, 2003, 08:03 PM

Trump's power play

September 24, 2003

BY DAVID ROEDER Business Reporter Advertisement

Donald Trump, master of real estate showmanship, plied his art in Chicago on Tuesday.

He and an entourage flew into town, served comments to the media and wine to some 500 guests in the posh confines of the Peninsula Hotel, all to announce that what was inexorably coming is here: the start of condominium sales for his 90-story tower on the site of the Sun-Times building, 401 N. Wabash.

He's going to take down the old building on the river, home of the Sun-Times since 1958, and replace it with what he said would be the largest building constructed in North America since the Sears Tower in 1974.

At 2.4 million square feet, it is Trump in its elegance, scale and audacity. While paying homage to Chicago's architectural tradition, he wants to embellish it. He didn't need a PowerPoint presentation, just a 7-foot-tall model (the architectural kind) to announce his intentions.

"With all due respect to New York,'' the New Yorker said, "Chicago has got the great architecture.'' His Trump Tower Chicago, he said, "will be a very, very special building and we have spared no expense'' in the design. He added: "We're looking to make a statement that's top-of-the-line.''

A condo prototype that hints at the city and river views is open on the top floor of the Sun-Times building.

He promised not to scale back on materials if the profit margins get tight, pointing to the fits and finishes of projects that have redefined high-end construction in Manhattan, such as his Trump Tower and his Trump International Hotel & Tower. For Chicago, he hired Adrian Smith of the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, who designed a curtain wall of stainless steel and glass, with gentle curves and strategic setbacks.

"We strive to have a building that both fits in and stands out,'' Smith said.

Speaking to an audience of brokers, Trump elicited gasps when he said he's been able to drive Manhattan residential prices to as high as $5,000 a square foot. In Chicago, the most expensive condos go for about $800 a square foot, a price level Trump is testing.

Ultimately, he hopes to push that to more than $1,000 a square foot. He talked of higher prices a couple years ago, but is now bowing to the reality of Chicago prices without acknowledging disappointment.

Lower land prices here make the venture still workable, and Chicago's high-rise builders know how to meet a budget, Trump said. "I think this building will create a whole new set of numbers [for the market] because it's going to be so good,'' he said.

Around Chicago real estate, there are plenty of doubters that Trump can pull it off. He has to sell 326 condos plus 174 units that'll be part of a Trump International Hotel here. There's some 351,000 square feet of office space in the package, too.

The Chicago condo market is steady but not robust, while office leasing remains in a slump. To questions prefaced by those observations, Trump bore down on the bravado.

He said he expects to begin demolishing the seven-story Sun-Times building in summer 2004 and to deliver condo units sometime in 2007. "We're talking a lot of years away yet,'' he said. "Markets will change three or four times by then.''

Trump insisted interest from buyers and tenants is extremely strong. He wouldn't specify sales or leasing thresholds required for financing, but said he expects little trouble clearing them. "We're going to do a lot of pre-sales'' of units before construction begins, he said.

"Every major financial institution wants to get involved in this deal.''

Trump is known to be talking with the law firm Jenner & Block, currently in the IBM Building at 330 N. Wabash, as a potential lead tenant. And the Sun-Times could move back to the site, which Trump owns in a joint venture with the paper's owner, Hollinger International Inc.

Talks with the Sun-Times continue, and the paper's publisher, F. David Radler, said he's looking at other space to either lease or buy in the River North area. Radler said the paper's space requirements range from 70,000 to 120,000 square feet.

Trump said he'd like to have a paper as a tenant, but joked about Radler when first asked about it. "I deal too much with David, and he doesn't want to pay the rent,'' Trump said.

**Chicagoan** · September 24th, 2003, 08:03 PM

TRUMP TOWER CHICAGO

The numbers
Projected delivery: 2007
Area: 2.4 million square feet
Height: 1,125 feet with 90 stories
Residences: 326 super-luxury condominiums, including five penthouses
Trump International Hotel: 174 condominium guest rooms and suites
Initial prices: $470,000 to $1.8 million for residences, $3.6 million to $8.7 million for penthouses, $425,000 to $932,000 for hotel rooms
Health Club and Spa: 60,000 square feet
Offices: 351,000 square feet
Parking: 1,150 indoor spaces with deeded residences-only section
Retail: 60,000 square feet of boutique shopping and fine dining
Riverfront park: 1.2 acres with 500 lineal feet along Chicago River

the players
Owners: Donald Trump and Hollinger International Inc.
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Construction manager: Bovis Lend Lease Inc.
Residential marketing agent: Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate
Commercial marketing agent: U.S. Equities Realty LLC

**TLOZ Link5** · September 24th, 2003, 08:49 PM

Sounds like the project has been altered. There was no hotel in the initial proposal, and "only" 86 floors.

**Kris** · September 25th, 2003, 02:15 AM

ChicagoBusiness.com

Trump tower beckons the well-heeled

By Alby Gallun
September 24, 2003

Artist's rendering of the proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower

Donald J. Trump jetted into Chicago Tuesday to crank up the marketing machine for his planned trophy tower along the Chicago River.

At a news conference announcing the opening of a sales center for the high-rise, the celebrity developer and his associates disclosed that the 2.4-million square-foot tower planned for the site of the Chicago Sun-Times is expected to cost $550 million to $650 million. Its 90 stories include four more than were outlined under the most recent plan.

Mr. Trump said he aims to begin razing the Sun-Times building, at 401 N. Wabash Ave., next summer and expects the new 90-story mixed-use building to open by 2007, an ambitious schedule given current market conditions.

“I really think we have the best site in Chicago,” Mr. Trump said.

Although the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks forced Mr. Trump to scrap plans to construct the world’s tallest building on the site, he said his new tower will still be the largest building erected in North America since completion of the Sears Tower in 1974.

The proposed Trump International Hotel & Tower, designed by Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, will have 60,000 square feet of retail space and 351,500 square feet of office space—an amount Trump scaled back amid the weak leasing market. It also calls for 326 condominium units and 174 hotel units. The hotel units will be sold off individually, like condos.

Market challenges

Yet the developer faces some significant hurdles, including lining up tenants for the office portion of the building. Mr. Trump claimed interest in the space is high, noting that the development group—which includes Sun-Timesparent Hollinger International Inc.—will announce some office tenants in the next quarter.

Koenig & Strey GMAC Real Estate, the brokerage firm hired to sell the condo and hotel units, also must contend with a downtown condo market that many believe is overbuilt. Mr. Trump brushed off those concerns, saying the tower’s sales staff has plenty of time to sell the units.

“We’re talking about years away, really,” he said. “The markets will change three or four times before (2007).”

Interest in the units is there, he said, noting the sales center has already booked 97 appointments. The center, which reflects a model condo unit, now sits atop the Sun-Times building, next to a large banner with the development's phone number.

Another hurdle—securing a construction loan—won’t be a problem either, according to Mr. Trump. “Everybody wants to finance this gem,” he said. “That’s probably the easiest part.”

Wooing the well-heeled

Mr. Trump is aiming for the high end of the market, with one-bedroom units starting at $470,000 and half-floor penthouses on the 86th and 87th floors starting at $3.6 million. A full-floor penthouse on the 88th floor lists for $8.7 million.

The units feature expensive finishes, such as Sub Zero refrigerators and Italian wood cabinetry.

“We have spared no expense,” Mr. Trump said.

**Fabb** · September 25th, 2003, 05:01 AM

The hotel units will be sold off individually, like condos.

I don't get that.
What kind of a hotel is that ?

**SUPREMO** · September 25th, 2003, 06:49 AM

It looks like a contemporary version of the Sears Tower but the archetecture doesn't fascinate me! I would rather see the Sky Needle than this! If not, build the Sky Needle in NY!

By the way, any Simcity 4 players in here?

**NoyokA** · September 25th, 2003, 03:09 PM

I don't get that.
What kind of a hotel is that ?

Its a timeshare property, and its probably the first of its kind in Chicago.

**TLOZ Link5** · September 25th, 2003, 04:04 PM

Or a residential hotel, like the Ritz Tower. I'm guessing that the hotel rooms wouldn't have amenities like a full kitchen or laundry machines, unlike the condos.

**Chicagoan** · September 25th, 2003, 04:43 PM

Yeah you're right. It basically means that the units will not have full kitchens and will not be for long-term stays.

It is interesting that Trump is doing the same thing in Toronto for his project there.

Some of the lower units in TIHT at 1 Central Park West are similar. The best thing about it is that you get to enjoy all the services of a hotel.

NEAT!

**Freedom Tower** · September 25th, 2003, 06:07 PM

I think it'll be great for Chicago to have a new thousand footer. Especially its first thousand footer that has an all glass facade. The Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, and Aon Tower are all nice thousand footers, but this will be a much more modern looking thousand footer. And 90 stories!! I can't wait. It's going to be great, maybe they can put one in NYC. Hehe.

**TLOZ Link5** · September 25th, 2003, 06:45 PM

Though I'd balk if a development like that in New York had Trump's name on it.

**Freedom Tower** · September 25th, 2003, 10:22 PM

Why? You don't trust him after his last NY project? It wasn't his fault, it was the NIMBYS.

**TLOZ Link5** · September 26th, 2003, 02:03 AM

Welllll...if something like that were built at Trump Place as opposed to the current, mediocre development...then definitely. Otherwise, I wouldn't want one anywhere else in the City.

$^&# those NIMBYs.