New Mixed-use Skyscraper Could Replace Failed Chicago Spire

New mixed-use skyscraper featuring X-bracing like the John Hancock Center could fill the hole left when construction on the Chicago Spire building stopped in 2008

Jun 8, 2016

The proposed Gateway Tower would be 2,000 feet tall and feature a supporting brace extending out from the lower portion of the building towards Lake Michigan. The structure will also feature the exterior X-bracing like the John Hancock Center has.

A new 2,000-foot-tall building is being planned to fill the hole left by the failed Chicago Spire building. Global firm Gensler has proposed an alternative skyscraper concept in place of the planned spiraling condominium tower that halted construction after just one year.

Construction of the original Spire building started in 2007 but stopped the following year due to the financial crisis and left a 110-foot-diamter hole at the site.

Gensler's proposed new mixed-use skyscraper, named the Gateway Tower. It will be the same height as the Spire but is designed as a thin, rectilinear tower that bends slightly near the ground and features a large support brace splaying outward from the building's lower portion. The exterior of the glass skyscraper is planned to feature the X-bracing like the John Hancock Center.

The plan for the Gateway Tower is still in the conceptual stage.

(more on the proposed Gateway Tower in Chicago...)