CHICAGO | Waterview Tower | 1,047' Official / 1,035' Roof | 89 FLOORS |NEVER BUILT

[Lecom]

There is no way they would abandon the project, not with all the money, time, resources and committment they already put into it. I bet it would be much less of a financial loss for them to search for financing for as long as a full year rather than abandoning a project altogether. In a worst case scenario they'd just probably sell the project to another company or have the city step in and assist/take care of the stalled concrete hunk.

[Steely Dan]

^ lecom, i would agree that the prospects for this tower to remain as an unused concrete hulk for years/decades to come are probably not great, but the mere fact that teng has sunk a lot of their own money into the project is certainly NOT a guarantee that the building will be finished as originally intended. perhaps an outside party will swoop down and buy the remains cheaply and finish only the hotel part of the building, chopping off the soaring condo tower portion. i know it's not what people on this forum would like to hear, but it's not out of the question that is one possible scenario that could happen.

[Alliance]

This project continues to be an embarassment...I hope for a quick resolution.

[SolarWind]

June 30, 2008


July 2, 2008

[M II A II R II K]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

perhaps an outside party will swoop down and buy the remains cheaply and finish only the hotel part of the building, chopping off the soaring condo tower portion.

What about the reverse, salvaging it as a condo instead? Or is the bottom part specifically designed to accomodate a hotel only...

Then there's the angle of whether Trump would jump in and finish the whole thing.

[Chicagoguy]

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K

What about the reverse, salvaging it as a condo instead? Or is the bottom part specifically designed to accomodate a hotel only...

Then there's the angle of whether Trump would jump in and finish the whole thing.

I dont know if I could see the Donald taking over this one...although I do think it would be a great location and a beautiful tower to be called Trump! I think if sales with his nearly completed tower were better he would look into doing another Trump Tower in Chicago...but alas I dont think the numbers are quite there yet. As for the tower itself, it has been one of my favorites going up and I will be extremely disappointed if it doesnt get completed to its original renderings. It will be a great loss but as far as I have heard...this is truly just a speed bump for them and they arent planning on cancelling this project anytime soon!

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Alliance

This project continues to be an embarassment...I hope for a quick resolution.

Whay exactly is embarassing?

[BVictor1]

I went to the sales center yesterday.

I am still extremely optimistic.

[Chicago3rd]

With 300 N LaSalle and 155 N Wacker going up and plans for 444 do you think Teng is hitting themselves in the head for trashing the office component so early on?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by BVictor1

I went to the sales center yesterday.

I am still extremely optimistic.

^ Are you bound to secrecy or are you able to disclose why?

[Chicago3rd]

^^As board tradition we as a courtesy don't ask BVictor1 those kinds of questions. BVictor1 has earned that sort of respect over the years from those of us on the forum.

Chances are he can't. He doesn't play games. He gives us information as soon as he can when he gets it and keeps us very very well informed about the projects he keeps his eye on.

[cbotnyse]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ Are you bound to secrecy or are you able to disclose why?

chances are some very enthusiastic sales person, who is desperate not to lose his job, told him every positive spin he could think of. I'm sure if everything was so optimistic the deal would have closed in June, on time.

I will not be "extremely optimistic" until the money is in place and concrete starts to pour again. Until then, I won't get my hopes up with a dead credit market and the highest energy prices in history.

[chi-arch]

I think Chicago enthusiasts are good

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

With 300 N LaSalle and 155 N Wacker going up and plans for 444 do you think Teng is hitting themselves in the head for trashing the office component so early on?

No, because the office floor plates would be extremely small and during the time of the original proposal, the office market was total shit.

07/02/08

[chas]

I still hear at the sales office that things will get underway by the end of summer, but that is accompanied with a frank avowal that there is no news from Teng about what is happening with the financing. Given that BCEG made the announcement of their agreement to finance the project, I assume they are serious, but HIMECHME seems to have insider information regarding negotiations of the loan that indicate BCEG's intention is one thing and achieving the finalizaion of the loan is another thing altogether. And Teng continue to look elsewhere I am told. Although there are still enquiries from buyers, there is an air of desolation and frustration at the sales center that is not encouraging at this point and I am sure that if this keeps up much longer, people will give up on it and pull out. We want to move in! Recent activity at the site seems merely to have been the removal of forms, probably for a more active site elsewhere.

[JMO_0121]

I am really worried now. Seems like many projects in Chicago either wont get up or paused for some time. This one should have already been up and running. This buidings would have or WILL BE, (im confident) a great addition to Chicago. Chicago WILL have an organised layout of supertalls, One on the norther part of the skyline, Four along or close to the river, and one to the south. Im just going to keep confident, and i would like to think this building will get up and going by the end of summer. But the economy is not getting any better, so who knows, we just have to keep on being positive.

[sfcity1]

The sales office says 68% of the building is sold and assures that the building is going to be built. How can lenders hesitate on providing money to a building that is 68% sold?

[chi-arch]

^It may be a case of the pre sales occuring long enough ago now that buyers have acquired an innordinate amount of the equity in Waterview Tower once the current construction capital amount is factored into the equation. A project that stalls in start-up as it is being sold and then stalls during construction will suffer a two-fold hit to the original developer as the units sold 4 years ago are more expensive to construct under today's dollar. That plus the carrying costs over this extended period of time make for thin margins. Essentially, the project has stopped at/near the transition from hotel(investment) to Condo(owner). Completion of the condominium tower must bring a profit to the developer when the units are closed on, otherwise there is no incentive to complete the tower. I think the city needs to poke there collective heads into the project and find out just what is really going on as the project continues to teeter on this precipice. The frustration coming from the sales office is not a good sign. My opinion only.

[brian_b]

It probably doesn't mean much, but there was a survey team working across the street from Waterview yesterday. I believe the vests said something like "RBK Engineering". It sure looked like the equipment was pointed at Waterview.

[dagobert]

I have been holding out with writing about this for over three weeks now, not wanting to fan the rumor mill into the stratosphere. Given the fact that we are well into July, I feel that I will not be divulging any secrets, as it is abundantly clear, even to the biggest optimist out there, that the financing for this tower has essentially fallen through and in the words of the person I heard about it “[Waterview] tower as we know it is toast.” I know that BVic wrote on SSC forum that he heard the contract has been signed. It is not my intent to discredit BVic’s information, but if this was true Teng would be tooting their horn into the heavens as loud as they could to announce the signing of the financing deal. As a disclaimer I would like to state that I don't work in the construction business and I have no connections in the construction industry. My "insider" information comes from a discreet & private conversation I happened to overhear as I was waiting for a colleague of mine to arrive for a very early lunch (one could say a very late breakfast) at a clubby eatery (that shall remain unnamed for obvious reasons). Given that it was very quiet at the time at this usually tranquil establishment anyway, my ears perked up when I heard the word Waterview (it is not in my habit to eavesdrop on other peoples’ conversation as that I have better & more productive things to do with my time) and I began to listen in on the hush conversation. At that point three weeks ago, the bank had just pulled out of the agreement or was about to do so. The news was coming from the person who I gathered knew about it because that person’s “significant other” was intimately involved in the project. That person stated “Waterview as we know it is toast” and “they are now looking how they can proceed with what they already have and that no options are off the table”.

I wish I could provide more details, but as Hawkeye’s latest pictures attest there are a lot more people than some might suspect who read this forum (or are given updates on what has been written).

Again, I hope that some miracle has happened over the last three weeks and Teng did receive the loan, as that I would like to see this tower built in the way it was proposed, but I have serious doubts about the chances of this happening. And for all the optimists out there, just keep praying for a miracle on this one.

Edit: Take this information whatever way you want it. This of course doesn't mean the project will not resume sometime in the future, but most likely not in the form we expect or admire.