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

Jaroslaw · #**1761** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 5:11 AM**

Amazing denouement. China! What a clicking sound I heard in my mind when I read that.

Ch.G, Ch.G · #**1762** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 6:05 AM**

And the Van Hoffman Award goes too... TWRWatcher!

andydie · #**1763** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 11:23 AM**

glad to see it confirmed. as my update video got a bit lost amongst all the latest posts heres the link once again:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=kKLAt9iip_s

Shows construction till 4/12 2008. Enjoy.

BVictor1 · #**1764** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 12:26 PM**

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,2479984.story

Waterview Tower & Shangri-La Hotel obtains $300 million in construction financing

By Susan Diesenhouse | Tribune staff reporter
4:32 PM CDT, April 15, 2008

Waterview Tower & Shangri-La Hotel, currently under construction along the Chicago River at the corner of West Wacker Drive and Clark Street, has secured $300 million in construction financing to complete the project, according to an announcement on Tuesday.

The loan was arranged by the Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co., which is based in Beijing with its U.S. headquarters in Dallas. The lender is the Export Import Bank of China, said Joe Schuelke, chief operating officer for BCEG-USA, which issued the announcement.

He declined to state if BCEG has a stake in the loan or if it has obtained an equity share of the project.

BCEG generates about $1.3 billion a year in revenue from construction, engineering and design related activities around the world and has about 44,000 employees.

"BCEG is a huge company that has a strategic plan to enter the U.S. market and they want to be part of this iconic project," said Ivan Dvorak, general manager for Teng & Associates Inc., the Chicago-based developer. "They will be part of our team involved in construction."

Once completed in 2010, the luxury 90-story Waterview Tower will have 243 residential condominiums. It will also have 223 hotel condominium units, Dvorak said.

sdiesenhouse@tribune.com

CenIL_LA · #**1765** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 1:28 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjk1103

....what failed projects ? .....there are only some projects that never got started, which is just the marketplace at work ! once they have started they almost always get completed ......can you think of anything (significant) that hasn't gone to completion ?

oh sorry, youre taking my words too literally, I didnt think of explaining in greater detail. When I say failed projects I am not just speaking ones that have put concrete to soil, I am speaking of ones that never got off the ground either but had construction documents behind them. Many of these had a serious development team but never had trouble getting started or taken such a risky path to make it happen, as has Waterview. They just didnt get built. Having started construction without full financing is even riskier.
Any project not built has left a bad taste in our mouth. Whether they were able to start construction is irrelevant in that matter, but the fact that this one hit road bumps and still managed to get what was needed is really quite rare.

chi-arch · #**1766** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 1:49 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CenIL_LA

but the fact that this one hit road bumps and still managed to get what was needed is really quite rare.

Disney's 4 pillars at work. DREAM.BELIEVE.DARE.DO

BVictor1 · #**1767** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:04 PM**

Something one of my media connections sent me:

Rocket1 · #**1768** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:16 PM**

^^^^ Thanks for all the info, Victor.

I'm curious about something.

The press release says that they expect the loan to "close" by June.

Does this mean the contractors probably won't get all the money they're due until then?

BVictor1 · #**1769** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:23 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocket1

^^^^ Thanks for all the info, Victor.

I'm curious about something.

The press release says that they expect the loan to "close" by June.

Does this mean the contractors probably won't get all the money they're due until then?

That I don't know. I just know that I was told that work will continue.

Mr Roboto · #**1770** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:33 PM**

Pardon my french, but way to get shit done Mr Dvorak! I wont lie, i was a just a little worried, but Ive felt that they have had more than enough signed contracts for quite a while to secure a loan if and when needed. Looks like thats what hapened. Thanks for all the info BVic and the new guy.

Not to speculate too much, but it sounds like with 2 billion being looked at for other projects in the US, this Beijing CEG may be involved in more than just the Waterview for Chicago. But all I care about right now is that this bldg will continue to move forward.

jjk1103 · #**1771** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:40 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by BVictor1

That I don't know. I just know that I was told that work will continue.

.....being a commercial banker (and CPA) the only issue I have with that press release is that they say they have an agreement in principal and that they are "working to complete the legal documentation" ......I've seen these things fail when they can't agree and the docs don't get signed. This is like saying someone has agreed to buy your house, but you haven't closed yet .....there is still a long way to go !!!

.....if it weren't for all the speculation about the project being trouble this news release would not have happened ! ......anyway, basically still very good news !

honte · #**1772** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:56 PM**

^ Right. But by stating that they have arranged financing, that means that someone has done the due diligence and has agreed to underwrite the loan, no? It also sounds like both parties have agreed to the primary terms of the arrangement.

This seems like a very positive thing and a new development, even if they still need to work on the docs.

Dalton · #**1773** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 2:59 PM**

The Chinese to the rescue again. And Daley won't even let Walmart open stores in Chicago.

Seriously though, this is great news. The Chicago boom continues to hobble along. I was wrong. I admit it. I felt for sure that only the profitable hotel portion would get built now and the rest of the tower would be delayed for a couple years.

One question though. Is $300 million actually enough to "complete construction"? Seems to me they've completed about $100 million worth of construction there. And they have to pay millions to contractors already just to get caught up on their bills. Is this really only a $400 million project or will we be seeing another slowdown as the developers try to secure another loan later in the year?

Mojava · #**1774** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 3:04 PM**

It does seem a little premature to issue the press release but Waterview needed some positive news. Lets hope it closes

BVictor1 · #**1775** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 3:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalton

The Chinese to the rescue again. And Daley won't even let Walmart open stores in Chicago.

Seriously though, this is great news. The Chicago boom continues to hobble along. I was wrong. I admit it. I felt for sure that only the profitable hotel portion would get built now and the rest of the tower would be delayed for a couple years.

One question though. Is $300 million actually enough to "complete construction"? Seems to me they've completed about $100 million worth of construction there. And they have to pay millions to contractors already just to get caught up on their bills. Is this really only a $400 million project or will we be seeing another slowdown as the developers try to secure another loan later in the year?

Well they had a $60 million (I believe that was the amount) loan from LaSalle Bank, and they've put a lot of their own equity into the project.

chi-arch · #**1776** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 3:08 PM**

Per the press release the loan is to "complete the project".

Dalton · #**1777** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 3:25 PM**

I understand that's what the press release says. I know it's a smaller project, but can Waterview really be built for less than half the cost of the Trump Tower, which is two years ahead of it?

aaron38 · #**1778** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 3:38 PM**

I'm surprised by the language in the BCEG press release BVic posted, this part:

Quote:

U.S. lenders have pulled back from financing construction projects due to tightening legislative requirements imposed by the government.

Now Congress has proposed changes to lending practices to deal with bad loans written for sub-prime and ARM mortgages, and to deal with the Bear-Sterns fallout. But claiming that the government actively prevented a downtown luxury condo tower from getting a loan doesn't pass the sanity test.

A construction loan for Waterview is nowhere near the same class as sub-prime lending for some shoddy subdivision out in Huntley. Why would the government interfere?

But anyway, it's good to see the money coming through. I think we may have the weak dollar to thank for this. China has lots of dollars, and it's better to get those re-invested than to just sit on them as their value falls.
And when you're running a trade deficit, the money has to come back around somehow.

jjk1103 · #**1779** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 7:41 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte

^ Right. But by stating that they have arranged financing, that means that someone has done the due diligence and has agreed to underwrite the loan, no? It also sounds like both parties have agreed to the primary terms of the arrangement.

This seems like a very positive thing and a new development, even if they still need to work on the docs.

.....all true ! ...things are looking good .......but I'll still feel totally comfortable when the docs are actually signed....

Mojava · #**1780** Posted **Apr 16, 2008, 8:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dalton

I understand that's what the press release says. I know it's a smaller project, but can Waterview really be built for less than half the cost of the Trump Tower, which is two years ahead of it?

Waterview is half the size of Trump. I believe Trump is over 2.5 million SF while Waterview is around 1.3 million SF