US from €504,185:Apartments in the Chicago Spire, the 150 storey tower which is being developed on the waterfront by Garrett Kelleher, are having their Irish launch next week, writes Fiona Tyrrell
The Irish launch of the Chicago Spire - billed as the tallest residential building in the world - will take place in Dublin next week.
Dublin is the first stop in a global roadshow being undertaken by Shelbourne Developments which will take in 15 cities across Europe, Asia and Africa to market developer Garrett Kelleher's ambitious 150-storey twisting tower. The scheme of 1,194 luxury apartments will be unveiled to Irish investors at a glitzy event in Fitzwilliam Square next Wednesday.
Some 250 potential investors will get the chance to meet architect Santiago Calatrava, nibble on delights from the Four Seasons and listen to Inspire, a piece of music which has been specially composed for the Chicago Spire launch by US composer Chance Thomas and recorded with an orchestra and children's choir.
The marketing suite will then be open to the public for four days. The suite will incorporate a 15-person cinema pod which will show short films about the Chicago Spire and the city.
The suite, according to estate agent Savills HOK, will reflect the luxurious quality and style of the Chicago Spire apartments - the skyscraper, by the way, rises to around 606m (2,000ft).
It also reflects the high-end prices at the Spire. Prices start at $750,000 (€504,185) for studio apartments and go up to $40 million (€27 million) for a two-floor penthouse. The $2 billion (€1.35 billion) scheme has generated interest worldwide and there are an average of 1,330 visitors to the Chicago Spire website every day, according to the selling agent.
The spire is on a 2.2-acre site where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. Facilities at the scheme will include a sports centre with 23m swimming pool and treatment rooms, a residents club, teen room, kids room, temperature controlled wine lockers, private diningrooms and a business centre.
Work has commenced on site and the developer says that it will be completed in 2011, just in time for the 2012 Olympics, which Chicago is bidding for.
