The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a skyscraper condo-hotel under construction at 401 North Wabash Avenue in downtown Chicago, Illinois named for famed real estate developer Donald Trump. Upon completion in 2009, it will be the second tallest building in Chicago behind the Sears Tower, though the Chicago Spire will be taller once it is completed in 2010. The building will be 415 meters (1,362 feet) tall and contain 96 floors for various uses when completed. Despite ongoing difficulties, construction is proceeding.

Location

The tower is constructed on the site formerly occupied by the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the city's two major newspapers.

Design

The design of the building incorporates three setbacks to give it a visual continuity with the surrounding skyline^[2]. Each of the setbacks is designed to reflect the height of a nearby building: the first matches the Wrigley Building, the second setback aligns with the Marina City Towers, and the third setback matches the height of the 330 North Wabash.

Layout

The building will be made up of 2.6 million gross square feet, include 90 stories, 472 super-luxury residential condominiums, including studios to three bedrooms and up to five bedroom penthouses, and feature a five-star luxury hotel condominium with 286 guest rooms.  Floors three and twelve will be used for lobbies, retail, and parking 3-12.  A health club and spa will be located on the 14th floor and Mezzanine. Hotel condominiums and executive lounges will be located on floors 17 through 27M. The tower's residential condominiums will be located from the 29th to 85th floors.  Penthouses will make up floors 86 through 89.

Height

The building will break the record for the world’s highest residence, which has been held since 1969 by the nearby John Hancock Center. Note that since this building has both hotel condominiums and residential condominiums it will not contest the record recently set by the Q1 Tower on the Gold Coast of Australia which is 80 stories high as the tallest all-residential building.

History

When planning for this building began in 2000, it was originally announced that it would be the future world's tallest building. After the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Trump had the plans scaled down hundreds of feet to avoid being a potential target for similar terrorist attacks.

The building's design by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill was first released in December, 2001. According to the Chicago Tribune, the company built nearly 50 models before they came up with a design they liked. However, the first design did not meet well with architects and the residents of Chicago. A subsequent revision in July, 2002 resulted in the current established design. In January, 2004, another revision changed floors 17 through 26 from offices into condominiums and hotel rooms. Bill Rancic, The Apprentice season one winner, manages the project. Construction began on March 17th 2005.

Construction