It's truly a downward spiral when it comes to news of the unbuilt Chicago Spire super-structure. According to a document filed in bankruptcy court, Related Midwest, which now owns the city's most famous hole in the ground, has refused to pay Santiago Calatrava's design fee, which comes to a skyscraper-high $11.3 million. While the starchitect has certainly stayed busy — his recent design for Florida Polytechnic University opened to much praise this summer — that fee may be a gaping hole in his budget that never gets filled. This comes at a time when Calatrava is already facing legal trouble in Spain for an alleged contract fraud.
Since a Chapter 11 case involving the proposed project is coming to a close, now's the time to collect. But Calatrava may have missed the boat, since the filed a lien after the standard two-year window and may be out of luck. It's not clear if his office was paid by the original developer, Garrett Kelleher, for any of their design work. At least he's not alone. There are still $5.5 million in unsecured claims on the project.
·Another Spire victim: architect Santiago Calatrava [Crain's]
·The Saga of the Chicago Spire Quickly Approaching Its End [Curbed Chicago]
·Previous Chicago Spire coverage [Curbed Chicago]
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