Trump International Hotel and Tower

skyscraper condo-hotel in downtown Chicago, Illinois

The Trump International Hotel and Tower is a skyscraper in Chicago, United States. It is 415 meters (1,362 feet) tall and has 96 floors. It was built in 2009 and is one of the tallest buildings in the world. It is the third largest skyscraper in the USA (behind the One World Trade Center and the Willis Tower). It is the second tallest tower in Chicago.

Trump International Hotel & Tower
Trump International Hotel and Tower in 2009
Map
General information
LocationChicago
CountryUnited States
Completed2009
Height
Antenna spire415 m (1,362 ft)
Technical details
Floor count96

Location change

The tower is at 401 North Wabash Avenue in the River North Gallery District, part of the Near North Side community area of Chicago. The building is on the site that used to be the Chicago Sun-Times building, one of the city's two major newspapers.[1] It is on the north side of the Chicago River just west of the Wrigley Building and the Michigan Avenue Bridge, and just east of Marina City and 330 North Wabash.[2]

Height change

The Trump International Hotel and Tower rises 1,400 feet (426.7 m) from the building's main entrance on Wabash Avenue to the tip of the architectural spire.[3] Upon its completion in 2009, the building became the seventh-tallest building in the world, behind the 1,380-foot (420.6 m) Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, People's Republic of China.[4]

On November 17, 2009, however, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), which creates the rankings of the tallest skyscrapers in the world based on various criteria, changed its standard for measuring a building's height.[5] As the Trump International Hotel and Tower has a riverwalk entrance and pedestrian level 27 feet (8.2 m) below the building's Wabash Avenue entrance, the skyscraper's official height was recalculated as 1,388 feet (423.2 m) without a physical addition to the structure.[6] This made the tower the sixth-tallest building in the world, passing the Jin Mao Tower by 9 feet (2.7 m).[7]

In January 2010, the building moved back to its position as seventh-tallest with the opening of the 828-metre (2,717 ft) Burj Khalifa in Dubai.[8]

Sign change

 
The Trump sign on the building

According to Donald Trump, he received approval for a 3,600-square-foot (334.5 m2) sign from Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration in 2009, but renegotiated with Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration. In October 2013, Trump received approval to put a 20-foot-tall (6.1 m) stainless steel letters back-lit with white LED lighting spelling out TRUMP on the 16th floor of the building. He made his plans for the sign public in February 2014.[9] The five letters span a width of about 141 feet (43 m), making the final approved version about 2,800–2,891 square feet (260.1–268.6 m2), according to some sources – rather than the originally proposed size.[10] The sign is about 200 feet (61 m) above ground level.[11]

Crews began hanging the sign in May 2014.[12] When Chicago Tribune architecture critic Kamin warned Trump that his review of the sign would be unfavorable, Trump responded "As time passes, it'll be like the Hollywood Sign"; architect Adrian Smith was against the sign saying "Just for the record, I had nothing to do with this sign!"[13]

The sign was controversial as several Chicagoans and local politicians criticized Trump's sign.[14] As a result, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel created a study to change the rules of future sign-building on skyscrapers in the city.[15]

In the aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, city alderman Gilbert Villegas proposed a new law that would prevent any renewal of sign permits to persons convicted of "treason, sedition or subversive activities", specifically targeting the sign.[16]

Related pages change

References change

  1. Rotzoll, Brenda Warner (September 11, 1992). "Gallery District Boundaries Reach Beyond River North". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
  2. Robert Wagner (February 3, 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Michigan-Wacker Historic District" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
  3. Kamin, Blair (November 18, 2009). "Trump Tower now sixth-tallest building in world". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on November 21, 2009. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  4. "Jin Mao Building". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  5. "CTBUH changes height criteria". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  6. Orichuia, Nicola (November 18, 2009). "Trump Trumps Other Buildings, Now 6th Largest". nbcchicago.com. NBCUniversal. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  7. "Height: The History of Measuring Tall Buildings". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on April 10, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2012.
  8. "100 tallest completed buildings in the world". Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2010.
  9. Maidenberg, Micah & Ryan Ori (February 21, 2014). "Trump to sign maker: You're hired!". ChicagoBusiness. Crain Communications. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  10. Schaper, David (June 8, 2014). "Trump Stamp Has Chicagoans Irked at the Donald". NPR. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  11. "Donald Trump skyscraper sign 'tasteless'". BBC. June 13, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  12. Perez Jr., Juan (May 6, 2014). "New Trump sign going up at riverfront tower". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  13. Kamin, Blair (June 5, 2014). "Donald Trump: Giant sign on his Chicago tower is like Hollywood sign". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  14. Kamin, Blair (June 13, 2014). "Donald Trump, Rahm Emanuel clash over Chicago tower sign". Fox News. Associated Press. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  15. Byrne, John & Bill Ruthhart (June 13, 2014). "Emanuel wants to prevent more signs like Trump's". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  16. Spielman, Fran (January 12, 2021). "Alderman wants massive Trump Tower sign along Chicago River to come down". Chicago Sun-Times.

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