Page 35 - Trump Never Give Up: How I Turned My Biggest Challenges into Success

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T R UM P: N E V E R G I V E U P

it can take your breath away, and that’s whether it’s windy or
not—even though it’s only partially finished and won’t be com-
pleted until 2009. Because of the fantastic asymmetrical shape,
the building dominates the view from the Michigan Avenue
Bridge and nearby West Wacker Drive. If you visit it, you’ll see
why we’ve spent so much time and effort on this building.
My plan for the Chicago building began in 2000, and it was
announced that it would be the world’s tallest building. I was very
excited about this prospect and knew I could get it done, and get
it done brilliantly. However, after the terrorist attacks of Septem-
ber 11, 2001, I had the plans scaled down. Much as I wanted to
build the tallest building, I don’t think making a building a
potential target is a smart idea. So we changed the plan a bit.
That was the beginning of a few changes, in fact. We had
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill as the building’s architect, and
they built over 50 models before we decided on something we all
liked. Then this design was further refined after comments
from the Department of Planning, community groups, and
architectural critics of Chicago, who were a big consideration.
The revisions were done in 2002, and it was approved. Later, in
2004 we changed 10 floors from offices into hotel rooms and
condominiums, based on marketing considerations. We finally
began construction on March 17, 2005, five years after I
announced the project. You can see by the time line that things
don’t happen overnight, even if your name is Donald Trump.
This building will be a big beauty. It will be 2.7 million
square feet, 92 stories, and will incorporate a health club and
spa, a five-star luxury hotel, condominiums, executive lounges,
retail shops, and garages. The penthouses will occupy the three
top floors. It will be the tallest concrete structure and the sec-
ond tallest building in North America (after the Sears Tower).
The hotel is slated to open in December 2007, with the entire
building to be finished by the spring of 2009. The cost will be
around $800 million. This is a huge project.

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