Page 40 - Midas Touch

having the vision to see things as they could be, instead of how they are.
Someone has to do it, and I’ve always had the energy and eye for
improvement. It can be very clear to me, and I’ve never been one to avoid
a challenge. I approach each project pragmatically and with emotional

control, yet I maintain the enthusiasm necessary to get the job done. It’s an
important balance to achieve.

The Windy City
Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago has won Travel + Leisure
magazine’s award for the number-one hotel in the United States and

Canada. That was a wonderful accolade for a fantastic building. Once
again, getting it built had its moments—and months—of difficulties. For
example, three months after we began foundation construction, we
discovered that water had leaked into the building site from the Chicago
River. Since the foundation was being laid below the river level, the old
river bulkhead that was already in place proved to be a concern. Would it

hold? What compounded the problem was that the water was coming in
through a corner where the bulkhead and the Wabash Avenue Bridge meet,
which could be a very serious situation. We addressed that with
painstaking care.

Next, we discovered a problem with the structural design of the building.
We originally designed the first 14 floors and the base to be a structural
steel frame that would have a reinforced concrete building above. Much

later in the design process, due to China’s industrial growth which
absorbed so much of the world’s steel supply, we encountered a huge spike
in the world commodity price for steel.

It was back to the drawing board. We redesigned the building as all-
concrete, saving several million dollars and also simplifying the
construction logistics. This apparent setback worked to our benefit.

The timeline for this project underscores the patience required to get this
building done. My plan for this building began in 2000, and we started

construction in 2005. We had a few blips to deal with along the way but, if
you have the opportunity to see this building, you will see that our efforts
were worth it. Any “bad luck” was turned around to our advantage.