CHICAGO—The dream of creating North America’s tallest building — architect Santiago Calatrava’s Chicago Spire — has found new life. Tom Villanova, leader of the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council (CBTC) has announced that his organization will provide a $170 million loan to the project’s current developer, Shelbourne Development Group, in an effort to restart work on the building, which could create as many as 1,000 new construction jobs.

Work on the Chicago Spire building ground to a halt last year as the previous developer behind the initiative, Fordham Company, ran out of funds. Calatrava’s studio placed an $11 million lien on the property, saying that it had not been paid for its work on the project, and Fordham sold off the plan and property to Shelbourne. Despite the troubled economic climate, 30 percent of the proposed 1,200 apartments in the building have already been sold.

A spokesperson for Shelbourne emphasized that the deal was a win for both sides. “The loan would mean 7.5 million man hours of union labor — which is important right nows as there is high unemployment in the construction sector and this project would put people back to work,” the official explained.

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