Receiver appointed for unbuilt Chicago Spire

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A receiver has been appointed for the Chicago lakefront property intended for the unbuilt Chicago Spire, a twisting tower proposed by Irish developer Garrett Kelleher, a spokesman for the receiver said on Wednesday.

Kelleher's Shelbourne Development Ltd broke ground in 2007 on what was intended to be a 2,000-foot-tall apartment tower with 1,194 units. Upon completion, it would have been the tallest skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere, but the recession and the mortgage crisis intervened.

The site, a round hole in the ground near Lake Michigan equipped with unused highway ramps, has been the object of liens from contractors and architect Santiago Calatrava.

An executive with CB Richard Ellis was named receiver on the property by a Cook County Circuit judge, who granted a request from the project's largest lender, Anglo Irish Bank Corp.

(Reporting by Andrew Stern; Editing by Jerry Norton)