AUSTIN | The Independent | 690 FEET | 58 FLOORS | Complete

[tie_guy]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

All of this is to say that The Independent and Austonian may very well be our co-tallest* buildings for a good time to come.

Reminds of how Houston's two tallest buildings aren't that far off from each other's height. The Wells Fargo Plaza tower often looks taller than the Chase tower, especially when viewed from the south and west.

[KevinFromTexas]

The Independent Austin - https://www.facebook.com/independent...type=3&theater

[smith_atx]

Looking good. Wonder when the facade will start going on?

[the Genral]

I was just privy to a conversation between a person I know who is part of a team working on 5th and West, and the superintendent of the Independent, he and I were curious about that piece of shoring on the south west corning of the building so he just picked up the phone and called his buddy who told him that its just shoring they haven't taken down yet but it is coming down eventually. He said shoring is usually taken down after three floors are completed above it. They just haven't gotten to this piece yet. As a side note, we were talking about the future of the Austin skyline and if we would ever get an 800 footer. He said he was probably going to move on and start working on a building that would be 72 floors. He said he turned down an offer to work on the Independant to work on this one. I told him I was sorry to see him go as he just got here and I know he loves Austin, so I asked him what city was he moving to and he said nowhere, its going to be built in Austin. That's all I could get out of him at this time. I see him a few times a month, so I will continue to bug him for more details. This is not my buddy who worked on the Colorado and I can't divulge his name or position on 5th and W, especially if I expect to get any info out of him. He also dangled the news of a new rather tall hotel in the works in my face, but I can't remember the brand. Doesn't sound like a slow down coming soon to me. Just know I'm just throwing this news out there from someone I consider as reliable. After all, I just sat and listened to an impromtu chit chat between two big wigs on 2 of the biggest projects going on dt. We'll see...

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by the Genral

I was just privy to a conversation between a person I know who is part of a team working on 5th and West, and the superintendent of the Independent, he and I were curious about that piece of shoring on the south west corning of the building so he got on the phone and called his buddy who told him that its just shoring they haven't taken down yet but it is coming down eventually. He said shoring is usually taken down after three floors are completed above it. They just haven't gotten to this piece yet. As a side note, we were talking about the future of the Austin skyline and if we would ever get an 800 footer. He said he was probably going to move on and start working on a building that could be up to 72 floors. I assumed it was somewhere else and I asked him if he was leaving Austin, I know he just got here and loves Austin and he said no...it would be here in Austin. That's all I could get out of him at this time. I see him a few times a month, so I will continue to bug him for more details. This is not my buddy who worked on the Colorado and I can't divulge his name or position on 5th and W, especially if I expect to get any info out of him. He also dangled the news of a new rather tall hotel in the works in my face, but I can't remember the brand. Doesn't sound like a slow down coming soon to me.

That's good info! If there is a 72-story project coming I would suspect that it is a project already in the works like the Travis County block.

[JoninATX]

Well that made my day! Thanks General for providing updates as well as giving info about a new 72 st. tower that is in the works.

[AustinGoesVertical]

Originally Posted by The ATX

That's good info! If there is a 72-story project coming I would suspect that it is a project already in the works like the Travis County block.

Could be the UT block office tower too.

Awesome info Genral! Thanks for posting!

Hotel could be the 4th and Red River project.
Man, I can't imagine a 72-story tower in Austin. If it's office, we're looking at 850 ft and maybe even 900 ft with any sort of architectural crown.

[The ATX]

Assuming the potential ~72-story tower rumor is true, I don't think it will be Block 71 (UT Block) because we know the foot print and proposed square footage of the project.

Even though some sites don't have a "height limit", there are FAR restrictions that function as a height limit. In order to build a tower that tall it will first need to be built on a large site. The Travis Co. site is a whole block, and it would be a likely candidate. I hope the rumor isn't based on the Travis Co. Commissioner's comment a few years ago that a tower up to ~70-stories could be built.

A second location for such a tower would be the post office site which amazingly hasn't come back into play since the Great Recession ended.

As far as the hotel goes, there are at least 6 proposed projects that could fit that rumor. So I'm mostly interested in the 72-story tower.

[deerhoof]

Originally Posted by AustinGoesVertical

Could be the UT block office tower too.

Awesome info Genral! Thanks for posting!

Hotel could be the 4th and Red River project.
Man, I can't imagine a 72-story tower in Austin. If it's office, we're looking at 850 ft and maybe even 900 ft with any sort of architectural crown.

After doing a bit of research, a 72 story office building in Austin would be massive considering the following:
-Bank of America Center in Charlotte is 60 floors and 871 feet (crown) - 14.51 ft/floor
-Republic Plaza in Denver is 56 floors and 714 feet (no crown) - 12.75 ft/floor
-Columbia Center in Seattle is 76 floors and 937 feet (no crown) - 12.32 ft/floor

So, applying the lowest of these is 887 ft and if there is a crown like the Bank of America Center, that's a super tall at 1044 ft.

With that being said, I believe this will be residential only because the individual is associated with 5th & West and was offered work on the Independent which are both residential buildings. If this is a residential building it could be upwards of 800 ft tall or maybe even a bit higher if there is a crown. For instance, The Independent is 11.81 ft/floor which translates into an 850 foot tower for 72 floors.

[Jdawgboy]

If it's a residential tower, I'd estimate it in the range of 800-850', if it's mixed use then it could be at least 850'. If by lucky chance it's an office tower then we COULD see our first 1,000 footer.

Fun facts: Tallest building in Houston is 71 stories. Tallest in Dallas is 72 stories so if this rumor becomes reality then it's quite possible we might have a tower that would rival those.

[Geckos_Rule]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

If it's a residential tower, I'd estimate it in the range of 800-850', if it's mixed use then it could be at least 850'. If by lucky chance it's an office tower then we COULD see our first 1,000 footer.

Fun facts: Tallest building in Houston is 71 stories. Tallest in Dallas is 72 stories so if this rumor becomes reality then it's quite possible we might have a tower that would rival those.

Can you guys please stop? I can only get so erect

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by Geckos_Rule

Can you guys please stop? I can only get so erect

Eeeeew. I really like tall buildings too, but eeeeeeeeeeeeeew.

[lzppjb]

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by The ATX

Assuming the potential ~72-story tower rumor is true, I don't think it will be Block 71 (UT Block) because we know the foot print and proposed square footage of the project.

Even though some sites don't have a "height limit", there are FAR restrictions that function as a height limit. In order to build a tower that tall it will first need to be built on a large site. The Travis Co. site is a whole block, and it would be a likely candidate. I hope the rumor isn't based on the Travis Co. Commissioner's comment a few years ago that a tower up to ~70-stories could be built.

The County's Plan C called for a 72-story building.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

If it's a residential tower, I'd estimate it in the range of 800-850', if it's mixed use then it could be at least 850'. If by lucky chance it's an office tower then we COULD see our first 1,000 footer.

Fun facts: Tallest building in Houston is 71 stories. Tallest in Dallas is 72 stories so if this rumor becomes reality then it's quite possible we might have a tower that would rival those.

The Chase Tower in Houston is 75 floors, not 71. Wells Fargo Plaza there is 71 floors.

By the way, speaking of tall buildings in Texas, did everyone see this? Dallas could be getting its first supertall.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=213541&page=4

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

The Chase Tower in Houston is 75 floors, not 71. Wells Fargo Plaza there is 71 floors.

By the way, speaking of tall buildings in Texas, did everyone see this? Dallas could be getting its first supertall.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...=213541&page=4

Oops my bad, was looking at the wrong building.

[The ATX]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

The County's Plan C called for a 72-story building.

That's what is holding me back from being too excited about the rumor: the fact that "72" was the specific floor count in both cases and that the Travis Co. site it the leading candidate for such a tower. Keep us posted Genral!

[the Genral]

Originally Posted by The ATX

That's what is holding me back from being too excited about the rumor: the fact that "72" was the specific floor count in both cases and that the Travis Co. site it the leading candidate for such a tower. Keep us posted Genral!

Yeah I have to sit down with the guy again soon. He kind of cliff hanged me. The reason I'm leaning on this as being more realistic than not is due to his skill set being in such demand that he is being sought out, and he said he was probably leaving 5th and W, turned down an offer on the Independent, to consider joining in on the development and building of a 72 story tower in Austin. I did hesitate revealing my conversation with him to ya'll about this because a) its off topic and b) its unofficial, but I'm now a believer that an announcement about a supertall (by Austin standards) is imminent. Sooner than too much later. Remember, when everyone was saying the Fairmont was not going to be built, I was saying it was because my friend working on the Colorado told me his company was bidding on it. It didn't turn out quite the way we hoped, but it did get built. I typically don't stick my neck out unless I trust my sources. I trust this guy. Still, we all know things can change or downsize. I don't know why I keep getting these cool connections, but I guess I get around. I am friends with a guy working on 5th and W in a upper level capacity (he asked me to keep him and his title anonymous) who's friends with the super on the Independent. Wow! Problem is the only time I run into him is when he comes by my office, and he's usually in a hurry and we have to discuss 'other' business first.

[OU812]

I just hope any new "supertall" has a public observation deck, so us commoners can soak in the views too.

[Flatiron]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

The next big blockbuster building probably isn't on our radar yet (there are a decent* number of easily developable sites left in downtown that aren't on the development map yet) or is a parcel that's fallen off the radar (e.g. the post office site).

*there's really not. Almost all of the land in downtown Austin has either been recently developed, has historic architecture or is limited by a CVC (and we're expanding those, no less), or is spoken for in active (Brackenridge, Med School, GreenWater, Plaza Saltillo), 'active' (Waller Creek), or about to be active (Statesman, Convention Center, Cap Complex) development plans (obviously I'm only mentioning the blockbuster projects). On all sides, downtown is now bookended by neighborhoods that have substantial political power to prevent high-rise development in their VMU corridors (but so far have lacked the political power to cancel most VMU development). I think we're at the point where we'll see slower and slower pace of development downtown announced over time and shift toward the Domain where land is cheaper AND/OR we'll finally see some of these developments actually go taller than they are now because we're actually running out of developable space downtown (this, of course, is driven in some measure by demand). There are, also worth mentioning, a number of parking lots in between 6th and 11th that aren't spoken for that could be developed with low to medium rise stuff with a sporadic high-rise where a CVC doesn't affect a lot. There are also a lot of parking lots south of the river outside of the Statesman lot that could be used for infill once the Statesman project is a catalyst for that area. But none of these is likely to end up with a structure rivaling the Independent or the Austonian. There may be some potential for one of the few remaining developable parcels in the Rainey street area for a 600'+ building. Maybe.

What about the eventuality that economics will favor an older building or parking garage being replaced with something taller or more interesting?