I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss a supertall in Denver. Putting the Burj Dubai in Denver is an utterly ridiculous scare tactic (even surpassing anything FOX News would do) to villify any building over 1,000 feet in Denver. Heck, Burj Dubai would even look ridiculous in New York or Chicago. Sears Tower looks fine to me, and the "lopped off" version just makes a boxy skyline even more boxy. As for Devon in OKC, the reason that building looks out of place is that from - most vantage points - the tower is on the very edge of the skyline and throws the balance of the skyline way off; it is not "centered".
Anyone who doesn't realize that the stubby 714' tall Republic Plaza has been the tallest building in Denver
for over 30 years is giving our skyline no hope and no chance of becoming anything more substantial in the future. In fact, this 30-year span is the first time since the founding of Denver wherein the city has never built a new "tallest". As for location, 20th and Welton would be a great place for a supertall in Denver. Below is a building I conceived about 14 years ago and met with the city and several corporations hoping to get the ball rolling, back when office vacancy rates were flirting with 3%. Jennifer Moulton (RIP), whom I met with in person regarding this project, was super-excited and hooked me up with almost everyone I needed to talk to. Obviously only in my early 20s at the time, I had no credibility. Aaron (glowrock) and myself were, in fact, mentioned in the Westword. Ah... those were the days.
Below is a rendering some of the "old heads" on this forum will instantly recognize. My proposal would have given Denver's skyline the "Charlotte effect", and would have added grace and elegance to the Denver skyline, and put the image of us being a boxy skyline to rest once and for all. At 1,170' tall,
Denver World Center would have been something else, tell ya what. IMO, a tower like this is exactly what Denver needs to completely transform our dull, boring, stale, and drab skyline into one of global acclaim and prominence. Ultimately, there are no corporate headquarters to be the driving force behind a trophy tower like this, and a tower of this size would NEVER be built purely on spec, even in the best of real estate markets. I'm not even going to get started on THAT subject - (but now you see why I was so passionate about corporate HQs a very long time ago. I couldn't find a drink in the desert when there was no water to begin with)...
Denver is pretty much stuck at 714' for a very long time; perhaps not even climbing above that at any point within the span of our lifetimes. Speaking sarcastically, we might as well just impose a fake height limit over our city to hide the shame that we simply don't have the economics to ever construct a building taller than Republic Plaza. At what point will it get old? For me, it already has. Anyway, let the criticism come! You know how much I get off on being the despised "d-bag", although I have no long-term plans of being involved on this forum like I once was. Probably won't even revisit this thread. Just wanted to touch base and say "hi", and let my rendering see daylight for the first time in oh 10 years or so :-)