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Just how impressive is New York City’s super-tall building boom? (by roof height)
New York City has always had the most skyscrapers in the nation, but Chicago has always had a legitimate claim to the crown in terms of height. Especially after the loss of the twin towers in 2001, Big Shoulders has had the clear height advantage. Even a decade after 9/11, New York City had only one thousand-footer (by roof height, not spire height) blocking the sun, whereas Chicago had four!
So the current super-tall boom in NYC is not just interesting in terms of what it means for New York City, but also what it means for Chicago. No one knows how long the boom will last; no one knows how many more super-talls will yet be announced; no one knows how long NYC’s boom will go unmatched in Chicago and in the rest of the nation. But what’s clear at this point is that New York City is so vastly far ahead in terms of construction and firm proposals that no domestic city will rival it for decades. It’s not just that NYC has re-gained the crown, it’s that we can’t even call it a competition anymore.
Sure, Chicago might build Wanda Vista and 625 West Monroe and maybe a couple other super-talls by the mid-2020s, but that’s child's play compared to what's on the drawing board for New York City over the same time period. And yes, Houston has lots of square footage under construction, but where’s the height? And of course I'm aware that Miami, San Francisco and Philly have 900+ footers under construction, which is great, but just one each per city currently. And yes there are a lot of proposals out there nationwide, especially in Miami, but nothing like in New York.
So here's the deal: A domestic super-tall market-share blowout is underway, and I think even most people who pay attention to skyscraper development haven't fully grasped how big New York's share is going to get. I've pulled together some data to highlight the changes on the way:
Lest someone (like me!) complain that buildings like One World Trade and BofA and NYTimes are artificially tall due to their spires, without truly impacting the skyline, all the data below uses building roof heights, not spire heights.
In December 2012, more than a decade after 9/11:
• New York City had one completed tower over 1,000 feet: The Empire State Building
• New York City had only one of the nation’s ten tallest towers; Chicago had five, including the tallest, Willis Tower
• New York City had 14 of the nation’s 50 tallest towers; Chicago had 13.
• A roof height of 787 feet was enough to make the nation’s top 50.
As we all know, things are changing. Two and a half years later, in May 2015:
• New York City has three completed towers over 1,000 feet: One Word Trade, The ESB, One57
• New York City has three of the nation’s top ten tallest towers; Chicago has four
• New York City has 17 of the nation’s 50 tallest towers; Chicago has 13.
• A roof height of 792 feet is enough to make the nation’s top 50.
But what’s underway is truly transformative. Currently under construction, as of May 2015:
• There are currently seven towers over 1,000 feet under construction nationwide. Five of those towers are in New York City (the others are in San Francisco and Philly). The five in NYC are Nordstrom, 532 Park, 30 Hudson Yards, Three World Trade, 53w53
When all towers of all heights that are currently under construction nationwide are completed:
• New York City will have six of the nation’s ten tallest towers; Chicago will have four; (Miami will have none.)
• New York City will have 21 of the nation’s 50 tallest towers; Chicago will have ten; (Miami will have one.) So in the seven years from 2012-2019, NYC will go from having essentially the same share of the top 50 as Chicago had in 2012 to having double Chicago’s share by around 2019.
• A roof height of 852 will be needed to make the nation’s top 50.
There are currently 25 1000+ footers proposed nationwide that have not yet officially started construction. If all of them are built, there would be a total of 41 towers nationwide that are at least 1,000 feet tall.
• 14 of the proposed 1,000-footers are intended for New York City; just 3 for Chicago; and an impressive 4 for Miami.
• If all currently proposed towers are built nationwide, there would be a total of 41 towers nationwide that are at least 1,000 feet tall. A staggering 22 of those towers would be in New York City, with only 7 in Chicago and 4 in Miami. New York City would go from having a fourth of the number of Chicago’s super-talls in 2012 (one as compared to four), to having three times the number of Chicago’s super-talls by some point in the early 2020s (22 as compared to seven). Yes that presumes a lot, because not all proposals will be built, and meanwhile other proposals would occur. But at this point does anyone think that if the economy is good enough in Chicago to result in additional super-tall proposals, that it won't be good enough in New York for the boom to continue as well?
• In the early 2020s, if indeed the current crop of proposals gets built, New York City would account for eight or nine of the ten tallest towers nationwide; Chicago for just one, and possibly Seattle for one (depending on the height of 820 Second Avenue)
• New York City would account for half (25) of the nation’s fifty tallest buildings; Chicago would account for seven; Miami would account for five.
• A roof height of 974 feet would be needed to crack the nation’s top 50. That building would be Philadelphia’s Comcast Tower, which is currently the nation’s 12th tallest tower (by roof height). The Bank of America Tower in New York City, which has a roof height of 945 feet and is currently the fifth tallest tower in New York City by roof height, would not even be in the nation’s top 50, and would not be in NYC’s top 25.
Last edited by intheburg; May 12, 2015 at 12:50 AM.
Reason: mistake in the number of Chicago supertalls by roof a decade after 9/11: it was four, not five
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