AUSTIN | Projects & Construction III

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by Kotliz

I think you're right, the skyline is becoming a lot more blue. I think that's a good thing. A few years ago it was pretty much all brown and beige, and I always thought it made the city look sort of hot the blue makes it look cooler.

Agreed! The old copper glass on the Chase Bank on 6th (and the dobie) not only made tooooo much of a statement....I also felt like I was heating up when I saw it in the summer. Good observation on cool colored cladding vs. warm tones. "Keep Austin Cool" ...should I trademark this?

[lzppjb]

Blue is my favorite color, so seeing all the different shades of blue going up is nice.

[StoOgE]

Originally Posted by Kotliz

I think you're right, the skyline is becoming a lot more blue. I think that's a good thing. A few years ago it was pretty much all brown and beige, and I always thought it made the city look sort of hot the blue makes it look cooler.

It's the current trend. Over the last 10 years most major buildings in Manhattan have been blue or clear glass. I think it looks nice.

[migol24]

It be interesting to see different colors though, like a building with a hint of maroonish or reddish glass, or some crazy color like that. I wonder if that's been done before.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by ahealy

It's just time! I feel like I've out grown Austin...it is still my obsession. I need some cool weather too

JW Marriott is looking INCREDIBLE

You mentioned Portland and L.A. as possibilities. If you end up in Portland, I think you'll be ready to return to Austin after months of gray and drizzle. Portland's a great city but the gray weather can get some people really depressed. But maybe you like gray and drizzle (some people do). L.A., on the other hand, is sunny and mild almost all the time.

Edit: Sorry about getting off track...just wanted to try to talk ahealy out of leaving Austin.

[lzppjb]

What about a light green?

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

Also on the subject of a 1000 footer. I think it's possible when we hit 2.5 million, or the size of Pittsburgh and Denver. Even at the size, having a thousand footer would be something of a coup. Minneapolis and Seattle are still twice the size of Austin and don't have a thousand footer though both have great skylines. The only skylines in our metro range I can think of with something near 1000 feet is Cleveland and Charlotte.

Cleveland and Charlotte don't yet have 1,000 footers, although, they both have had 1,000 foot proposals in the past. Charlotte had some crazy 1,300 foot tower proposed about 10 to 15 years ago. And Cleveland had a 1,200 foot tower proposed back in the 90s.

Charlotte's tallest right now is the Bank of America Corporate Center with 871 feet and 60 floors. Cleveland's Key Tower is 947 feet with 57 floors.

There are only 5 cities in the US with buildings over 1,000 feet tall. They are: New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Houston in that order of tallest.

Originally Posted by migol24

It be interesting to see different colors though, like a building with a hint of maroonish or reddish glass, or some crazy color like that. I wonder if that's been done before.

There are some. Mostly in Asia and the Middle East. Dubai certainly has some. There are a few in Mexico and South America also.

There's also this tower in Moscow, which has a copper colored glass. It's only a few years old. Here's the construction thread on it:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=106164

Originally Posted by AusTex

Can someone with more talent than myself post 2 simple rectangles in a photo of our skyline representing 750' and 1000'? I am curious as to what that tall of a building would look like in Austin's skyline. Thanks for the Consideration.

I haven't posted these in a long time, but they are linked in a photo album in my signature line below.

Years ago back in the late 90s I did a LEGO model of the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. Their widths aren't quite to scale, but their heights are. And these are also some of the first photos I took of my LEGO model of downtown. Anyway, the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building models are the same scale height-wise as my Austin model is. So this is what they would look like in Austin. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall to the top of the dirigible mast/spire, and 1,414 feet to the antenna. The Chrysler Building is 1,046 feet to the spire.

Anyway, this is the Chrysler Building at the corner of 3rd & Congress. I plopped the Empire State Building on the civil courthouse block. That really would be an incredible location for a supertall. The big blue tower next to the Frost Bank Tower is T. Stacy's never-to-be-built "Gumby tower", and the two tall blue towers on the left side are what Novare had been planning for Block 51 and 52, including the post office block. IBC Bank Plaza is being built where the shorter tower had been planned. That large blue tower is where the post office is, and Novare is still supposedly planning a big development there with up to 800,000 square feet.





I have updated my model since then, but it needs more work. I really need to overhaul it because the block widths aren't quite accurate just yet.

[wwmiv]

Please don't ever build something as ugly as that tower in Russia. Ugh. The color just screams 80s suburban office tech.

[AusTex]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I haven't posted these in a long time, but they are linked in a photo album in my signature line below.
...The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall to the top of the dirigible mast/spire, and 1,414 feet to the antenna. The Chrysler Building is 1,046 feet to the spire.

Anyway, this is the Chrysler Building at the corner of 3rd & Congress. I plopped the Empire State Building on the civil courthouse block. That really would be an incredible location for a supertall. The big blue tower next to the Frost Bank Tower is T. Stacy's never-to-be-built "Gumby tower", and the two tall blue towers on the left side are what Novare had been planning for Block 51 and 52, including the post office block. IBC Bank Plaza is being built where the shorter tower had been planned. That large blue tower is where the post office is, and Novare is still supposedly planning a big development there with up to 800,000 square feet.





I have updated my model since then, but it needs more work. I really need to overhaul it because the block widths aren't quite accurate just yet.

The Empire State...even with a spire is too tall for Austin. The Chrysler would look awesome in Austin! A building that tall with floor space all the way up to 1000', would be too tall for my liking. The scale would be too much that high over the other building in town. However, Bring it on developers...build a super-tall in Austin...just make it narrow, light colored and with a great spire on top!

Thanks Kevin for the post.

[migol24]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Please don't ever build something as ugly as that tower in Russia. Ugh. The color just screams 80s suburban office tech.

I liked that building. It looks like what the future was envisioned as during the 70s or 80s. I don't particularly like the design but the color looks cool.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Cleveland and Charlotte don't yet have 1,000 footers, although, they both have had 1,000 foot proposals in the past. Charlotte had some crazy 1,300 foot tower proposed about 10 to 15 years ago. And Cleveland had a 1,200 foot tower proposed back in the 90s.

Charlotte's tallest right now is the Bank of America Corporate Center with 871 feet and 60 floors. Cleveland's Key Tower is 947 feet with 57 floors.

There are only 5 cities in the US with buildings over 1,000 feet tall. They are: New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Houston in that order of tallest.



There are some. Mostly in Asia and the Middle East. Dubai certainly has some. There are a few in Mexico and South America also.

There's also this tower in Moscow, which has a copper colored glass. It's only a few years old. Here's the construction thread on it:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=106164

I mentioned Charlotte and Cleveland because they are the only cities in our metro range that have buildings close to 1000 feet. Charlotte with its heavier focused office skyline looks good with the 871ft building. Cleveland though, the building is just too big for the size skyline and has a similar effect (not to the same degree) as the Devon Tower in OKC. We aren't ready for a 900+ ft tall building yet, but I think we will in 10 years. For now, we need more infill (which are getting at a rapid pace) and some buildings in the 400-700 foot range. I think we will see some 600+ ft proposals soon with the dwindling condo supply.

I think we are lucky in the decades we had building booms. I do regret that we don't have more early century buildings, but I really like most of the buildings constructed in the 80's. The granite/glass look on the Congress buildings look really nice. The others are also interesting in shape. I do wish the black congress building from the 70's would go away though. All the blue buildings we are getting recently are just helping to balance all the browns in the skyline. The cluster of Austintonian, Marriott, 3rd and Colorado, both Congress buildings, Ashton, and Frost is going to be a great looking cluster. It will also help to anchor our skyline to the middle of downtown.

[KevinFromTexas]

I really don't get the funk on the Bank of America Center. Yes, it is a shapeless black box from the 1970s. But at the time people thought it was cutting edge and ended up redoing the facades of a lot of buildings from the 1920s to 1950s because they felt those buildings were outdated and ugly. It's really sad that those examples of old architectural styles were destroyed when those buildings were renovated. I feel similarly about the Bank of America Center. I know it isn't winning any beauty pageants, but it is one of the few examples of international style architecture that we have from that era. Austin didn't catch the wave of development really until the 1980s. So we already have so little to start with. I would really not want to see us lose any of it.

That said, I am also glad we didn't have many buildings from the 1950s to 1970s. That era of architecture was kind of an afterthought. The designs for just about everything was drab and boring. The only thing that decade had going for it was the music. The few buildings we did get from then weren't so bad. Dobie Center and Chase Bank Tower were both redone.

[StoOgE]

I don't know if a 1000 footer makes sense for Austin's future. Austin has an absolutely massive downtown in area and is a car happy city and many companies are happy to locate in the burbs.

Hopefully one day, but even New York is having a hard time getting 1000' office buildings off the ground.. and 3 of the 4 have government subsidies (and only 2 of those 3 are actually being built right now)

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by StoOgE

I don't know if a 1000 footer makes sense for Austin's future. Austin has an absolutely massive downtown in area and is a car happy city and many companies are happy to locate in the burbs.

Hopefully one day, but even New York is having a hard time getting 1000' office buildings off the ground.. and 3 of the 4 have government subsidies (and only 2 of those 3 are actually being built right now)

I do agree with this, but that I would mention that WTC 3 is nearing final approval and should continue full construction this fall or next spring. Since the foundation and everything else is done, it should go fast. 2 1000+ footers for the Hudson Yards area look to be done deals and starting soon plus all the 1000+ ft condo buildings. New York is pumping out supertalls at a pace seen no where else in the world.

With all that said, all your other points are correct and it will be very hard to get a super tall in Austin.

[Kotliz]

Originally Posted by MightyYoda

I do agree with this, but that I would mention that WTC 3 is nearing final approval and should continue full construction this fall or next spring. Since the foundation and everything else is done, it should go fast. 2 1000+ footers for the Hudson Yards area look to be done deals and starting soon plus all the 1000+ ft condo buildings. New York is pumping out supertalls at a pace seen no where else in the world.

With all that said, all your other points are correct and it will be very hard to get a super tall in Austin.

One attempt at imagining a +-1000-foot tall building in Austin.
(Original photo: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ps48c637ed.jpg)

[lzppjb]

I'm not sure how I feel about that picture.

On one hand, it'd be awesome to have something that tall. On the other, I think it'd look funny without some more buildings the size of Austonian.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I'm not sure how I feel about that picture.

On one hand, it'd be awesome to have something that tall. On the other, I think it'd look funny without some more buildings the size of Austonian.

Also a difference between a 1000 footer with a spire or crown like key bank in Cleveland (I know its ~950ft) and 1000+ all the way to the top. Also using the oh so precise measurement of comparing it to 301 Congress which is 300, that building looks closer to ~1100 to the rooftop. Having the Fairmont and continued to Rainey St. development will help balance the east side of the skyline. I do think right now, a 850ft building (about t.stacy proposal height) would be perfect.

[KevinFromTexas]

Key Tower is actually 888 feet to the roof. The spire height goes to 947 feet. And Cleveland has a fair amount of parking lots around downtown. Of course, they don't have as many as we do, but our downtown is at least two to three times the size of their's.

[MightyYoda]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Key Tower is actually 888 feet to the roof. The spire height goes to 947 feet. And Cleveland has a fair amount of parking lots around downtown. Of course, they don't have as many as we do, but our downtown is at least two to three times the size of their's.

The size of our downtown is interesting in that I think it will be good in the long term, but we are very much the awkward teenager trying to grow into our frame.

[Austin_Expert]

While I do not think Austin will have a 1,000 footer built anytime soon, I believe that based on the image above, surprisingly to me, it would not look out of place in our skyline. I think that image looks fantastic, and as MightyYoda said, as further development such as Fairmont and others are built it would look even more appropriate.