The city of Austin, the state capital of Texas, is the 10th most populous city in the United States as of July 2023[update] and the central hub of the Greater Austin metropolitan statistical area.[1][2] According to data from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), there are 33 buildings in Austin with heights of at least 100 m (330 ft). CTBUH also ranks Austin 19th nationally and 3rd statewide based on the number of completed buildings with heights of at least 490 ft (150 m). The aggregated heights of Austin's high-rises is second in Texas, behind Houston, based on data from Texas Real Estate Source.[3][4] The current tallest completed building in Austin is Sixth and Guadalupe, with a height of 874 ft (266 m), followed by The Independent at 690 ft (210 m) and The Austonian at 680 ft (210 m).[a] The Independent has been the tallest completed building in Austin and the tallest in Texas outside of Dallas and Houston since its completion in 2019,[6] though its height was surpassed by the 875 ft (267 m) tall Sixth and Guadalupe currently under construction.
Bearing a height of 311 ft (95 m),[7] The Texas State Capitol remained the tallest structure in Austin long after its construction in the 1880s, with the city's central Congress Avenue otherwise lined with single-story buildings through the start of the 1900s.[8] The eight-story Scarbrough Building and the nine-story Littlefield Building, built between 1910 and 1912, were Austin's first high-rise buildings; the Littlefield Building was the tallest commercial building in the U.S. west of New Orleans and east of San Francisco upon its completion.[9] In 1928, the Austin City Council briefly considered setting a 100 ft (30 m) height limit for future construction in the city but backed away from the proposal.[10]
After the mid-20th century, Downtown Austin began to transition from being predominantly composed of low-rise buildings to a skyline with high-rises.[11] Beginning with the 26-story Westgate Tower, the addition of new skyscrapers to Downtown Austin between 1967 and 1980 led to an increasing realization that views of the state capitol from certain vantage points could become obscured.[8] The capitol was also no longer the city's tallest building,[12] surpassed in height by the Dobie Center and the Chase Bank Tower.[b] In response, the Texas State Legislature and the City of Austin created 35 Texas Capitol View Corridors that would preserve selected views of the capitol.[8] By the mid-1980s, Austin featured over a dozen skyscrapers,[12] with at least 12 buildings built during the decade featuring at least 15 floors.[18] Described by the Austin American-Statesman as "the first downtown high-rise wave", the uptick in skyscraper construction that began in the 1980s was mostly characterized by granite and limestone office buildings.[19] More rapid construction of new high-rises in downtown Austin began by the 1990s and continued thereafter,[8] contrasting a concurrent slowdown in the construction of new skyscrapers in Dallas and Houston.[12]Mark Lamster, an architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News, attributed the emergence of increasingly taller skyscrapers to the small size and high density of Austin, incentivizing vertical growth due to the resultingly high cost of land.[12] The Statesman identified a second wave of new skyscrapers in Austin that began in the early 2000s, including construction of the Frost Bank Tower. By 2010, the construction of new residential buildings and office space for technology companies accounted for most of the city's new skyscrapers.[12] By 2023, the combined height of Austin's high-rises overtook Dallas according to Texas Real Estate Source.[4][3]
Austin has 56 completed buildings that stand at least 300 feet (91 m) tall based on standard height measurement. This height includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts.[c] Unless otherwise noted, heights and floor counts are values assessed by CTBUH.
Tallest building in Austin from 1974–1975 until surpassed by Bank of America Center[100][17]
Constructed as American Bank Plaza and formerly known as American Bank Building, MBank Tower, Bank One Tower, and Chase Bank Tower[101][100][102]
A renovation completed in 1994 introduced 40 ft (12 m) tall roof addition and replaced the formerly gold-tinted glass façade with pewter-colored glass[100][103]
Tallest under construction, approved, and proposed
This lists buildings that are currently under construction in Austin and are expected to rise to a height of at least 250 ft (76 m). Buildings under construction that have already been topped out are also included. Unless otherwise noted, heights and floor counts are values assessed by CTBUH.
This list includes buildings that have held the title of the tallest building (as measured by architectural height and not tip or roof height) in Austin as well as the current titleholder, The Independent.
^ abUnless otherwise noted, heights in this article refer to the architectural height of buildings. CTBUH defines this measure as "The level of the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance to the architectural top of the building, including spires, but not including antennae, signage, flagpoles or other functional-technical equipment."[5]
^ abThe Dobie Center, completed in 1972, has a total height of 328 ft (100 m) and an architectural height of approximately 307 ft (94 m).[13][14] The former value is taller than the 311 ft (95 m) height of the Texas State Capitol while the latter is shorter.[15][16] The Chase Bank Tower, completed in 1974, has an architectural height of around 325 ft (99 m), making it unambiguously taller than the capitol building.[17]
^If two or more buildings are of the same height, they are listed in order of floor count, then alphabetically. The "Year" column indicates the year in which a building was completed.
^ abSources disagree on the height of Sixth and Guadalupe. CTBUH lists the height of Sixth and Guadalupe as 874 ft (266 m).[20] SKYDB lists a height of 837 ft (255 m).[146]SkyscraperPage lists a height of 874 ft (266 m).[147]
^Sources disagree on the height of The Independent. CTBUH lists the height of The Independent as 694 ft (212 m).[22] SKYDB lists a height of 685 ft (209 m).[23]SkyscraperPage lists a height of 690 ft (210 m).[24]
^ abcdefghBuilding data from SkyscraperPage. CTBUH either lacks information on this building or does not list this building.
References
General
"Buildings of Austin". Emporis. Archived from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
^Rambin, James, and James RambinJames. “A Tower's in the Works at Fourth and Brazos in Downtown Austin.” TOWERS, 18 Feb. 2020, austin.towers.net/theres-a-tower-in-the-works-at-fourth-and-brazos-in-downtown-austin/?agent=.