Austin Takes Height Crown from Houston
Austin has dethroned Houston as Texas' tallest building after completing Waterline, a 74-story mixed-use tower in downtown Austin. The skyscraper stands at an impressive 1,025 feet tall, surpassing the height of Houston's JPMorgan Chase Tower by 23 feet.
However, in a surprising twist, Houston's tower still has more floors with 75 stories compared to Waterline's 74. This means that while Austin wins on height, Houston retains its bragging right as having the most floors.
Waterline is a massive undertaking, covering over 2.7 million square feet and featuring apartments, a hotel, offices, restaurants, retail, and parking. The top 33 floors contain 352 apartments, while another 13 floors make up the 252-room 1 Hotel Austin.
The construction of Waterline took 48 months to complete, finishing two months ahead of schedule, with approximately 6,800 workers contributing over 4.5 million hours to the project. According to DPR Project Executive Brett Bickford, 'Waterline pushed every assumption about scale, complexity and coordination.'