SkyscraperPage Forum - ABOVE Austin and yes, some ground shots too!

:dancing: Man, I've been waiting for this for a LONG time. Thanks a bunch, KC! These are fantastic! Come back again in a year or so when several new buildings, a couple of 400 footers, 500 footers and even a 600 footer are up in the air.

By the way, check out KCgridlock's website to see the rest of the photos he took of Austin. I'm like a kid in a candy store with these. Haha
http://www.urban-photos.com/albums/53/Austin_Texas

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A few notes and observations of what you can see.

In this shot you can see that they had turned the exterior lighting on AMLI on 2nd. On the end of the building near the top you'll notice a green light. I'm not sure if this is the extent of the lighting on this building. I would think there would be more. This is a new apartment building (225 feet with 18 floors) that is near completion. It's part of the booming 2nd Street District which will add hundreds of new residential units to the southern end of downtown and 245,000 square feet of retail space (so far).
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_03_8241.jpg

Vid will like this photo since it shows one of his new favorite buildings in Austin. :D The building to the left is The Monarch. This is a new apartment tower in Austin's West End. It's also wrapping up construction. It's 323 feet with 29 floors. It's named The Monarch after the roof design which resembles the wings of a butterfly angled upwards. The taller building to the right of course is 360 Condominiums (563 feet to the spire, 473 feet to the roof with 44 floors). This is not only the new tallest building in Austin but is also the new tallest all residential building in Texas thanks to the spire. This building will only hold that title for a year however since The Austonian (683 feet with 56 floors) also in Austin, will be completed sometime late next year or early in 2010, it's already under construction.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...ustin_8988.jpg

Here you can see Altavida under construction to the left. This is a new apartment tower going up along 2nd Street. This building will be 412 feet tall with 37 floors. The brown building immediately to the right of it is 100 Congress. That building is 320 feet tall with 22 floors, it's office. Behind it and to the right you can just barely see a tower crane there. That is one of two cranes that is working on The Austonian which will be Austin's new tallest at 683 feet with 56 floors. It's all condominiums with retail. At that height it will put Austin ahead of Fort Worth for "tallest tallest" making it the tallest in the state outside of Houston and Dallas. It will also be one of the tallest all residential buildings in the US. Only a handful of cities will have taller ones. With 360 Condominiums Austin has already passed San Antonio.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_16_8983.jpg

Another closer view of the crane and construction site of The Austonian, (lower left).
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_23_8947.jpg

This one shows the excavation work being done for the new Four Seasons Residences (lower right). This is a new 32-story condominium and apartment tower. Site plan info indicates it will be 394 feet tall. Completion is expected in 2010. At this point since it's broken ground before a few others, it should be our 8th tallest in 2010. One unique fact about this building is that it will sport the highest rooftop swimming pool in Texas at almost 400 feet above the street.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_33_8929.jpg

This shot shows the growing Waterfront District on the right side of the pic. The City of Austin rezoned this old downtown neighborhood for highrise development. Since then 3 new highrises have taken off. All residential, the tallest one seen here, Legacy @ Town lake, an apartment building under construction, will be 339 feet with 31 floors. This is one of the new towers that will really help reshape Austin's skyline since it's about 8 blocks from the next 300 footer. Eventually this entire neighborhood, an area of about 21 acres will be developed with highrises. Another tower, a 29-story hotel and condominium tower is also proposed for this area, though news on it has been sketchy.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_39_8006.jpg

Photo showing Spring's red tower crane in the background (top center left). Some people are calling this building Austin's future version of Houston's Williams Tower. Design-wise it actually resembles Dallas' Bank of America Plaza a bit, but since it's away from "the pack", it'll really stand out in Austin's West End. It's still downtown of course. The building will be 434 feet tall with 42 floors. It's all condominiums with retail.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...in_40_8014.jpg

Expansion of Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium. The stadium was originally built in 1924, though the original sections have all been demolished. The current expansion will take seating capacity to just over 90,000. This shot also shows the enormity of the godzillatron on the stadium's south side. It's the largest jumbotron of its kind in the world. 55 feet long and the entire structure is just over 100 feet tall.
http://www.urban-photos.com/gallery/...ustin_8045.jpg

Thanks again to KCgridlock for coming to Austin. These are great because there haven't really been any new aerials of downtown since most of these towers topped out. The last aerials I saw were Mopacs' shots he took in mid-2006 other than just a few pics here and there. So these were much appreciated! :cheers: