US, skyscrapers look kinda old?

[austin242]

Austins top 5 buildings are 6.8 years old, top 10 are 12.1 , and top 20 are 19.2 years old

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

speak for yourself, who's this "we" you're talking about?

new york, chicago, and miami have all witnessed ridiculous skyscraper building booms this decade. chicago, for example, has built 34 buildings over 500' tall during this boom, the largest single-decade growth of 500 footers in the city's entire history! no, we're not erecting a dozen thousand footers at a time like dubai, but america has never indulged in that kind of skyscraper excess.

And Miami wasn't that far behind. Miami (plus its beach cities) built 28 500+ footers and 71 400+ footers since 2001.

[Austinlee]

Originally Posted by LMich

Here, try this: Make a list of the ones you want to include, and then post.

Thanks for the tip but I'm trying to get 20,000+ posts like my hero LMich.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by PA Pride

Miami's top 25 average age is a stunning 3.68 yrs old!

I came up with a different number because three of the top 25 were completed this year and I gave them zero years instead but our numbers were close. The top 25 in Miami has an average age of 3.76 years!

[plinko]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

speak for yourself, who's this "we" you're talking about?

new york, chicago, and miami have all witnessed ridiculous skyscraper building booms this decade. chicago, for example, has built 34 buildings over 500' tall during this boom, the largest single-decade growth of 500 footers in the city's entire history! no, we're not erecting a dozen thousand footers at a time like dubai, but america has never indulged in that kind of skyscraper excess.

How far ahead are Chicago and NYC in terms of skyscrapers in the US? Based on your post, I took a look and Chicago has basically added the entire skyline of Houston in the last decade. Amazing.

[Lexy]

Originally Posted by plinko

How far ahead are Chicago and NYC in terms of skyscrapers in the US? Based on your post, I took a look and Chicago has basically added the entire skyline of Houston in the last decade. Amazing.

Well me personally, I think they are well ahead of the majority of markets in the US. Now, that has obviously slowed in recent months due to the economy, but Chicago and NYC are sprouting up new (400-500 foot) towers almost every month it seems. What's intresting is that a majority of these (atleast in Chicago) have been residential or mixed-use towers. And most address the pedestrian side of the city quite nicely in comparison to some skyscrapers being built in the US currently.

Atlanta is another market where high-rise construction has really been going on strong like NYC and Chicago. Miami and it's metropolitan city neighbors as well.

[plinko]

Well in the last decade, there have been 176 towers over 500' completed or begun (and still underway). Here's the list:

New York City: 49
Chicago: 34
Miami: 25
Las Vegas: 13
Sunny Isles Beach: 9
Atlanta: 8
Houston: 5
Jersey City: 4
Atlantic City: 3
Austin: 3
Seattle: 3
Charlotte: 3
Miami Beach: 2
Philadelphia: 2
San Francisco: 2
Boston: 2
Mobile: 1
Los Angeles: 1
Cincinnati: 1
Denver: 1
Omaha: 1
St. Louis: 1
Raleigh: 1
Virginia Beach: 1
Hallandale Beach: 1

Noticeably absent from this list: Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix & Minneapolis

[ChiSoxRox]

Working on a super list:

First, I ordered the diagrams by official height. I excluded under construction buildings to capture skylines as they are right now.

City.........Age of top 10..top 25

Detroit.............44.0......51.0....note half the top 10 is the Renaissance Center
Pittsburgh........46.6......47.5
Kansas City......42.7......45.8....wow, surprising
Cleveland.........32.0......42.0
St. Louis..........34.1......38.8
Cincinnati.........43.4......37.5
New York.........45.3......34.6....the pre-WWII giants bring the top 10 up
New Orleans.....30.3......34.0
Dallas..............27.3......34.0....a few pre-1970 buildings bring the top 25 up
Philadelphia......26.0.......31.6
Denver............22.1.......31.5
Boston............28.9.......30.7
San Francisco...25.1......29.2
Minneapolis......20.8.......29.0
Baltimore.........31.5.......27.7
Houston...........28.1......27.7
Los Angeles......26.2......26.1
Seattle............23.7......24.6
Chicago...........26.2......18.2....the boom affects the top 25 (no Spire, WV)
Atlanta............18.7......15.0
Miami................6.1.......5.4.....

Without City Hall, Philly's top 10 drops to 15.7 years due to the Gentleman's Agreement. (City Hall is 8th)

If the Renaissance Center is counted as one building from 1977, the top 10 for Detroit are on average 60.1 years old and the top 25 is 56.4 years. (!)

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by plinko

Well in the last decade, there have been 177 towers over 500' completed or begun (and still underway). Here's the list:

New York City: 49
Chicago: 34
Miami: 26
Las Vegas: 13
Sunny Isles Beach: 9
Atlanta: 8
Houston: 5
Jersey City: 4
Atlantic City: 3
Austin: 3
Seattle: 3
Charlotte: 3
Miami Beach: 2
Philadelphia: 2
San Francisco: 2
Boston: 2
Mobile: 1
Los Angeles: 1
Cincinnati: 1
Denver: 1
Omaha: 1
St. Louis: 1
Raleigh: 1
Virginia Beach: 1
Hallandale Beach: 1

Noticeably absent from this list: Dallas, Detroit, Phoenix & Minneapolis

Interesting list, I appreciate the effort it took to make it. Glad to see my beloved Houston hasn't been sleeping on this too much. Biggest surprise for me is Dallas and LA.

[plinko]

Just for comparison (to REALLY understand how the last decade has been for US skyscraper construction), here's the breakdown by decade of 500' buildings completed in the US:

2000-2009: 176 (as of now, only 134 of these are 'completed', but about 15 more are in the finishing stages or are at least topped out)
New York City: 36 + 13 U.C. = 49
Chicago: 29 + 5 U.C. = 34
Miami: 21 + 4 U.C. = 25
Las Vegas: 6 + 7 U.C. = 13
Sunny Isles Beach: 8 + 1 U.C. = 9
Atlanta: 7 + 1 U.C. = 8
Houston: 4 + 1 U.C. = 5
Jersey City: 4
Austin: 2 + 1 U.C. = 3
Seattle: 2 + 1 U.C. = 3
Charlotte: 1 + 2 U.C. = 3
Atlantic City: 1 + 2 U.C. = 3
Miami Beach: 2
Philadelphia: 2
San Francisco: 2
Boston: 2
Mobile: 1
Omaha: 1
St. Louis: 1
Raleigh: 1
Virginia Beach: 1
Hallandale Beach: 1
Los Angeles: 1 U.C.
Cincinnati: 1 U.C.
Denver: 1 U.C.

1990-1999: 73
New York City: 19
Chicago: 14
Los Angeles: 6
Philadelphia: 6
Atlanta: 5
Jersey City: 2
Las Vegas: 2
Tampa: 2
Minneapolis: 2
Detroit: 1
Charlotte: 1
Miami: 1
Columbus: 1
Cleveland: 1
Boston: 1
Seattle: 1
Hartford: 1
Nashville: 1
Jacksonville: 1
Indianapolis: 1
Sandy Springs: 1
Des Moines: 1
Louisville: 1
San Diego: 1

1980-1989: 157 (I'm very suprised by this)
New York City: 38
Chicago: 22
Houston: 16
Dallas: 11
Los Angeles: 6
San Francisco: 6
Seattle: 6
Minneapolis: 5
Denver: 5
Pittsburgh: 4
Atlanta: 4
Boston: 4
Miami: 3
Fort Worth: 3
New Orleans: 2
Kansas City: 2
St. Louis: 2
Tampa: 2
Portland: 2
Tulsa: 2
Columbus: 2
Charlotte: 1
Philadelphia: 1
Jersey City: 1
Cleveland: 1
Indianapolis: 1
Sandy Springs: 1
Milwaukee: 1
San Antonio: 1
Little Rock: 1
Hartford: 1

1970-1979: 112
New York City: 36
Chicago: 16
Houston: 9
Boston: 8
Los Angeles: 7
San Francisco: 7
Detroit: 5
Dallas: 3
Seattle: 2
Tulsa: 2
Atlanta: 1
New Orleans: 1
Minneapolis: 1
Pittsburgh: 1
Albany: 1
Milwaukee: 1
Columbus: 1
Portland: 1
Jacksonville: 1
Buffalo: 1
Baltimore: 1
Louisville: 1
Denver: 1
Indianapolis: 1
Charlotte: 1
Philadelphia: 1
Oklahoma City: 1

1960-1969: 51 (though the Space Needle, Tower of the Americas, the Gateway Arch and the Vehicle Assembly Building make it 55)
New York City: 28
Chicago: 8
San Francisco: 3
Los Angeles: 2
Dallas: 2
Houston: 2
Seattle: 2
Boston: 1
Pittsburgh: 1
Cleveland: 1
New Orleans: 1
Atlanta: 1
San Antonio: 1
Cape Canaveral: 1
St. Louis: 1

1950-1959: 10
New York City: 6
Dallas: 2
Chicago: 1
Pittsburgh: 1

1940-1949: 1
Dallas: 1

1930-1939: 30
New York City: 22
Chicago: 4
Pittsburgh: 2
Cleveland: 1
Cincinnati: 1

1920-1929: 27
New York City: 14
Chicago: 8
Detroit: 1
Columbus: 1
Pittsburgh: 1
Baltimore: 1

1910-1919: 6
New York City: 4
Cincinnati: 1 (the CinDayKY Flaming House of Central Trust)
Hartford: 1

1900-1909: 3
New York City: 2
Philadelphia: 1

[bobdreamz]

thanks for this list plinko! I think that it's safe to say that the 2000's belonged to Miami in terms of a boom in the real sense. Thirty years ago Miami didn't even have one 500 footer and now it has 27 in total and three other Miami suburbs also made your 2000-2009 list.
Sunny Isles Beach : 9
Miami Beach : 2
Hallandale Beach : 1
and with Miami's 25 the metro built 37 buildings over 500 feet this decade.

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by plinko

Just for comparison (to REALLY understand how the last decade has been for US skyscraper construction), here's the breakdown by decade of 500' buildings completed in the US:

1910-1919: 5
New York City: 4
Hartford: 1

1900-1909: 3
New York City: 2
Philadelphia: 1

Actually, Cincinnati's Central Trust Tower (now PNC) was originally built as 505 feet in 1913. It stayed that way until they took down the mini-crown atop the chimney because it was, well, melting. I'm guessing it's the only original 500+ footer that actually went below the 500 foot mark in US history?


http://www.cincinnativiews.net/


http://www.cincinnativiews.net/

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

Actually, Cincinnati's Central Trust Tower (now PNC) was originally built as 505 feet in 1913. It stayed that way until they took down the mini-crown atop the chimney because it was, well, melting.

melting? what the hell? did they build it out of wax or something?

interesting story anyway, and one that this longtime scraper nerd was not aware of. so cincinnati was technically the 3rd city in the world to join the 500' club after new york and philly. i did not know that.

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

I'm guessing it's the only original 500+ footer that actually went below the 500 foot mark in US history?

yeah, you're probably right on that. our nation has lost five 500+ footers to total demolition/destruction (NYC's WTC 1,2,7 & singer building and chicago's morrison hotel), but i can't think of any other building currently standing that was originally a 500+ footer but has shrunk below the threshold due to partial demolition.




and plinko, much thanks for compiling all that research and for completely debunking the myth that the US isn't building skyscrapers anymore.

[plinko]

There may be a couple of omissions here and there. I used the diagrams for the data and I think three buildings had incomplete height data (and only looked like they made it due to flagpoles), so I didn't count them (1 in NYC, 1 in Newark, 1 in Baltimore).

Totally forgot about Central Trust in Cincinnati, but I never knew that's why the height 'shrunk'. Interesting.

I'm really suprised that the 80's will still reign supreme in terms of overall numbers. I figured the current decade would top it. Still, likely the most ever in NYC for a decade, certainly the most for Chicago, and greater Miami? Epic and probably scarily overbuilt.

Conspicuously absent from the 1990's last was again Dallas, which is suprising considering it ranked so highly through the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. Last 500'er to be built in Dallas? Cityplace Center East in 1989. 20 years!

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by plinko

1920-1929: 26
New York City: 14
Chicago: 7
Detroit: 1
Columbus: 1
Pittsburgh: 1
Baltimore: 1

going off of chris's catch for cincinnati, it appears that you forgot to include chicago's morrison hotel, which was later demolished. chicago erected 8 500+ footers in the '20s:

Chicago Temple Building - 568' - 1924
Palmolive Building - 565' - 1929
Pittsfield Building - 557' -1927
Civic Opera Building - 555' - 1929
Morrison Hotel - 526' - 1926 (demolished in 1965)
35 East Wacker Drive - 523' - 1927
Mather Tower - 521'-1928
Carbide & Carbon Building - 503'- 1929

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by plinko

Conspicuously absent from the 1990's last was again Dallas, which is suprising considering it ranked so highly through the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. Last 500'er to be built in Dallas? Cityplace Center East in 1989. 20 years!

20 years!?! good god, that is indeed mighty strange for a city that has been growing so robustly over that same time span. you might expect a stat like that for any one of the old rust-belters (or places like phoenix or san jose that don't "do" skyscrapers), but not for one of the biggest, most powerful metros down in the sun-belt with a previously strong propensity for skyscraper construction. weird.

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

melting? what the hell? did they build it out of wax or something?

interesting story anyway, and one that this longtime scraper nerd was not aware of. so cincinnati was technically the 3rd city in the world to join the 500' club after new york and philly. i did not know that.

I believe the crown was metal (don't quote me on that) but it was literally over a fire pit of doom (the chimney of terror) and the "urban myth" was it darn near melted off the damn building. In "later years," it became discoloured and they just took the damn thing off. Shame really because I like the old extension.

[alexjon]

You forgot the Smith Tower, completed in 1914 at 522': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Tower

[Steely Dan]

^ i believe that's an overstated height for the building. emporis lists it at 462' and SSP has it 489'. i would trust those two sites FAR more than i would wikipedia.

[vid]

The article was vandalized. According to the cited source for that height:

When Seattle's pyramid-capped Smith Tower officially opened on July 4, 1914, its greatest claim to fame was its 462-foot height.

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm...m&File_Id=4310

Always check the citations and history when quoting from Wikipedia! If that 489 feet is the roof height, SSP is wrong. I would estimate that that is the height to the top of the flag pole (pinnacle height), the "roof height" (top of the pyramid) is 468 feet.

Edit: Not only that, but the article that was cited to prove Wikipedia's claim to 522 feet actually mentions that the tower is occasionally rumoured to be 500 or 522 feet, or to have 42 floors instead of 34! It was probably changed by someone who wanted to put it into the "Skyscrapers between 150 and 199m" category, which I removed when I corrected the heights.