HOUSTON | Texas Tower | 735 FT / 224 M | 47 FLOORS

[Cory]

.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

So, just for the fun of it since I was curious myself, I did a list of the cities with and without a building in their top 5 tallest that was built within the last 30 years.

Now name the cities whose top 5 tallest were/are as tall as Houston's. The bar was set a bit high a long time ago for Houston.


ETA: And I'm NOT saying there aren't any. I'm saying there aren't nearly as many as the list posted above. When you start off low, it's easy to go higher.

[JManc]

The towers going up here approach the square footage of Chase, Wells Fargo and Transco (refuse to call it Williams) which is between 1-2 million s/f and are 900'+

I don't see anything much bigger than that going up. The new ones take up the entire blocks where the tallests take up a small portion and lack parking. Except Transco which is in Uptown.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by JManc

The towers going up here approach the square footage of Chase, Wells Fargo and Transco (refuse to call it Williams) which is between 1-2 million s/f and are 900'+

Huh? I read they're both ~750 feet tall

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Not kidding at all. Since this is a Houston thread, I will say that the skylines of Houston have grown by leaps and bounds, at least the secondary skylines. The "multitude" of new talls are largely in the secondary skylines.

What "multitude of new talls" are you talking about?

Thanks for making that list Kev because not only are Dallas and Houston by far the two biggest cities on that list but they're also the fastest growing which has been my point all along. I don't know why people argue with me about this stuff

[JManc]

You read my comment wrong, i never said anything about the new towers' height. Only their square footage. The three tallest here are 900' and above.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Now name the cities whose top 5 tallest were/are as tall as Houston's. The bar was set a bit high a long time ago for Houston.


ETA: And I'm NOT saying there aren't any. I'm saying there aren't nearly as many as the list posted above. When you start off low, it's easy to go higher.

Yeah, Houston's skyline grew a lot during the 80s. There are only two other cities in the US with more buildings over 700 feet than Houston. Chicago has about twice as many 700 footers as Houston does, and New York has about twice as many as Chicago has, and likewise, Houston has about twice as many as Dallas has.

Over 700 feet.

Atlanta - 5
Atlantic City - 1
Boston - 2 + 1 U/C
Charlotte - 2
Chicago - 22 + 4
Cleveland - 2
Dallas - 5
Denver - 2
Detroit - 1 + 1 U/C
Houston - 11 + 1 U/C
Indianapolis - 1
Jersey City - 2 + 2 U/C
Las Vegas - 0 + 1 U/C
Los Angeles - 9
Miami - 4 + 2 U/C
Minneapolis - 3
Mobile - 1
New York - 51 + 25 U/C
Oklahoma City - 1
Philadelphia - 7
Pittsburgh - 2
San Francisco - 4 + 1 U/C
Seattle - 4 + 1 U/C

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Yeah, Houston's skyline grew a lot during the 80s...

I had to laugh when I saw San Antonio on that list. You could stand on the top rung of a ladder and be in the Top 5 here.

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I had to laugh when I saw San Antonio on that list. You could stand on the top rung of a ladder and be in the Top 5 here.

Originally Posted by JManc

You read my comment wrong, i never said anything about the new towers' height. Only their square footage. The three tallest here are 900' and above.

Oh I thought you mean't there were three buildings under construction that tall


As a proud Canadian, I have to add that Toronto has 14 buildings over 700 feet (not including the CN Tower) with another 10 under construction which will make them very close to Chicago's numbers although only 1 will (just barely) be a supertall

[Urbannizer]

ekdrm2d1

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

As a proud Canadian, I have to add that Toronto has 14 buildings over 700 feet (not including the CN Tower) with another 10 under construction

How much of that is foreign (read Chinese) capital being "parked" offshore, especially since Vancouver started taxing vacant residential properties? When I look at Toronto these days, I'm afraid I may be seeing the spectacular results of a rapidly expanding real estate bubble.

Speaking of Toronto, I lived there for a couple of years as a kid in the early 70s. It's amazing to see it now. It's really come into its own since the old "Toronto the Good" days (which were waning while I was there).


From The Guardian: Nearly 40% of Toronto Condos Not Owner-occupied, New Figures Reveal https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-affordability

[Twitter1]

[Phil McAvity]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

How much of that is foreign (read Chinese) capital being "parked" offshore, especially since Vancouver started taxing vacant residential properties? When I look at Toronto these days, I'm afraid I may be seeing the spectacular results of a rapidly expanding real estate bubble.

Speaking of Toronto, I lived there for a couple of years as a kid in the early 70s. It's amazing to see it now. It's really come into its own since the old "Toronto the Good" days (which were waning while I was there).


From The Guardian: Nearly 40% of Toronto Condos Not Owner-occupied, New Figures Reveal https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...-affordability

As a BCer i'm well aware of foreign investors snapping up condos in Vancouver and the recent 15% provincial tax added to them as a result but this is the first i've heard of it happening in TO so Doug Ford might be put in the awkward situation of bringing in a similar tax as a deterrent. The city was called "Toronto the Good" because of a puritanical 19th century mayor named William Howland but I suspect the name stuck because of the city's far lower violent crime rate than similar-sized American metropolis'

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Phil McAvity

but I suspect the name stuck because...

When my family moved there in the summer of 1971, department stores downtown had curtains on the display windows that were still being closed on Sundays because window-shopping instead of being in church was “sinful.” I kid you not. Toronto was VERY Protestant and very white in its “Good” days. Two years later CITY Channel 79 debuted and broadcast soft core porn on Fridays at midnight.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I don't know about Dallas (as a native Houstonian, I don't want to know about Dallas ), but don't you think the real reason in Houston is because there's already a glut of office space available? And with Exxon and Shell having moved to the suburbs, it's only gotten worse. Much of the construction of tall structures in the US and Canada is residential. Houston has yet to fully embrace living in high rises.

Obviously the glut of new office construction within the last 10 years is a big hindrance, but there's also the glut of aging office space that was built in mass during the 70s/80s that is due to be renovated or demolished. Downtown Houston seems to have momentum going for it.

[Urbannizer]

Houston Skyline Over Sesquicentennial Park by Mabry Campbell, on Flickr

[Cory]

Southside of downtown has some catching up to do. One Market Square, The Preston, and Texas Tower are really changing the historic district. Cannot wait to see how these buildings co-mingle with all the other older buildings.

[Wattleigh]

c/o 'ekdrm2d1' on HAIF

[Twitter1]

[Urbannizer]

Hines New Downtown Houston Towers by brijonmang, on Flickr

[colemonkee]

^ Is there anything planned for the surface lot center-bottom of that shot? Seems like a prime lot to me.