Jump to content

Tallest Condo Tower


77017

Recommended Posts

  • 3 months later...

As far as I know, nothing in Dallas or Austin has surpassed anything in Houston.

What is the highest residential floor in Houston? Please share if you do know. I am guessing it is around 30-40 floors...

I think the current highest in Dallas is in the upper 20's (the soon to be completed W will be in the low 30's). And I don't think there is much in Austin above mid 20-s at all (i.e. condos above Hilton at Convention Center).

Dallas currently has several residential towers under construction, but none as tall as Houston's tallest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Huntington is the tallest by actual height but it is only 34 floors.

The tallest in Houston by floor count would be the Four Season Towers (Pelli twins in Uptown/Galleria). They each have 40 floors. The penthouses in both buildings are really unique in that they are two stories tall and have walkout loggias.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I know, nothing in Dallas or Austin has surpassed anything in Houston.

What is the highest residential floor in Houston? Please share if you do know. I am guessing it is around 30-40 floors...

I think the current highest in Dallas is in the upper 20's (the soon to be completed W will be in the low 30's). And I don't think there is much in Austin above mid 20-s at all (i.e. condos above Hilton at Convention Center).

Dallas currently has several residential towers under construction, but none as tall as Houston's tallest.

That skyscraper in Downtown Dallas surpassed the Huntington in height... Only because it was once a Commercial Building, and its only the giant spire/pole that makes it taller.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That skyscraper in Downtown Dallas surpassed the Huntington in height... Only because it was once a Commercial Building, and its only the giant spire/pole that makes it taller.

I think you are probably referring to the Republic Bank Tower conversion.

According to the World Almanac that building is 36 floors and 602 ft with the spire, meanwhile the Huntington is 503 ft (no spire) and 34 floors. I don't know how tall that spire is, but I imagine that these buildings are pretty similar.

The real difference is that the Republic Bank building is in the center of the Dallas CBD while the Huntington stands generally alone on the west side, increasing its profile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
the one in downtown dallas is the talles.

Only if you are willing to count the spire. . . (and I'm not). Besides which, "the one in downtown Dallas" is probably still nearly a year away from having any residents.

Oh, and one more thing: "the one in downtown Dallas" will not even be a condo tower. It will be rental apartments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think you are probably referring to the Republic Bank Tower conversion.

According to the World Almanac that building is 36 floors and 602 ft with the spire, meanwhile the Huntington is 503 ft (no spire) and 34 floors. I don't know how tall that spire is, but I imagine that these buildings are pretty similar.

The RepublicBank Building is a mere 452 feet without the spire.

RepublicBank

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
But it is taller with the spire. And the Spire is considered part of the building. (As an ornament, not as a radio or telecommunications). So techinically speaking, it is the tallest Residential Building in Texas.

Where is it written that a spire is considered part of the building. Were some of the verses of my book of Genesis left out? "And on the eighth day God decreed that spires shall be considered part of buildings when calculating heights, but only if they are ornaments, not if they are radio or telecommunications." But what if they are ornamental radio or telecommunications? Or telecommunicating ornaments? ;-)

In fact, On July 10, 1997, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat met in Chicago to announce new standards with four categories for measuring tall buildings. These categories are:

1. Height to the structural or architectural top.

2. Height to the highest occupied floor.

3. Height to the top of the roof.

4. Height to the top of antenna.

Three thoughts:

(1)This topic was about the tallest Condo tower, not tallest residential tower. The building in Dallas will be rental, so does not even fit in the category being asked about.

(2) The building in Dallas is under construction and has no one living in it, so as of today, the Huntingdon is still the tallest residential building in Texas, no matter how loose of a definition you want to use in measuring heights of buildings.

(3) In my opinion, when judging what is the tallest condo building or the tallest residential building, the salient question is, which building has residences the farthest from the ground (highest occupied floor). Even after people start moving in to the building in Dalls, the Huntingdon (and probably several other buildings in Houston) will have several floors of residences that are higher in the sky than any residences in downtown Dallas, or elsewhere in the state.

A little more on the spire issue. When I look at a building to judge its height (and I think most people would do the same) I look at where the top of the main structure is, not to the top of any little ornamental spire sticking up like a flag pole. For this reason I think one has to include the ornamental structure on top of the Bank of America building in Atlanta, but it seems ridiculous to include the little flag-pole-like ornament on top of that building in Dallas. I question whether this particular ornament would even qualify as the "structural or architecural top" of the building; I would say not. I can imagine that if you showed a picture of the two buildings in that Dallas complex to any number of people and asked them which building is the taller. . . after they looked at you like you were out of your mind for even asking the question, and then pondered whether it was a trick question, about 99% would tell you that the 50 story building next door is taller than the 34 story building being converted to residential.

I think this one may be the new tallest condo tower in Texas. I am not for sure. Its in Fort Worth.

thetower-10-29-05.jpg

thetower-10-08-05.jpg

burnettpark2.jpg

thetower-01-21-06.jpg

thetower-01-15-06-night2.jpg

thetower-01-15-06-night.jpg

This building in Fort Worth (now called The Tower) is 488 feet tall. So, no, it is not the tallest condo tower or the tallest residential tower in Texas, no matter how you measure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Where is it written that a spire is considered part of the building.

Ignoring the building in Dallas I think it is written many places. It is a very common standard used. In fact just look at Emporis and how they (and most other groups) rate the Petronas Towers taller than the Sears Tower. It looks very silly to me when you look at a graphic like this though:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0001338.html

The spires on top of the Petronas Towers are even more wimpy than that of the Republic Center, and they earned it "worlds tallest" by most accounts.

Like I said I agree with you, but I do recognize that others have another view. As you said it doesn't matter for the Republic Center because its not a condo tower anyway.

Jason

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Republic Center's spire is not wimpy and wasn't built to make it taller than anything. I don't think anyone in Dallas knows or cares if its the tallest residential in Texas.

republicspire.jpg

This will all be moot once The Mandarin Victory(45 stories and 600ft) and Hall's tower in the Arts District is completed. The Hall tower(50 stories and undisclosed height, but from the model, will be in the 800ft range) was assumed by all to be a no go or simply pie in the sky. Then Hall came out with a statement about wanting to start when material prices lowered a bit. Now we now see that Hunt Construction has been awarded the construction contract to build it starting this coming fall.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm in the "spires don't count" camp. I want to see how tall the actual structure is, anybody can put a spire on. I always loved the World Trade Centers when visiting New York, they we're so massive.

Speaking of spires, how tall would One Shell Plaza be if the needle on top was counted?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Whether the spire counts should depend on whether its part of the structure or if its just an added on communications tower. The Republic Center tower is part of the structure, but Rennaissance Tower(Dallas) added their's on. I wouldn't count it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't remember the official measurement of Shell with the antennae, but I can remember ballpark. The World Book Almanac has it at over 900 feet with the antennae. I agree more with Rantanamo; if the "spire" looks as if its a functional part of the building's structure, it should count. If it looks as if it was an "add on", then it shouldn't.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Speaking of spires, how tall would One Shell Plaza be if the needle on top was counted?

According to Skyscraperpage.com, 1,000 feet. But take that with a grain of salt. I'll see if I can find a more authoritative source.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to Skyscraperpage.com, 1,000 feet. But take that with a grain of salt. I'll see if I can find a more authoritative source.

I checked with the new federal Antenna Structure Registry, and it's not there I think it might not need to be registered anymore since it's overshadowed by other nearby skyscrapers. But I'll keep checking other things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I checked with the new federal Antenna Structure Registry, and it's not there I think it might not need to be registered anymore since it's overshadowed by other nearby skyscrapers. But I'll keep checking other things.

So... the tower, itself, has no registration number. But the antenna is carrying KFB875. The scanner nuts among you will recognize that call sign as one of the Harris County communications frequencies.

According to the FCC, the antenna tip is 235 meters. That means 771 feet. Skyscraperpage has the roof of One Shell Plaza at 714 feet, so I guess that makes sense. So is the 1,000 foot number an urban legend?

Here's the relevant page for those who want to look at it themselves.

Another point -- antennae cannot be more than 20 feet taller than the tallest element of obstruction lighting. I'm not near any detailed pictures of the building right now to see if this matters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So... the tower, itself, has no registration number. But the antenna is carrying KFB875. The scanner nuts among you will recognize that call sign as one of the Harris County communications frequencies.

According to the FCC, the antenna tip is 235 meters. That means 771 feet. Skyscraperpage has the roof of One Shell Plaza at 714 feet, so I guess that makes sense. So is the 1,000 foot number an urban legend?

Here's the relevant page for those who want to look at it themselves.

Another point -- antennae cannot be more than 20 feet taller than the tallest element of obstruction lighting. I'm not near any detailed pictures of the building right now to see if this matters.

It can't be an Urban Legened. Its so obviously slightly taller/exactly the same/lesser height then the Wells Fargo Plaza. Maybe you got the wrong "transmitter"? :wacko:

Ok, at certain images it looks slightly less taller/same height/slightly taller then the WFP.

I saw on a site once that the tip of the very top of the antenna was reaching a total of 304.8m. Emporis reads 1 Shell Plaza to have a base to roof height of 218m. Meaning, the antenna from the roof to its tip is 86.4m tall. (The JP Morgan Chase Tower being 305.4m, and the Wells Fargo Plaza being 296.0m)

:blink:

Speaking of Urban Lengends, editor, when will you change the one about the JP Morgan Chase Tower? ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The antenna at One Shell Plaza reaches to around 1,000 feet. There are several photos on emporis.com that show the antenna to reach almost the exact same height as Wells Fargo.

The one building that has always confused me is the St Luke's Medical Tower. It's official height is listed at 316 feet. Apparently, the needle spires aren't counted in the height, but even without them, 316 feet seems way too short. Especially when you consider that the nearby Marriott Hotel is listed at 265 feet. There's NO WAY St Luke's is only 51 feet taller than the Marriott even without the spires!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
I don't think the one in Fortworth is the tallest... but I can't get emporis to work, to check.

The building Ft. Worth is an interesting story. 5 or so years ago a tornado hit downtown Ft. Worth hard and that building was taken out. It was preiously an office building but is now a condo complex. I do a lot of business in Ft. Worth and the locals are very proud of this building. I admit that I like it too. As for being the tallest, I will defer to what has been previously written on here.

I do think it is rediculous to count a spire to the height. It seems to me that almost any building could add a spire to get the record. Granted, this is not the best way to spend your money, but some buildings want that recognition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The building Ft. Worth is an interesting story. 5 or so years ago a tornado hit downtown Ft. Worth hard and that building was taken out. It was preiously an office building but is now a condo complex. I do a lot of business in Ft. Worth and the locals are very proud of this building. I admit that I like it too. As for being the tallest, I will defer to what has been previously written on here.

Except that Jack, Kyle, and Kirk are having a bear of a time filling the ground level retail space...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...