Waterline: Mixed-Use Building to be Tallest Tower In Texas

[strickn]

Kbates2 is right to use supertall to mean buildings in the 300-600m range.  But Transco/Williams at 275m still has more appeal than this one.
 

This 98 Red River design is like a joke that's especially edgy because it's at the exact present edge of political correctness but if you were to hear the comedian again in a decade it would be a useless joke.  The best possible outcome is that, if equally tall towers are ever built near I-35 on the old waterfront newspaper headquarters site, then they will form a visually dramatic river gateway together with this.

Edited February 1, 2021 by strickn

[H-Town Man]

On 1/28/2021 at 2:12 PM, kbates2 said:

Looks better than our supertalls, unfortunately.

This one is pretty handsome if you ask me. A refined, integrated composition, not three separate modules that look like they were all designed independently and stuck together.

Edited February 2, 2021 by H-Town Man

[Houston19514]

On 1/31/2021 at 8:18 PM, MaxConcrete said:

The Austin Business Journal recently (28-Jan-21) posted a report with a summary of downtown high-rise activity, including planned and rumored projects.

There is no mention of this project, 98 Red River.

This is what the article says about the tallest building in Austin
 

This project is the closest mentioned to the site of 98 Red River

It is quite mind-boggling to have 43 projects in this report, although of course many are planned and some won't happen. This boom is mostly because it is difficult, expensive and/or impossible to build adequate new housing in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, so the tech industry has to overflow to someplace, and for the moment the preferred overflow location is Austin.

Most of the projects are in the 30-to-50 floor range, which is similar to what we see in Houston, so Austin is subject to the same height limits that apply to new Houston buildings.

I agree with Kbates2 that the rendering is a much more attractive building than Houston's JPMorganChase or Wells Fargo buildings.

Urbanizzer's 1/7 photo shows there is something going on at the site. It seems strange there is no mention by the ABJ.

I'm not sure exactly why, but I've been pretty skeptical about that 98 Red River project since it first came to light.  Perhaps the Austin Business Journal shares my skepticism (or knows even more).

[kbates2]

28 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

I'm not sure exactly why, but I've been pretty skeptical about that 98 Red River project since it first came to light.  Perhaps the Austin Business Journal shares my skepticism (or knows even more).

Two sides of that for me: On one hand, even when I searched online to find more about it, the articles that I found had a HAIF poster as their only source.  On the other hand, that poster was Paco Jones who is almost always correct.

[H-Town Man]

We have some pretty detailed renderings including architectural plans, an FAA request, and signage up at the site. Short of a catastrophe, it looks like this is happening.

[Montrose1100]

This one is fresh and it's modern, but for Texas' new tallest, I'm disappointed. Would look great complimenting an iconic piece like the Petronas Towers, Willis Tower, Freedom Tower, or the Burj Khalifa. The base is also this giant plateau. And why do mixed-use buildings have to ensure the onlookers know that each use is clearly displayed & separated in the design?

 

[tigereye]

 

On 11/11/2020 at 7:28 PM, Yoda said:

Posted by "The ATX" on https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=199012&page=278

Here's another rendering of 98 Red River with a nice view of the project's second tower 99 Red River. The third building is a rendering of Tower 1 in the approved Travis Towers project. Tower 1 ~600' and Tower 2 is ~700'.

 

Though people on that forum seem to believe @Paco Jones renderings are more recent.

Will be interesting to see if both 80 Red River (64 fl, 802’) and 98 Red River (74 fo, 1025’) both get built. 

Is this the only render with both skyscrapers shown? 

Edited February 9, 2021 by tigereye

[HoustonIsHome]

On 2/2/2021 at 11:40 PM, H-Town Man said:

We have some pretty detailed renderings including architectural plans, an FAA request, and signage up at the site. Short of a catastrophe, it looks like this is happening.

Any chance that it gets scaled down?

Austin has been pretty hot the last few   decades but that's a ton of huge buildings going up or in the works 

[Urbannizer]

A lot of site prep underway.

Here is a picture of the site from CC showing the piece of the Iron Works parking lot retaining wall that was taken down.

[CREguy13]

So did this project get its financing?

[texan]

Officially permitted.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/augustine-verrengia_austin-texas-engineering-activity-6913483838102884352-XJZ-?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

 

[arche_757]

It’s just so out of scale with most everything else there - and the facade will hopefully look better than the renderings present it.  It will be to Austin what Taipei 101 is to Taipei.

Did HKS really get this gig?  I mean really?  KPF or SOM weren’t interested?  Woulda been a better design from either of those firms.  Gensler too.

[The Hills]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:23 PM, arche_757 said:

It’s just so out of scale with most everything else there - and the facade will hopefully look better than the renderings present it.  It will be to Austin what Taipei 101 is to Taipei.

Did HKS really get this gig?  I mean really?  KPF or SOM weren’t interested?  Woulda been a better design from either of those firms.  Gensler too.

It won't end up being out of scale.  The ~600' and ~650' towers in this rendering have broken ground.  The 800'+ Ritz-Carlton tower is scheduled to break ground late this year.  There is also a 775' Conrad Hilton tower out of view at stage left scheduled to break ground later this year.

Edited March 31, 2022 by The Hills

[arche_757]

Still looks out of scale.  It’s not the height, it’s the size of the floor plates.  Perhaps from other angles it will be less oversized?

[kennyc05]

No more out of scale than the Williams Tower lol. 

[arche_757]

Maybe, I think Williams is a bit more elegant.  This is a massive building compared to the neighbors, and it’s in the downtown area.

My opinion.  I still think it’s out of scale.

[Urbannizer]

On 3/28/2022 at 10:23 PM, arche_757 said:

.Did HKS really get this gig?  I mean really?  KPF or SOM weren’t interested?  Woulda been a better design from either of those firms.  Gensler too.

KPF is working with HKS on this.

A lot of Austin’s buildings tend to not take up a whole city block. If this was plopped in Houston or Dallas the floor plates would be considered average.

The design does make it stand out, I like it a lot. My only minor gripe is that I wish the midsection was more cohesive with the top portion, a bit awkward from some angles. 

 

[arche_757]

Really?  How are those two firms working together on this project?  One architect of record, the other the designer?  One doing interiors?  I am curious.  KPF a consultant?

I don’t think it’s bad, just out of scale with the other buildings.

[The Hills]

The long term street closures around the site for the start of construction are scheduled to begin in three weeks (May 14th) per a right of way closure permit filed with the City of Austin.  Construction trailer offices have been moved onto the surface parking lot across the street from this project.  The surface lot is owned by the same developer and that site will become a Phase II project. 

[The Hills]

Here are the construction offices that were installed this week.  Photo by agsatx88 on SSP.

[H-Town Man]

I thought that the looming recession and tech downturn might put this one "on hold" and eventually kill it but it doesn't look like it. The one consolation for Houstonians sad about losing the state's tallest is that no one ever seemed to notice or care before who had the tallest, and so nobody will probably care now. On the other hand, when Austin holds the title, don't be surprised if it suddenly becomes important, just like fresh-delivered cookies and cheese shops suddenly became important when they got them. We can expect Texas Monthly to do a special feature on high-rise architecture in the next couple years, with Austin singled out as the leader.

 

[The Hills]

Barricades are arriving on site now for the construction ROW closures scheduled to start as soon as Friday.

[The Hills]

The construction ROW closures were put in place last night.  The construction offices are also in place.  The tallest building in Texas is ready to start.

[hindesky]

[strickn]

Hi N De Sky,

Is Superman going to be the operator in the cab of that crane?

[The Hills]

Three luffing cranes are being used for this project.  The 1,230' one is of course the tallest.  The other ones are 1,001' and around 500'.  

[The Hills]

One of the City of Austin's many CCTV cameras shows the site.  Full on site prep started today.  There are at least two excavators, and all the trees were removed. A cement wall that was part of a former parking area is being knocked down as well.  Part of the site is out of view.

 

http://cctv.austinmobility.io/image/40.jpg

[The Hills]

The hotel portion which is in the podium facing the river is going to be a 1 Hotel.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/1-hotel-austin-set-to-open-in-2026-301561390.html

[The Hills]

The site was cleared and excavation of the underground levels started yesterday,

[Houston19514]

This development seems kinda weird.  As mentioned above, the site has been cleared and they've started hauling out dirt, but as far as I can tell, no official announcement of the planned building has ever been made by the developer.  The only announcement by any element of the mixed-use is the news release by the hotel company posted above. I wonder if the hotel company jumped the gun...