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List of tallest buildings in Austin
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Austin is the capital of the U.S state of Texas. Its metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in the state, with 2.5 million people as of 2024. Austin is home to 61 completed buildings taller than 300 feet (91 m), 16 of which are at least 492 ft (150 m) in height. Austin's skyline is one of the largest in the Southern United States. It has the third most skyscrapers taller than 492 ft (150 m) in Texas, after Houston and Dallas. The tallest building in Austin is Sixth and Guadalupe, a 875 ft (267 m) residential skyscraper built in 2023. It is set to be overtaken by Waterline, a supertall skyscraper that is currently topped out at 1,034 ft (315 m), making it the tallest building in Texas.[1]
With a height of 311 ft (95 m) the Texas State Capitol remained the tallest building in Austin long after its construction in 1888, with the city's central Congress Avenue otherwise lined with single-story buildings through the start of the 1900s.[2] The eight-story Scarbrough Building and the nine-story Littlefield Building, built between 1910 and 1912, are considered to be Austin's first high-rises. The tallest building completed in the first half of the 20th century was the Main Building of the University of Texas at Austin, which holds offices as well as library space for the university. The downtown skyline remained predominantly low-rise until the 1960s, with the addition of the 28-story Westgate Tower in 1966 attracting controversy for its proximity to the capitol. The capitol's height was finally surpassed by the Procore Tower and the Bank of America Center in the 1970s. One American Center, completed in 1984, remained the tallest building in the city for two decades.
Since the 2000s, Austin has been undergoing an unprecedented skyscraper boom, concurrent with rapid population growth in the city and its metropolitan area. The Frost Bank Tower was the first building in Austin to exceed a height of 500 ft (152 m) it was completed in 2004. The boom was momentarily halted in the early 2010s due to the Great Recession, and accelerated in the mid-2010s; around two-thirds of high-rises taller than 300 ft (91 m) in Austin were built after 2014. The majority of new skyscrapers are residential, with the title of the city's tallest building changing hands four more times among residential towers between 2008 and 2023. The city's tech boom has also resulted in more office towers, such as Indeed Tower and the sail-shaped Block 185, which is intended to be fully leased by Google.[3]
Most of Austin's tallest buildings are located in Downtown Austin, sitting directly north of the Colorado River. The Texas State Capitol separates the central skyline from residential towers in the West Campus neighborhood, many of which are inhabited by students attending the nearby University of Texas at Austin. Tall buildings are relatively absent on the southern side of the Colorado River, although a number of them are planned in the South Central Waterfront area.[4] There are also a small number of high-rises in The Domain, a commercial and residential center located in the city's north that is referred to as Austin's "second downtown"[5][6] In the 2020s, the boom saw the skyline extend eastwards towards Rainey Street Historic District, transforming the character of the neighborhood.[7][8] Construction on Waterline began there in 2023.[9] When completed, Greater Austin will be the smallest metropolitan area in North America with a supertall skyscraper.
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History
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Number of buildings by height in Austin by the end of each year, including the Texas State Capitol. Click on the legend to toggle a specific height on or off. View chart definition.
Bearing a height of 311 ft (95 m),[10] The Texas State Capitol remained the tallest structure in Austin long after its construction in the 1880s, with the city's central Congress Avenue otherwise lined with single-story buildings through the start of the 1900s.[2] The eight-story Scarbrough Building and the nine-story Littlefield Building, built between 1910 and 1912, were Austin's first high-rise buildings; the Littlefield Building was the tallest commercial building in the U.S. west of New Orleans and east of San Francisco upon its completion.[11] In 1928, the Austin City Council briefly considered setting a 100 ft (30 m) height limit for future construction in the city but backed away from the proposal.[12]
After the mid-20th century, Downtown Austin began to transition from being predominantly composed of low-rise buildings to a skyline with high-rises.[13] Beginning with the 26-story Westgate Tower, the addition of new skyscrapers to Downtown Austin between 1967 and 1980 led to an increasing realization that views of the state capitol from certain vantage points could become obscured.[2] The capitol was also no longer the city's tallest building,[14] surpassed in height by the Dobie Center and the Chase Bank Tower.[b] In response, the Texas State Legislature and the City of Austin created 35 Texas Capitol View Corridors that would preserve selected views of the capitol.[2]
By the mid-1980s, Austin featured over a dozen skyscrapers,[14] with at least 12 buildings built during the decade featuring at least 15 floors.[20] Described by the Austin American-Statesman as "the first downtown high-rise wave", the uptick in skyscraper construction that began in the 1980s was mostly characterized by granite and limestone office buildings.[21] More rapid construction of new high-rises in downtown Austin began by the 1990s and continued thereafter,[2] contrasting a concurrent slowdown in the construction of new skyscrapers in Dallas and Houston.[14]
Mark Lamster, an architecture critic for the Dallas Morning News, attributed the emergence of increasingly taller skyscrapers to the small size and high density of Austin, incentivizing vertical growth due to the resultingly high cost of land.[14] The Statesman identified a second wave of new skyscrapers in Austin that began in the early 2000s, including construction of the Frost Bank Tower. By 2010, the construction of new residential buildings and office space for technology companies accounted for most of the city's new skyscrapers.[14] By 2023, the combined height of Austin's high-rises overtook Dallas according to Texas Real Estate Source.[22][23]
Historical skyline appearance
1976
2006
2012
2023
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Cityscape
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Map of tallest buildings
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The map below shows the location of buildings taller than 300 feet (91 m) in downtown Austin. Each marker is numbered by height and colored by the decade of the building's completion. There is only one building taller than 300 feet (91 m) located outside the map, that being The Domain II.
240m
262yds
262yds
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Buildings taller than 300 feet (91 m) in Austin. An asterisk (*) next to the building's name indicates it is located outside the map.
- 1950s and before
- 1960s
- 1970s
- 1980s
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2010s
- 2020s
1
Waterline2
Sixth and Guadalupe3
The Republic4
The Independent5
The Austonian7
Modern Austin8
415 Colorado Street9
Fairmont Austin10
360 Condominiums11
Block 18512
44 East Avenue13
Paseo14
The Travis15
Indeed Tower16
Hanover Republic Square17
Frost Bank Tower18
Hanover Brazos Street19
700 River20
W Austin Hotel & Residences21
Fifth & West22
Vesper23
300 Colorado24
Spring25
Northshore26
The Bowie27
70 Rainey28
Ashton29
JW Marriott Convention Hotel30
Four Seasons Residences Austin31
One American Center32
500 West 2nd Street33
One Eleven Congress34
Colorado Tower35
Austin Proper36
Third + Shoal37
Austin Marriott Downtown38
Austin Hilton Convention Center Hotel39
The Waller40
405 Colorado41
Natiivo42
5th & Brazos43
The Quincy44
Alexan Waterloo45
Hyatt Centric46
Seaholm Residences47
Windsor on the Lake48
Bank of America Center49
The Linden50
The Domain II*51
Union on San Antonio52
300 West 6th Street53
Aloft Austin Downtown54
Procore Tower55
The Monarch56
100 Congress Avenue57
Yugo Austin Waterloo58
Union on 24th Street59
Villas on 24th60
Texas State Capitol61
San Jacinto Center62
UT Austin Tower63
Dobie Center64
Icon65
301 Congress Avenue66
Hotel ZaZa & ApartmentsTallest buildings
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This list ranks completed and topped out skyscrapers in Austin that stand at least 300 feet (91 m) tall as of 2025, based on standard height measurement. This height includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts. Unless otherwise noted, heights and floor counts are values assessed by the CTBUH. The “Year” column indicates the year of completion. Buildings tied in height are sorted by year of completion, and then alphabetically.
Was the tallest building in Austin upon completion
*Topped out but not yet completed
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Tallest under construction or proposed
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Under construction
This table lists buildings under construction in Austin that are expected to be at least 300 ft (91 m) tall, as of 2025. The "Year" column indicates the estimated year of completion. Buildings under construction that have already been topped out are also included. Unless otherwise noted, heights and floor counts are values assessed by CTBUH.
Approved
This table lists approved buildings in Austin that are expected to be at least 300 ft (91 m) tall as of 2025, based on standard height measurement. A dash “–“ indicates information about the building is unknown or has not been released.
Proposed
This table lists proposed buildings in Austin that are expected to be at least 300 ft (91 m) tall as of 2025, based on standard height measurement. A dash “–“ indicates information about the building is unknown or has not been released.
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Timeline of tallest buildings
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See also
- List of tallest buildings in Texas
- List of tallest buildings in the United States
- List of tallest structures in the United States
- List of tallest buildings in Dallas
- List of tallest buildings in El Paso
- List of tallest buildings in Fort Worth
- List of tallest buildings in Houston
- List of tallest buildings in San Antonio
- List of tallest buildings in Corpus Christi
Notes
- Topped-out.
- The Dobie Center, completed in 1972, has a total height of 328 ft (100 m) and an architectural height of approximately 307 ft (94 m).[15][16] The former value is taller than the 311 ft (95 m) height of the Texas State Capitol while the latter is shorter.[17][18] The Chase Bank Tower, completed in 1974, has an architectural height of around 325 ft (99 m), making it unambiguously taller than the capitol building.[19]
- Height data from SkyscraperPage. CTBUH either lacks information on the building's height or does not list this building.
- Sources disagree on the height of Sixth and Guadalupe. CTBUH lists the height of Sixth and Guadalupe as 874 ft (266 m).[26] SKYDB lists a height of 837 ft (255 m).[160] SkyscraperPage lists a height of 874 ft (266 m).[161]
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References
External links
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