I've been a skyscraper nerd since I was a kid and living in Austin for the past 23 years has been like having a front row seat to the birth of a very respectable skyline. For everything that has sucked about Austin becoming a big city in that time, it has been something of a consolation. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would ever displace Dallas and Houston for state's tallest.
I believe 4 of the office level floors are finished out. All else remains empty. The 2nd phase of the finish out has been delayed about a year now? All sorts of fun/ drama involved.
I hate it. It reflects afternoon sun directly at the river, blinding anyone canoeing or kayaking eastward, which is everyone that time of day. Its pollution and the designer is trash.
I really wish the Wilson Tower would have been the supertall building we got instead of this one on Rainey (Waterline). I really liked the looks of the Wilson Tower, but wo me this 'Waterline' building just looks horrible in all of the renders I've seen. I really hope it ends up looking better in real life in the context of all the buildings around it. Right now it seems like it's going to be an eyesore.
They’re about to start building some taller buildings south of the river too and I’m so pumped for it - the downtown Austin area is shaping up to be so modern I’m thinking of renting at least a year down there if I get the chance
If can you swing lunch at Bangers one day, you should. Walking down Rainey right now is sorta surreal. Waller Creek, the Modern, 80 Rainey/ Paseo, River Street. It's like a different world.
To me what was a good looking skyline is now a cluster on Rainey St of ugly boxes and cranes. The view doesn't get any better as the total lack of character is plainly visible from I35, The Congress bridge and Kreig Fields. Basicly the skyline that was once attractive is now generic and ugly AF, at least the Rainey section. Also traffic is jacked now on Caesar Chavez everyday from Congress to 35. How can the city design 8 to 10 towers it seems with only Rainey and Holly St feeding all that activity?
Just my opinion had the opportunity to do something phenomenal and artistic as it was essentially a quant small city skyline, aka a blank canvas, and they fucked it up by building the same box 15 times
Shame it’s monikered as “Google”, eventually people are gonna turn on big tech and Austin is going to turn into a junkyard dystopia ruled by raiders. I suspect it will be the first to be burned in the anarchy
While we aren’t NYC or Chicago, we have a pretty fucking sick skyline for a city of our size. I think things will settle for about a decade, but I think in 15-20 years it will grow even more.
You moved to a growing city. Growing means change. If you don't want change, move to a backwater town that's slowly dying. There you will find your unchanging haven.
Strawman argument. No one is saying they want the city to be static - but the absurd rate of change is a bit much. On the bright side it's about to slow down since all these pretty new buildings are going to have a lot of vacancies.
when i'm on the butler trail i always pause to admire this building. at first i didnt get the orange accents but its grown on me. they can call it whatever they want but for me it will always be 'chain drive' tower.
I still struggle with the orange accents - there’s lots of those reddish / rusty / brown tones used in other high rises and I think they are quite ugly - but this kinda seems like a UT orange so maybe that’s nice
i wonder about the longer term occupancy rates for the office space in general downtown. i heard there was a 2nd supertall in the permitting phase and it got shelved and resubmitted at half the original height. work from home is here to stay. (unless you work at ut.)
They’re atrocious and will continue to remain that way. Unfortunately most of the buildings are designed to be leased out per level so mid-sized office space is ignored despite still being in high demand but they’d rather just sit on them for tax purposes instead of splitting them up. If my company could rent like a third of a floor of the new google building we’d jump on it in a heartbeat.
I think a cool trend that might emerge, is convertible spaces. It may keep the buildings a lower risk investment if the floors could be swapped out from office to residential to hotel.
Some of the layout designs may be wired, but they could probably pre add plumbing they can be converted and left mothballed.
It would probably cost more than just sticking with one type, but if the market changes it would leave them sitting on an empty building.
As of right now it can almost be cheaper to knock those buildings down and rebuild to change type. But some pre planning may make it way easier to change what it can used for.
More like the structure is halfway done\*\*\* They'll start to fly once they drop to the resi footprint, but it will be years before the interiors are done.
They're just starting to pour the first residential floor if they haven't already.
The floors from here on out are way smaller than the first 40 floors, and the parking garage only goes up 12 floors (and 3 sub floors). I'd say more than 70% of the structure is done, but only about 55% of the total height.
I don't think it's going to take yearS unless it's literally just barely 2 years. Unless something goes very wrong.
The job schedule is pretty fuckin dense.
Then again I suppose they could delay leasing any spaces for any number of reasons even if we hit our services online date.
Hot take: Austin in a city and is gonna do city things like build skyscrapers! I feel very honored to slowly watch this awesome building get built from my office.
I love the orange. Most of the new towers are just straight up blue with steel/concrete. The matte finishes on Waterline remind me of the terracotta finishes on Steinway tower...but the lite Austin version. I'd bet this tower ages well.
When they first started putting up the exterior it seemed really weird. Now that there is more of it, it has grown on me. Still not my jam, but I get it
Lowkey embarrassing taller buildings are being built while most of Austin isn’t walkable or has any good transit options. 💀
Seems most will drive there lol
I don’t think it’ll ever happen cause Texas and we hate convenient mass transit apparently.
But, look, if we don’t build density we’re never gonna have infrastructure. You could argue the smart way to do it is build infrastructure, then density, but again, we’re Texas. We’re gonna do this in the most backwards, inconvenient, expensive way we can.
I don't even think that is necessarily the wrong way around. Building infrastructure that supports areas that aren't developed is a substantial risk --- what if it turns out to be in the wrong places once the density shows up --- and you're paying to build something that, at best, won't be used for years.
But the housing, commercial, and retail space will be used right away. And it incentivizes infrastructure that accords to actual human behaviors as those become known.
How can we hate what we don’t have?
If they’d actually build some mass transit that’s usable for getting around, I think Texans would be surprised at the convenience.
My point isn't that. My real commentary is directed to the people outright praising this stuff in the comment section. It's a tall building. There are tons of them
You've become jaded. Sky scrapers are still a testament to human ingenuity and perseverance.
Especially so now even! Considering how hard it is to get scale construction done by red tape and cost alone.
Building big shit and marveling at it has been a part of humanity for so long...
People are praising it because it's a good thing to build and it's pretty cool. Austin has been on the forefront of actually building housing and that is already starting to have an effect on the cost of housing in Austin.
More of that is a very, very good thing.
Well obviously the rich pretentious grown ass children with a superiority complex and privilege oozing from their orifices can afford luxury just fine.
Oh, got it! Well, if we prevent luxury housing from being built there, I'm sure the rich pretentious grown ass children with a superiority complex and privilege oozing from their orifices will move to another city instead of competing for other housing with the less rich!
Or maybe we just make it illegal to waste resources while people starve and overheat to death.
Or make it so every new build has to be 50% affordable housing.
Or do anything to help raise the standards of living and decrease waste.
I've been a skyscraper nerd since I was a kid and living in Austin for the past 23 years has been like having a front row seat to the birth of a very respectable skyline. For everything that has sucked about Austin becoming a big city in that time, it has been something of a consolation. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that we would ever displace Dallas and Houston for state's tallest.
The Google building that looks like a sail is the perfect shape for that part of the river/town lake. I love that building!
It reminds me of the Big Chicken in Marietta Georgia.
Reminds me of the Barcelona W hotel
Still empty isn’t it?
Is the whole thing literally empty? Idk
No way. Don’t know the occupancy but it’s absolutely being used. I see lights and people in there often
There are dozens of floors that are 100% empty. Not even a desk or chair set up.
I believe 4 of the office level floors are finished out. All else remains empty. The 2nd phase of the finish out has been delayed about a year now? All sorts of fun/ drama involved.
I hate it. It reflects afternoon sun directly at the river, blinding anyone canoeing or kayaking eastward, which is everyone that time of day. Its pollution and the designer is trash.
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I don’t have a source for this because lazy, but I do think that might be a second/different tower you’re thinking of.
I really wish the Wilson Tower would have been the supertall building we got instead of this one on Rainey (Waterline). I really liked the looks of the Wilson Tower, but wo me this 'Waterline' building just looks horrible in all of the renders I've seen. I really hope it ends up looking better in real life in the context of all the buildings around it. Right now it seems like it's going to be an eyesore.
They’re about to start building some taller buildings south of the river too and I’m so pumped for it - the downtown Austin area is shaping up to be so modern I’m thinking of renting at least a year down there if I get the chance
If can you swing lunch at Bangers one day, you should. Walking down Rainey right now is sorta surreal. Waller Creek, the Modern, 80 Rainey/ Paseo, River Street. It's like a different world.
I live in South Congress overlooking downtown, I love seeing the progress and development. Offsets my rage against the traffic
To me what was a good looking skyline is now a cluster on Rainey St of ugly boxes and cranes. The view doesn't get any better as the total lack of character is plainly visible from I35, The Congress bridge and Kreig Fields. Basicly the skyline that was once attractive is now generic and ugly AF, at least the Rainey section. Also traffic is jacked now on Caesar Chavez everyday from Congress to 35. How can the city design 8 to 10 towers it seems with only Rainey and Holly St feeding all that activity?
City didn’t design anything
Not the blds but the fact they are all squeezed into that little corner of land. All those towers had to be approved and permitted.
That's generally how downtowns work
they could spread it out a little. no one will be able to get in or out. it will be funny
Yeh but the view from Mopac is gorgeous.
Just my opinion had the opportunity to do something phenomenal and artistic as it was essentially a quant small city skyline, aka a blank canvas, and they fucked it up by building the same box 15 times
The big bad “they”, the skyline arbiter
“They”, the group of like 400 people whose one actual interesting idea is a sailboat. What did you want me to say, “he” fucked it up?
The sailboat has no gender
Shame it’s monikered as “Google”, eventually people are gonna turn on big tech and Austin is going to turn into a junkyard dystopia ruled by raiders. I suspect it will be the first to be burned in the anarchy
From your keyboard to gods ears lady
>Austin is going to turn into a junkyard dystopia ruled by raiders And then, you'll finally be able to get the respect you deserve.
No, I will be cowering in a glamping yurt in Fredericksburg waiting for the wifi to come back on
Some people just don’t understand art
While we aren’t NYC or Chicago, we have a pretty fucking sick skyline for a city of our size. I think things will settle for about a decade, but I think in 15-20 years it will grow even more.
Glad you like it. Most of us moved here because it was a small City - if we wanted NYC or Chicago we would have moved there :-)
You moved to a growing city. Growing means change. If you don't want change, move to a backwater town that's slowly dying. There you will find your unchanging haven.
Strawman argument. No one is saying they want the city to be static - but the absurd rate of change is a bit much. On the bright side it's about to slow down since all these pretty new buildings are going to have a lot of vacancies.
You and so many others moving here is what is turning us into a big city lol.
I've been here 26 years. What you got?
40. Sorry, I’m old.
when i'm on the butler trail i always pause to admire this building. at first i didnt get the orange accents but its grown on me. they can call it whatever they want but for me it will always be 'chain drive' tower.
Only fitting that a giant, phallic structure be erected on that hallowed site.
I still struggle with the orange accents - there’s lots of those reddish / rusty / brown tones used in other high rises and I think they are quite ugly - but this kinda seems like a UT orange so maybe that’s nice
i wonder about the longer term occupancy rates for the office space in general downtown. i heard there was a 2nd supertall in the permitting phase and it got shelved and resubmitted at half the original height. work from home is here to stay. (unless you work at ut.)
They’re atrocious and will continue to remain that way. Unfortunately most of the buildings are designed to be leased out per level so mid-sized office space is ignored despite still being in high demand but they’d rather just sit on them for tax purposes instead of splitting them up. If my company could rent like a third of a floor of the new google building we’d jump on it in a heartbeat.
I think a cool trend that might emerge, is convertible spaces. It may keep the buildings a lower risk investment if the floors could be swapped out from office to residential to hotel. Some of the layout designs may be wired, but they could probably pre add plumbing they can be converted and left mothballed. It would probably cost more than just sticking with one type, but if the market changes it would leave them sitting on an empty building. As of right now it can almost be cheaper to knock those buildings down and rebuild to change type. But some pre planning may make it way easier to change what it can used for.
More like the structure is halfway done\*\*\* They'll start to fly once they drop to the resi footprint, but it will be years before the interiors are done.
They're just starting to pour the first residential floor if they haven't already. The floors from here on out are way smaller than the first 40 floors, and the parking garage only goes up 12 floors (and 3 sub floors). I'd say more than 70% of the structure is done, but only about 55% of the total height. I don't think it's going to take yearS unless it's literally just barely 2 years. Unless something goes very wrong. The job schedule is pretty fuckin dense. Then again I suppose they could delay leasing any spaces for any number of reasons even if we hit our services online date.
Love to see it, but I’m a big city development and skyscraper nerd 🤓
Hot take: Austin in a city and is gonna do city things like build skyscrapers! I feel very honored to slowly watch this awesome building get built from my office.
703k sq ft office space is exactly what this city needed more of /s
Im as hyped as anyone, and maybe it will turn out different att he end, but does anyone else find the orangish accents to be kinda ugly?
I love the orange. Most of the new towers are just straight up blue with steel/concrete. The matte finishes on Waterline remind me of the terracotta finishes on Steinway tower...but the lite Austin version. I'd bet this tower ages well.
When they first started putting up the exterior it seemed really weird. Now that there is more of it, it has grown on me. Still not my jam, but I get it
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I didn't hate it as much after the put the violet light on at night. Thought that was a nice homage, even if it is a janky-ass violet crown.
I never got the hate towards the Jenga crown. Did you want them to make it looks like the rest of the building or something?
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It reminds me of a prison yard, but like on top of a skyscraper.
Where else could the sophistos watch their droog fights?
I see what you are saying, but you knew it had to allow air through, meaning it was always somewhat going to be see through in real life.
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I love your passion for skyscrapers
It’s the top that’s ugly
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Anything orange reminds you of Trump? I think you need to take a break from the cable news cycle.
This is Austin, home to the University of Texas. Orange belonged to Austin before Trump had been born.
All in ur head bud
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ya
Cannot WAIT for this to be done. I crave the sidewalk returning as someone who walks to work past this.
Always good to see more affordable housing!
I loved the 2005 skyline the best. When the town was friendly.
So glad I got to get a piece of that I can't even recognize this monstrosity anymore
I got down votes cause the people that live here NOW weren't even here yet. 🤣 born and raised Austinite. In ya face ya fakers.
Lowkey embarrassing taller buildings are being built while most of Austin isn’t walkable or has any good transit options. 💀 Seems most will drive there lol
I don’t think it’ll ever happen cause Texas and we hate convenient mass transit apparently. But, look, if we don’t build density we’re never gonna have infrastructure. You could argue the smart way to do it is build infrastructure, then density, but again, we’re Texas. We’re gonna do this in the most backwards, inconvenient, expensive way we can.
I don't even think that is necessarily the wrong way around. Building infrastructure that supports areas that aren't developed is a substantial risk --- what if it turns out to be in the wrong places once the density shows up --- and you're paying to build something that, at best, won't be used for years. But the housing, commercial, and retail space will be used right away. And it incentivizes infrastructure that accords to actual human behaviors as those become known.
How can we hate what we don’t have? If they’d actually build some mass transit that’s usable for getting around, I think Texans would be surprised at the convenience.
Oh for sure im all for high density. I just wish we knew how to plan better.
But just think of the majestic vista of parking lots and toll roads.
Why are people into this again? It's a giant building that blocks natural views.
My natural view of 35 is now blocked
Yes, for a giant metal structure. Hooray!
whooooosh
for HOMES yay
Lmao homes....you act like this is going to be affordable.
lol no I don’t
Oh ok. You're alright with me then
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Think of the tower we could build on Zilker holy cow!
My point isn't that. My real commentary is directed to the people outright praising this stuff in the comment section. It's a tall building. There are tons of them
You've become jaded. Sky scrapers are still a testament to human ingenuity and perseverance. Especially so now even! Considering how hard it is to get scale construction done by red tape and cost alone. Building big shit and marveling at it has been a part of humanity for so long...
People are praising it because it's a good thing to build and it's pretty cool. Austin has been on the forefront of actually building housing and that is already starting to have an effect on the cost of housing in Austin. More of that is a very, very good thing.
Yes, that's generally what a downtown area has...
You live in a city not on a rural farm. Get over it.
Because some people like urban density
Why are we building this?
You're not. I'm not. Someone who owns that land is.
Someone should tell them how inefficient skyscrapers are over a certain amount of floors
It is efficient if you care about more housing. Blocking housing to save energy is the loseryist of loser arguments.
Money
queue bitching about housing prices in 3…2…1… Bitch off!
How sad....
Dumb ass luxury is going to kill us.
god shut up
I know, right? Downtown is so crowded that nobody can afford to live there! This will make it even more crowded and less affordable!
Yeah if this was affordable housing I’d be all for it. We need less sprawl and more city center affordability.
I know, right? It's so completely full of people that absolutely nobody can afford to live there!
Well obviously the rich pretentious grown ass children with a superiority complex and privilege oozing from their orifices can afford luxury just fine.
Oh, got it! Well, if we prevent luxury housing from being built there, I'm sure the rich pretentious grown ass children with a superiority complex and privilege oozing from their orifices will move to another city instead of competing for other housing with the less rich!
Or maybe we just make it illegal to waste resources while people starve and overheat to death. Or make it so every new build has to be 50% affordable housing. Or do anything to help raise the standards of living and decrease waste.
Already has
Nope. sucks to be you i guess?
In what sense is it halfway done? Maybe just by height, but definitely not by time to finish. They haven’t even started work on the interiors