AUSTIN, Texas — What would have been the tallest skyscraper in the state of Texas has been cut in half to only 45 stories tall.
The Wilson Tower, which was first proposed in November 2022, was originally proposed to house 450 apartments, reach 1,035 feet in height and break ground in the summer. Now five months later, plans have altered and the tower will only reach 45 stories.
The shortened plan comes three months after the tower failed to receive approval from the City of Austin's Design Commission to begin construction.
The denial from the commission, which was a nearly unanimous vote, required Wilson Capital, architect HKS Inc. and landscape architect Nudge Design to revise the project. The only board member who did not vote was Commissioner David Carroll. The rest of the board members stated that the skyscraper did not meet Austin's urban design standards.
PHOTOS: Proposed tallest skyscraper in Texas to be only 45-stories
Those standards included how the skyscraper would interact with the public and the floor-to-area ratio. The standard floor-to-area ratio is 8:1 and the developer requested 23:1.
Wilson Capital provided the following statement when asked about the decision to scale back design plans:
“We are making some changes in response to both the Design Commission’s feedback and current market conditions. Construction costs and interest rates are both higher now than they were when we originally designed the project. We believe this new design is more appropriate to provide an activated ground floor while remaining feasible in today’s environment."
The newly adjusted skyscraper will break ground later this year.
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