Austin denies proposed design for the tallest tower in Texas

The design commission says developers need to go back to the drawing board.

Photo of Steven Santana

Wilson Tower, once built, will dethrone another Austin project from the "tallest tower" title that broke ground in September. 

Wilson Tower, once built, will dethrone another Austin project from the “tallest tower” title that broke ground in September. 

Courtesy of Wilson Capital/HKS Architects

An Austin-based developer has been sent back to the drawing board, throwing a little wrench in its plans to build the tallest tower in Texas and hitting pause on moving forward. On Monday, January 23, Austin’s Design Commission denied the designs for the 1,035-foot skyscraper, sending architecture firms HKS Inc. and Nudge Design back to revise the plans, the Austin Business Journal reports.

The vote was unanimous except for one commissioner who abstained. Commissioners decided that the plans for Wilson Capital’s tower with 450 high-rise apartments didn’t meet design standards. Commissioner Ana Coleman said more specifically at the Monday meeting that the way the tower “interacts with the public space” needs tweaking, adding that it currently isn’t beneficial. 

The Waterline broke ground in September.

The Waterline broke ground in September.

Courtesy of KPF

Commissioners didn’t place a time constraint on Wilson Capital to come back with the new design, but the firm is unofficially racing another project that would have claimed “Texas’ tallest tower” title. Developers Lincoln Property Company, Kairoi Residential, and PSP Investment broke ground on the 74-story Waterline tower in September 2022. 

The Waterline will have 700,000 square-feet of office space and a hotel with 251 rooms that will reach 1,022 feet into the Austin skyline. Waterline is just 13 feet shorter than the proposed Wilson Tower, and if it’s completed before the Wilson Tower, it will take the “tallest tower” title tower until Wilson Capital breaks ground. 

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