Austin’s Wilson Tower, planned to be the tallest in Texas, gets cut in half

The news follows January reports that the tower did not receive approval to start construction from the City of Austin’s Design Commission, forcing Wilson Capital, architect HKS Inc., and landscape architect Nudge Design to go back to the drawing board. The vote was spiritually unanimous, with only commissioner David Carroll abstaining as the rest of the commission agreeing that Wilson Tower didn’t meet design standards.

A common phrase used at the meeting was “public benefit,” as in, the Wilson Tower, as originally designed, did not provide all that much of it.

“I don’t think there is enough public benefit,” commissioner Aan Coleman said.

Echoing the principal of landscape architecture firm Coleman & Associates, commissioner and city planner Ben Luckens said, “It is a handsome building, but I can’t help but notice that more than half of it is bonus. Other than the $5.9 million, which is a substantial amount for affordable housing, it seems to be somewhat limited in its public benefit.”

That number refers to the almost $6 million Wilson Capital paid the city in order to not include affordable housing at Wilson Tower. Luckens and other commissioners had major issues with the building’s floor-to-area ratio. The original design was 23:1, nearly triple the 8:1 standard.

Wilson Capital provided a statement on the redesign to KVUE:

“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 developers have not provided clarity on a new date for ground-breaking, or if the redesign will significantly delay the original timeframe to begin construction.