Is This Austin Tower Texas' Most Ambitious High-Rise Yet?

A version of this article was posted by the B1M.

Austin now hosts the tallest building in Texas after the 1,025-foot Waterline skyscraper reached its full height in the city downtown corridor.

The 74-story structure breaks the state height record long held by the 1,002-foot JPMorgan Chase Tower in Houston. Designed by international architectural firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the project introduces Texas to its first official supertall building, defined globally as any structure rising above 300 metres.

Co-developers Lincoln Property Company (LPC) and Kairoi Residential broke ground on the 3.3-acre site in 2022. Situated at 98 Red River Street, the development sits adjacent to Waller Creek and Lady Bird Lake, bridging the Central Business District (CBD) with the Rainey Street Historic District.

The skyscraper features a distinct structural design. Huge exterior columns support elevated sections, lifting the base off the ground to preserve open pedestrian thoroughfares along the creek below.

The mixed-use vertical layout divides 1.5 million square feet of space across three distinct segments. The lower portion contains a 251-room luxury hotel operated by 1 Hotels. Above that sits roughly 700,000 square feet of Class-AA office space spanning 27 floors. The top 33 stories comprise 352 residential apartments overlooking the surrounding city terrain.

General contractor DPR Construction led the structural build, utilizing thousands of workers throughout the process. Construction crews poured massive foundation systems and erected specialized steel framework to manage wind loads and structural support for the soaring profile.

The base includes 24,000 square feet of street-level retail and restaurant space. Outdoor public plazas and pedestrian bridges integrate directly into the Waterloo Greenway project, connecting nearby hike-and-bike trails to the primary building entrance.

Austin has seen an unprecedented wave of high-rise developments over the past decade, driven by rapid corporate expansions and population growth. The Waterline tower surpasses the 865-foot Sixth and Guadalupe structure, which briefly held the title of Austin's tallest building before Waterline topped out.

With exterior facade work nearing completion, interior fit-outs remain underway across the hotel, office, and residential tiers. Full completion and formal opening of the landmark tower are expected in 2026.