Significant skyscrapers in key cities

Owl, Jenga, Sailboat: Austin Getting Another Iconic Building

Developer Trammell Crow Co. has broken ground on a 35-story office tower that will be occupied by Google and serve as a gateway to downtown Austin, Texas, culturemap Austin reported. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli with collaboration from Austin-based STG Design Inc., the glass-and-steel structure is evocative of a sailboat with a tapering shape and outdoor terraces at many levels.

Construction is scheduled for completion in 2022. The yet-to-be named Google building will join the 33-story Frost Bank Tower, known as the “owl building” for bank logos that look like owl eyes, and the 57-story The Independent, a soon-to-open condominium building known as the “Jenga building” for its resemblance to the stackable block game.

Arise Post Oak Finally Rising in Houston

While construction has started on the newest luxury high rise to go up on Post Oak Boulevard, the project has been embroiled in litigation after its developer sued an adjacent building’s homeowners association that was opposing the 39-story tower’s size and scale, the Houston Chronicle reported in April. Developed by Dinerstein Cos., Arise Post Oak will have 383 apartments at 1650 Post Oak at San Felipe. Designed by Gensler, it will have an amenity deck with a swimming pool, a lounge on the top floor and some 15,000 sq. ft. of first-floor retail with a top restaurant.

Houston-based Dinerstein purchased the site in 2015 and has been in legal battles about its construction since 2016. It plans to own the building “for the long-term” following its expected completion in summer 2021.