High-Rises

Market Street San Francisco

San Francisco Could Strike Deal on New Tower

The city is leveraging height increases and density bonuses to acquire more properties for affordable housing.

November 16, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

View of Ocean Drive with colorfu three-story buildings and palm trees

Voters Reject Miami Beach High-Rises

Developers planning to build above the city’s current height limit will have to go back to the drawing board.

November 16, 2022 - The Wall Street Journal

Building Heights and Step-Backs

When Taller Buildings Don’t Mean More Density

Some New York City developers are building low-density luxury high-rises that, in some cases, have fewer units than the buildings they replaced.

September 27, 2022 - The New York Times

San Francisco Skyline

San Francisco's 1971 Urban Design Plan Echoes Today's Concerns

A 1971 effort to quantify the city's values and design goals reflects many of the same priorities that planners and residents face today.

January 13, 2022 - San Francisco Chronicle

Boeing Freeway

Jet Fuselage to Become Part of Seattle High-Rise

A Boeing 747 will serve as the atrium between two South Lake Union office buildings.

November 22, 2021 - The Seattle Times

Observatory Elevator

Elevators Are Not the Villain

Even some defenders of urbanism fear buildings that are tall enough for elevators. This fear does not seem to be supported by New York infection data.

May 11, 2020 - Michael Lewyn

Chicago Construction

Chicago's Tallest Office Building Since 1990 Cracks the Top 20 Tallest in the City

The Bank of America Tower is the newest skyscraper to line the Chicago River.

October 3, 2019 - Chicago Tribune

Detroit - Renaissance Center

After Changes, New Tower Might Not Be Detroit's Tallest Tower After All

A building under construction at the former site of J.L. Hudson's department store in Detroit will no longer reach 900 feet, as once planned.

August 10, 2019 - Detroit Free Press

University of Washington

University of Washington Gets Approval for Major Expansion

With several stipulations, Seattle City Council has signed off on the university's plans for up to 6 million square feet of new construction, including high-rises.

December 22, 2018 - The Seattle Times

Germany

Learning From Europe: Part 2 (Or, You Can't Have It All)

It is indeed possible to have a city full of low-rise buildings that is still compact enough for excellent transit service—but only if most side streets are used for mid-rise buildings instead of houses.

July 3, 2018 - Michael Lewyn

Seattle Skyline from Kerry Park

Friday Eye Candy: The Seattle Skyline of the Near Future

A series of renderings by a Seattle architect shows the recently completed high-rises, along with under construction, proposed, and rumored projects. Seattle is changing, quickly.

January 26, 2018 - The Urbanist

Pearl District

'Skyscraper Backlash' Comes to Downtown Portland

As the Portland City Council considers the Central City 2035 plan, downtown residents, many of whom live in high-rises, are actively opposing regulations that would allow new high-rises.

January 26, 2018 - Willamette Week

California

The State of San Francisco

One of the most astute observers of San Francisco provides a list of notable architecture project to locate the city amidst all its ongoing controversies and challenges.

January 9, 2018 - San Francisco Chronicle

Los Angeles High Rise Construction

Downtown L.A. Sees Vacancies Rise and Homeless Populations Grow

There's plenty of housing available in Downtown L.A. for the wealthy but, while those apartments sit empty, many looking for housing find costs too high to pay.

September 20, 2017 - KPCC

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Op-Ed: Out-Of-Town Architects Miss a Huge Opportunity

A Cleveland architect offers a scathing critique of the design choices made by one of the city's cultural institutions.

July 14, 2017 - Crain's Cleveland Business

Washington, D.C.

The Sky's the Limit for Washington, D.C.-Area High Rises

With a new high-rise under construction and even taller high-rise working its way through planning approvals, the Washington, D.C. area's building envelope is reaching new heights.

May 23, 2017 - Greater Greater Washington

The gentrifying street-scape of the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles, California

Downtown L.A.'s Chinese Real Estate Cycle

Chinese developers are pouring money into high-rise housing projects in Los Angeles. But will these be pieds-a-terre for absent buyers? And how are developers dealing with the American regulatory environment?

September 29, 2016 - Los Angeles Times

High-Rise Approval Secures $220 Million for Grand Central Terminal Improvements

In exchange for the approval to build One Vanderbilt, a 63-story office tower adjacent to Grand Central Terminal, the developer will give the MTA $220 million for upgrades to entrances of the Metro-North Railroad and the terminal's subway entrances.

June 2, 2015 - The New York Times - N.Y. / Region

Will Upzoning Destroy the Beaux Arts Legacy of Midtown Manhattan?

A development proposal for a 1,450 glass skyscraper adjacent to Grand Central Station prompted the Architectural Record to wonder whether New York is chipping away the "Beaux Arts heart" of Manhattan.

February 13, 2015 - Architectural Record

A Mesmerizing Interactive History of the High-Rise

Told over four parts meant to evoke chapters in a storybook using films, photos, archive materials, text, and miniature games, this "Op-Doc" is a short masterclass in the 2,500-year global history of vertical living.

October 8, 2013 - The New York Times

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