Which U.S. Cities have the most highrise construction projects?

[IluvATX]

I'm curious to see how many highrises are under construction in U.S. Cities. I'm pretty sure NYC has the most and Chicago is no. 2, but what about everywhere else?

[mhays]

I count 32 for greater Downtown Seattle. Or 30 of at least 160' and 14 of at least 420'. Not counting site prep.

That's also the number for the whole city limits, which has almost no highrises outside the core. That would probably put is in #4 behind Miami, Chicago, and New York.

About five more in the metro.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

LA, NYC, Miami, Seattle and Chicago are my guesses for the top 5 in the USA.

For Los Angeles, about 20 to 25 towers going up currently in downtown LA, with dozens more proposed and awaiting approval. Another 15 or 20.going up in the metro

[dc_denizen]

New York City has over 300 large multi story projects under construction, per emporis

[the urban politician]

Chicago has 45 high rises actively under construction, 5 undergoing site prep for construction, and several dozen active proposals. In addition, there are a couple of high rises under construction in Evanston and Oak Park, as well as several proposals in those towns.

One area where Chicago differs is that, other than a small handful going up in city neighborhoods, the vast majority of the buildings under construction and proposed are located in the central area of the city.

For better or for worse, of course, but the positive side here is that with so much density in such a tight geographic area, you create synergy as well as some dramatic urban vistas.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by mhays

I count 32 for greater Downtown Seattle. Or 30 of at least 160' and 14 of at least 420'. Not counting site prep.

That's also the number for the whole city limits, which has almost no highrises outside the core. That would probably put is in #4 behind Miami, Chicago, and New York.

About five more in the metro.

Seattle is like Chicago in the way its high rise construction is distributed.

Chicago also has a line of high rises that runs up from downtown along Lake Michigan (its more filled in north of downtown, less so running south). Those were mostly built decades ago, and pretty much there are few sites available now for any infill.

Downtown construction has always been the norm, but for the first time in a long while we are beginning to see a trickle of TOD high rises get built along train lines. But the NIMBYism is still a huge challenge.

[Crawford]

NYC by about 5x over any other metro, then probably Chicago or Miami.

Seattle is probable at 4, and Philly, SF, LA would probably be next.

[left of center]

According to Emporis, cities with 10+ multistory projects under construction:


New York: 315
Chicago: 65
Houston: 52
Miami: 36
Minneapolis: 35
Denver: 34
Los Angeles: 32
Seattle: 32
Atlanta: 26
Boston: 16
Washington DC: 16
Dallas: 15
Austin: 14
Philadelphia: 12
San Diego: 12
San Francisco: 12
Memphis: 11
Las Vegas: 10
Nashville: 10


This is only within city limits, and doesn't include anything from the respective metros (Evanston, Miami Beach, Newark, etc.)

[the urban politician]

^ Hmmm.. not sure about that

[LA21st]

Originally Posted by Crawford

NYC by about 5x over any other metro, then probably Chicago or Miami.

Seattle is probable at 4, and Philly, SF, LA would probably be next.

It depends how you define it.
I think LA's highrises u/c are taller than Philly's u/c projects in general. LA's highrises u/c are mostly in the 24-48 story range. In downtown, anyway.
Taller towers will give more of an impact. There's nothing wrong with buildings in the 10-20 story range though. I'm glad developers in LA are going higher, I didn't expect that so soon.

[mrnyc]

does site prep and active proposals count in the mix — or only under construction?

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

does site prep and active proposals count in the mix — or only under construction?

For Chicago we are pretty strict. We don't say a building is under construction until pilings are being pounded into the dirt or they start drilling for caissons

[softee]

Can Canadians play? City of Toronto has 146, not counting those in sight prep.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Crawford

NYC by about 5x over any other metro, then probably Chicago or Miami.

Ha ha but they still couldn't take the Astros

[RC14]

Originally Posted by left of center

According to Emporis, cities with 10+ multistory projects under construction:


New York: 315
Chicago: 65
Houston: 52
Miami: 36
Minneapolis: 35
Denver: 34
Los Angeles: 32
Seattle: 32
Atlanta: 26
Boston: 16
Washington DC: 16
Dallas: 15
Austin: 14
Philadelphia: 12
San Diego: 12
San Francisco: 12
Memphis: 11
Las Vegas: 10
Nashville: 10


This is only within city limits, and doesn't include anything from the respective metros (Evanston, Miami Beach, Newark, etc.)

I was surprised to see Vegas on this list. I haven't heard about many new Vegas high rise projects recently.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by softee

Can Canadians play? City of Toronto has 146, not counting those in sight prep.

No. Canada can't play.

The socio-economic and cultural dynamics make highrise construction much more voluminous in Canadian cities than their US counterparts.

Building highrises is a much bigger deal in car loving, transit hating, suburban oriented America than Canada.

[dc_denizen]

Well it’s interesting that a place like Dallas can have 50,000 apartments under construction but only 15 or so high rises.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by LA21st

It depends how you define it.

Sure does. Large swaths of San Francisco have a 120 ft height limit (not counting mechanical penthouses etc) so there are quite a few projects around this height either under construction, planned or just completed.

As for genuine towers, a wave of them recently opened or are scheduled for completion by the end of this year. I can readily think of about 7 that are under construction and not due for completion for at least a year. And there are a couple more likely to break ground imminently.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

No. Canada can't play.

The socio-economic and cultural dynamics make highrise construction much more voluminous in Canadian cities than their US counterparts.

Building highrises is a much bigger deal in car loving, transit hating, suburban oriented America than Canada.

But most of them don't seem very tall by US standards. In Vancouver anyway, most seem to be 20-30 floors. Here, 40 is closer to the usual, at least in my city, and that is creeping up. And it seems much more common to put them in park-like settings rather than as part of a continuous street wall (which I much prefer for walkability in downtown areas).

[coyotetrickster]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Sure does. Large swaths of San Francisco have a 120 ft height limit (not counting mechanical penthouses etc) so there are quite a few projects around this height either under construction, planned or just completed.

As for genuine towers, a wave of them recently opened or are scheduled for completion by the end of this year. I can readily think of about 7 that are under construction and not due for completion for at least a year. And there are a couple more likely to break ground imminently.

Don't forget SF's high rise construction activity is limited by Prop M. That severely restricts the number of high rises that will actually be permitted in a given year.