Oklahoma City Officials Approve Proposal for USA’s Tallest Skyscraper

The Oklahoma county has agreed with a height increase request for the proposed Legends Tower supertall skyscraper. This also means New York City will no longer be home to the tallest building in North America if this new plan stays on course.

Early this year, architecture firm AO and developer Matteson Capital unveiled the proposal to increase the 1,750 feet (533 meters) tower to 1,907 feet (581 meters), which is also a number representing the year Oklahoma officially became the USA’s 46th state.

The project plans to cover more than 3 acres and host 2 million square feet for residential, retail, and entertainment activities, including two Hyatt hotels, condos, apartments, stores, and restaurants. It is part of the wider mixed-use development Boardwalk at Bricktown located on the side of the parking lot near a railroad track and a U-Haul storage facility. 

There will also be three smaller towers, each rising to 345 ft (105 m), alongside the main skyscraper. Moreover, they will host 1,776 residential units and a luxury hotel between all four buildings.

On the other hand, there are also some concerns about the 1,907-foot structure. Oklahoma City is known to experience a lot of tornadoes, hit by more than one twister on the same day at least 30 times. To address this issue, engineers will build a concrete core surrounding the elevator shaft for stability. Not only that, the skyscraper’s windows also will be designed to withstand the force of a tornado without damage.

With a population of only around 700,000 people, some said building something so tall in a city with a population under 1 million, but experts told Legends Tower and The Boardwalk at Bricktown once completed could be an advantage to continuing growth in Oklahoma City, which is being the sixth-fastest growing city in the nation.

Construction is set to get started by July of this year. If all goes according to the plans, the Legends Tower will take the throne of One World Trade Center in New York City to be the tallest in the US, and the sixth tallest in the world, behind China’s Ping An Finance Center.

Image Credit by AO Architects