Building Height Rank

[Baines]

Just so we can compare this old list below to the updated one under it..

Updated 06/01/2006:

360ft. Second Westin Tower

205ft. Old Public Safety Complex Tower [1]

223ft. The State House

[1] Possible proposal of 2 towers in the 150 to 250 range.

Two comments:

TPG lists the Second Westin Tower at 365 ft.

I believe the Old Public Safety Complex Tower may turn out to be a single 320-340 ft. .... I hope so.

[CtownMikey]

is it farfetched to estimate all of these red proposals to be completed by 2010

[Cotuit]

is it farfetched to estimate all of these red proposals to be completed by 2010

No, I don't think that's farfetched. Some may just be wrapping up in 2010. A few may drop out, but other proposals will probably replace them. Some things on there have changed and I haven't updated them because I don't have specifics at my finger tips, I'm not sure where the height of MetroLofts stands at this point, nor the updated Hilton addition plan, nor Sierra Suites, and Parcel 12 isn't on that list at all at this point. If anyone has numbers for those, chime in, and I will update them. Other things not on there yet, towers 3 and 4 at Waterplace (haven't been announced yet), GSA (has officially been announced yet), Citizens (maybe, someday..?).

[Frankie811]

Other things not on there yet, towers 3 and 4 at Waterplace (haven't been announced yet)

Someone here said that sales have been so good @ 1 & 2 that another tower or 2 will be added. Is this just a rumor or will it happen now, rather than later? I would think that it would be cheaper to do it now. Towers 3 & 4 would probably be of a different design. Yes? No? Someone mentioned also that the city would rather see office space and a hotel.

[Cotuit]

Someone here said that sales have been so good @ 1 & 2 that another tower or 2 will be added. Is this just a rumor or will it happen now, rather than later? I would think that it would be cheaper to do it now. Towers 3 & 4 would probably be of a different design. Yes? No? Someone mentioned also that the city would rather see office space and a hotel.

Yes, was it mikepl who had heard something about a 3rd or 4th tower?

The city would like an office tower, but what will be built is what the market can support, not what the city would prefer. I'm not sure if it would really cost any less to build 3 and 4 now, but I'm sure mitigating construction now will be better than after residents have moved in. Of course, 3rd and 4th towers will have to go through the Capital Center Design Commission which is a somewhat lengthy process, now couldn't really possibly be any sooner than 6-8 months from now I would assume.

[Frankie811]

I noticed that Grant's Block is listed @ 239ft. But isn't this project still in the design stage?

[Cotuit]

I noticed that Grant's Block is listed @ 239ft. But isn't this project still in the design stage?

It was reported as 239ft., then went quiet for a while. I know someone who knows what direction this project is going in, but he ain't talking.

Until I hear different, I'll just leave it at 239ft.

[RLucas83]

Just a suggestion for our "master building height list", perhaps now that many of these are under construction we idenify those that are definately going to happen.

Right now its:

Black = built

Red = not build/ proposed/under construction

Maybe we could do:

Black = build

Green = construction

Blue = Pre construction / ready to go (110)

Red = Proposed

Perhaps it'd make it easier to see what is exactly going on in the city. (Esp for us displaced rhode islanders who are sometimes out of the loop!)

[Cotuit]

Just a suggestion for our "master building height list", perhaps now that many of these are under construction we idenify those that are definately going to happen.

Right now its:

Black = built

Red = not build/ proposed/under construction

Maybe we could do:

Black = build

Green = construction

Blue = Pre construction / ready to go (110)

Red = Proposed

Perhaps it'd make it easier to see what is exactly going on in the city. (Esp for us displaced rhode islanders who are sometimes out of the loop!)

I changed the In-Progress projects to green. I don't want to jinx anything by saying any other project is more or less close to construction than any other.

[RLucas83]

I changed the In-Progress projects to green. I don't want to jinx anything by saying any other project is more or less close to construction than any other.

Yea... i know what you mean, esp ones like 110, but Westin water place and g-tech. But it gives a good ideal when thinking what the skyline will one day look like for those of us who only get to see it a few times a year. I always get a good view when approaching the city on route 146, i cant imagine what it'd look like with all these built.

[dgreco]

how come Gtech isn't listed on the building height list?

[Cotuit]

how come Gtech isn't listed on the building height list?

I don't know how tall it is in feet.

[Frankie811]

I don't know how tall it is in feet.

I can't find any info on the height of the GTECH building either. By the way, offical address of this building is 10 Memorial BLVD

http://realco.usaa.com/portfolio/propsForL...px?scode=714400

[dgreco]

I don't know if the building height can be roughly estimated, but GTech is 12 floors from what I saw on the construction site, is there usually a range for 12 floor buildings?

[Baines]

I don't know if the building height can be roughly estimated, but GTech is 12 floors from what I saw on the construction site, is there usually a range for 12 floor buildings?

120-150 is the basic range.

[CtownMikey]

someone should e-mail emporis so they can add our new 340 footer!

[Lone Ranger]

Question: the PPS Guide to Providence Architecture claims that the Industrial Trust Bldg (428 feet, 1927) was the tallest building in New England when built -- and furthermore claims that the building retained that distinction for more than 2 decades. Now, why would Hartford's Travelers Tower (527 feet, 1919) and Boston's Custom House Tower (496 feet, 1915) not be considered taller?

What am I missing here? I have to believe that the seeming discrepancy is some technicality of classification with which I'm unfamiliar, because I can't possibly imagine that such a haughty little tome would simply get wrong a fact that basic.

[runawayjim]

Question: the PPS Guide to Providence Architecture claims that the Industrial Trust Bldg (428 feet, 1927) was the tallest building in New England when built -- and furthermore claims that the building retained that distinction for more than 2 decades. Now, why would Hartford's Travelers Tower (527 feet, 1919) and Boston's Custom House Tower (496 feet, 1915) not be considered taller?

What am I missing here? I have to believe that the seeming discrepancy is some technicality of classification with which I'm unfamiliar, because I can't possibly imagine that such a haughty little tome would simply get wrong a fact that basic.

that's kind of weird... maybe they forgot about the other 2 cities?

[mental757]

maybe they meant RI???

[Lone Ranger]

maybe they meant RI???

Don't believe so. Even if they did, the statement was still wrong because the Superman building is still, to this day, the tallest in the state. Here, I'll give you the full quotation:

The Providence skyline's most identifiable eminence was planned and built as the tallest building in New England, a distinction it retained for more than twenty years.

Only if you don't consider the beacon atop the B of A building to be a structural element of the building itself can you consider any building in the state to be taller. In that case, of course, the tallest building in the state would be the Hospital Trust Tower. But the Hospital Trust building wasn't built in the 50's, it was built in the early 70's, so the PPS Guide still has inaccurate facts, if it's the case that the authors are thinking along these lines.

I know there was a mini-controversy about this a couple of years ago, but I don't think too many people dispute the claim that the beacon atop the B of A is a structural element of the building itself. So realistically, the B of A building has been the tallest building in the state for nearly 85 years.

Anyway, all that just goes to say that I'm pretty sure they writers didn't mean RI.

Basically, what I'm thinking is that the truth of the matter is either a) that the PPS Guide is dead wrong about B of A being the tallest in NE for more than 20 years, or b) that the PPS Guide discounts the Custom House and Travelers Towers for other reasons, possibly because the tower element in neither building is an integral component of its edifice proper, but both are rather add-ons, so to speak.

A picture or two, to illustrate. Custom House Tower:

Travelers Tower:

In both cases, you've kinda got the building and then you've got the tower. With the B of A building, that's clearly not the case. In other words, maybe the claim in the PPS Guide is based on a technicality. I dunno if I'm right. That's my best guess, though. If it's not that, then I dunno what the heck the PPS folks were thinking.

[Gusterfell]

^That could be the case, as some sources use the highest occupied floor to determine a building's height. If you visualise all three buildings with their decorative crowns removed, the other two would appear to lose more of their height than the Superman Building.

For what it's worth, this isn't the first place I've seen mention that Superman was built as the tallest building in New England.

Edited September 27, 2006 by Gusterfell

[Recchia]

I'm thinking it's because the Travelers Tower and the Custom House Tower only have something like 20 actual floors, whereas the Superman building has more. Nonetheless the PPS should clarify its claim.

[Lone Ranger]

I'm thinking it's because the Travelers Tower and the Custom House Tower only have something like 20 actual floors, whereas the Superman building has more.

That would mesh pretty well with Gusterfell's point about the decorative crowns. But there's a problem there, too: Travelers Tower is listed at 24 floors, Industrial Trust 26, Custom House Tower at 32.

But I'm beginning to suspect the accuracy of the volume. The PPS Guide also makes this statement in its comments about the B of A building:

This building, taller by only three stories than the Biltmore Hotel across Kennedy Plaza, is far more commanding a presence because of its site, detail, and massing.

The Biltmore isn't 23 stories, it's only 18.

If you're going to act like an arrogant prick, you'd do well to get your facts straight while being so. And the authors of this guide are certainly self-important and pompous, spouting off prejudiced (and at times venomous) opinions as if they were Bible. Their remarks about the Old Stone Bank building, the Hospital Trust building, and the Citizens Tower are downright insulting.

Erudition without a basis of fact and a contemptuous demeanor? I dunno about the rest of you, but that doesn't fly with with me. I paid $26 for this book. I hope nobody else here makes the same mistake.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Lone Ranger

[gregw]

You know, on another forum I quoted the PPS guide and said that the Industrial Trust bldg was the tallest in NE and someone quickly pointed out the Custom House Tower and now you rightly mention the Hartford Bldg. The bottom line is although the PPS guide is great in many ways, on this matter it's just dead wrong.

Question: the PPS Guide to Providence Architecture claims that the Industrial Trust Bldg (428 feet, 1927) was the tallest building in New England when built -- and furthermore claims that the building retained that distinction for more than 2 decades. Now, why would Hartford's Travelers Tower (527 feet, 1919) and Boston's Custom House Tower (496 feet, 1915) not be considered taller?

What am I missing here? I have to believe that the seeming discrepancy is some technicality of classification with which I'm unfamiliar, because I can't possibly imagine that such a haughty little tome would simply get wrong a fact that basic.

[dgreco]

I posted this in another thread, but keep forgetting where I put it when I want to look at it. So I'm making this new thread for it. Thanks to Baines for some info on the Power Block condos heights. This is all a best guess right now, and could change.

Updated 06/04/2006:

520ft. OneTen Westminster

428ft. Bank of America ("Superman") Building

410ft. One Financial Plaza ("Hospital Trust Tower")

365ft. Second Westin Tower

340ft. Old Public Safety Complex

329ft. Westin Providence

311ft. Textron Tower

310ft. Power Block Condo (Gulf Station) Indefinitely Delayed

299ft. Atwells Parcel

285ft. 50 Kennedy Plaza

175-275ft.(?) GSA Building

239ft. Grant's Block

235ft. WaterPlace Tower

210-230ft. 190 Dyer Street

223ft. The State House

220ft. The Biltmore

210-230ft. Metro Lofts (West Service Road and Washington)

216ft. The County Courthouse

213ft. WaterPlace Tower

180-200ft. Sierra Suites

190ft. YMCA (Crossroads) Building

185ft. First Baptist Church

180ft.(?) Hilton addition

180ft. Brown Sciences Library

175ft. Dominica Manor Federal Hill

145ft. Belmonte Castello (Federal Hill)

* Existing

* Proposed

* In-Progress