Spartanburg's tallest building heights

[Spartanburg Guy]

So, I was wondering if anyone knows the official heights of the tallest buildings in Spartanburg.  I know the Denny's Tower is 250 feet tall, the Montogomery Building is 138 feet tall and the AC Hotel is 128 feet tall.  

What about the Schuyler Building, Rutledge Building, and Marriott?

[westsider28]

The Schuyler Building is exactly 116 feet, 10 inches tall according to its NRHP listing form (page 4 of PDF).  Shorter than you might expect for a 13-story building.

I've searched extensively online & cannot find a definitive height for the Marriott.  Eye-balling it, it only looks a bit shorter than the Montgomery Building, so maybe 120-125ish?  I think it's relatively tall for 9-stories because of the convention space in the first 2 floors, plus the penthouse suite and hipped roof.

No idea about Archibald Rutledge.

( @Spartan Not sure if this topic merits its own thread [no offense Sburg Guy]. Maybe move to Spartanburg Off-Topic? )

[Spartanburg Guy]

Thanks, Westsider.  I'm surprised the Montgomery Building is 22 feet taller than the Schuyler Building.  They look about the same height.

[Spartan]

@westsider28 I generally prefer more individual topics to make it easier to find discussions. If we ever get to the point of having so many participants that it becomes unmanageable then we can start consolidating.

I generally don't plug other sites with forums similar to UrbanPlanet, especially the one that the founders of this site split off from. However, Emporis does have a good database of highrise buildings. The heights are listed as estimates, but the seem somewhat close:

1. Denny's = 250ft
2. AT&T Communications Tower = 225ft
3. Schuyler = 166ft
4. Montgomery = 138ft
5. AC Hotel = 128ft
6. Marriott = 115ft
7. QS/1 = 76ft

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/map

That being said, if Schuyler is actually 116ft and not 166 then it would drop down the list a few spots.

[roads-scholar]

22 minutes ago, Spartan said:

@westsider28 I generally prefer more individual topics to make it easier to find discussions. If we ever get to the point of having so many participants that it becomes unmanageable then we can start consolidating.

I generally don't plug other sites with forums similar to UrbanPlanet, especially the one that the founders of this site split off from. However, Emporis does have a good database of highrise buildings. The heights are listed as estimates, but the seem somewhat close:

1. Denny's = 250ft
2. AT&T Communications Tower = 225ft
3. Schuyler = 166ft
4. Montgomery = 138ft
5. AC Hotel = 128ft
6. Marriott = 115ft
7. QS/1 = 76ft
8. Rutledge Apartment = 153ft

https://www.emporis.com/buildings/map

That being said, if Schuyler is actually 116ft and not 166 then it would drop down the list a few spots.

 

[westsider28]

@Spartan Gotcha.

Emporis estimates range from very close to wildly inaccurate, because they use a standard floor-height estimate regardless of building use (doing the math, it looks to be ~12.76 feet per floor).  And of course, different building uses have very different floor-heights.  Schuyler being built as apartments in the 1950s means it has pretty short floor-heights.  Same with Archibald Rutledge.

I've also used Sketch-up & Google Earth to put models right next to a few of these buildings.  Schuyler is definitely about 117 feet, Archibald Rutledge is about 120 feet (unless you count whatever the heck that is on top of the roof).  117 and 120 respectively are the heights of the models below.

Also, here's an interior photo of an apartment in the Schuyler building showing the relatively low floor-height.

[Spartanburg Guy]

1 hour ago, westsider28 said:

@Spartan Gotcha.

Emporis estimates range from very close to wildly inaccurate, because they use a standard floor-height estimate regardless of building use (doing the math, it looks to be ~12.76 feet per floor).  And of course, different building uses have very different floor-heights.  Schuyler being built as apartments in the 1950s means it has pretty short floor-heights.  Same with Archibald Rutledge.

I've also used Sketch-up & Google Earth to put models right next to a few of these buildings.  Schuyler is definitely about 117 feet, Archibald Rutledge is about 120 feet (unless you count whatever the heck that is on top of the roof).  117 and 120 respectively are the heights of the models below.

Also, here's an interior photo of an apartment in the Schuyler building showing the relatively low floor-height.

To my eye, the Archibald Rutledge looks a little bit taller than the Montgomery and Schuyler.  I don't have any information to back that up, though.

I do think the 115 feet estimate for the Marriott seems pretty close.

[Historyguy]

Having lived in the Schuyler for a good many years, the floor to ceiling heights in each apartment were 8 feet, and my guess is there was about a foot in between floors... and the first floor was a tad higher - just based on the number of steps between floors when I had to use the stairs - more steps going from 1 to 2 than from 2-3 and on up.  I would assume the 116 is about right for 12 floors plus penthouses.  

My guess is that thing on the roof at Archibald might be the elevator works or something like that.  

[Spartan]

I always forget about poor old Archibald!

If we're trying to be thorough, we should also include Regional and Mary Black as significant "high rises"

[Historyguy]

Archibald does sort of get forgotten - it is really pretty tall for not being in downtown...  it's hard to overlook the Montgomery, the Schuyler (Church Street Lofts), Denny's (I call it the Big Burger Tower), the Marriott, and now the AC (in order of age), but you really have to remember to cast your eyes north to Archibald.  

[Spartanburg Guy]

So, it appears this is the order of the tallest buildings going by the information that has been compiled:

1.  Denny's Tower 250 ft

2.  Montgomery Building 138 ft

3.  Archibald Rutledge ~120-130 ft depending on the roof

4.  AC Hotel 128 feet

5.  Schuyler/Church Street Lofts 117 feet

6.  Marriott ~115 feet

7 and 8.  Regional Tower and Mary Black both at ~102 feet according to Emporis estimate.