Rchopper9, Waterline 8-3-25, CC BY 4.0
Austin’s skyline has been climbing for years, but Waterline is a different kind of statement.
At 1,025 feet tall and 74 stories, this supertall has crossed the threshold from “another high-rise” to “new landmark,” and it’s now recognized as the tallest building in Texas after reaching its full height in 2025.
What makes Waterline especially interesting is that it’s not just a tower you look at from across the lake. It’s also designed as a mixed-use vertical district—stacking offices, residences, a hotel, and street-level activity into one massive footprint at the edge of downtown’s trail-and-creek corridor.
If you’ve walked near Waller Creek or along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, you’ve probably already noticed it looming into view. It sits in a location where Austin’s outdoor identity and downtown growth collide, and the result is a building that feels like a marker for where the city is headed next.
Where Waterline Is and Why the Location Feels So “Austin”
Waterline is located at 98 Red River in downtown Austin, near the Rainey Street Historic District, with Waller Creek nearby and Lady Bird Lake just a few blocks south.
That setting matters because it puts Waterline right in the “live-work-play” zone Austin keeps expanding. It’s close enough to downtown’s core to feel central, but positioned where trails, creekside paths, and the lakefront influence the day-to-day vibe.
The official project materials emphasize this park-and-trail adjacency, leaning into the idea that Waterline is part of a connected district rather than a standalone tower.
How Tall Is Waterline, Really?
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Waterline’s headline number is its height: 1,025 feet.
At 74 stories, it edged past the previous state height leader and became the tallest building not just in Austin, but across Texas.
There’s a fun detail here that adds perspective: some Texas skylines have historically “felt” taller because of dense clusters and older landmarks, but Waterline is a clean, modern supertall with a straightforward bragging-rights stat. You don’t need a skyline debate or an angle trick to understand it. The numbers do the work.
What’s Inside: A True Mixed-Use Tower
Waterline is described as a mixed-use skyscraper with office, residential, hotel, retail, and restaurant components.
That mix is key to why Waterline is being talked about as more than a height record. It’s meant to function like a stacked neighborhood, with different uses and separate circulation systems for different parts of the building. KUT notes the tower is divided into offices, residences, shops and restaurants, with separate entrances, elevators, and parking.
The developer materials also frame it as a major “live, work, and enjoy” destination—offices above, residences and hotel components, plus wellness-focused amenities and street-level activity designed to keep the project active beyond business hours.
If you’re watching downtown Austin evolve, that mix is the point. The city isn’t just building taller; it’s building denser, more layered, and more “all-in-one” than it used to be.
Who’s Behind It: Developers, Architect, and Construction
Several big names are tied to Waterline.
Reporting identifies Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential as developers connected to the project, and Lincoln’s own project page describes the tower as a major mixed-use development underway downtown.
On the design side, Waterline is associated with Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) as the architect, with DPR Construction listed as the main contractor.
Even if you’re not deep into architecture, KPF’s involvement signals the scale and ambition. This isn’t “local builder goes tall.” This is a globally experienced high-rise firm helping shape Austin’s next skyline chapter.
When Waterline Became the Tallest in Texas
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Waterline reached its full height in 2025, which is when it moved from “future tallest” to “tallest, right now.”
KUT reported on the milestone and described the tower’s scale in a way that makes the number feel real: about 2.7 million square feet of space, with the kind of footprint that’s hard to visualize until you realize it’s closer to a small district than a single building.
Completion is commonly reported as expected in 2026.
That timeline is part of what makes Waterline such a persistent conversation starter: it’s already “the tallest,” but the interior pieces that will define how people experience it day-to-day are still unfolding.
Why Waterline Matters Beyond the Record
It would be easy to treat Waterline as a trivia fact: “tallest in Texas” and done.
But the tower also represents a bigger shift in how Austin is building.
First, it’s a new kind of downtown density.
A single project combining office, hotel, residential, and street-level uses is a sign that downtown growth isn’t just about more square footage—it’s about stacking multiple lifestyles into one address.
Second, it’s a skyline marker visible from everyday Austin life.
Waterline isn’t tucked away in a corporate-only district. It sits near the lake, near trails, near places where people actually spend their weekends. That makes it feel more present than a tower you only notice from a freeway.
Third, it’s a signal to the rest of Texas.
For decades, the “tallest building” conversation stayed centered on Houston. Waterline shifting that record to Austin is symbolic in a way that goes beyond architecture—it reflects how Austin’s growth story has reached a new scale.
The Best Ways to View Waterline
You don’t need a formal observation deck plan to appreciate Waterline. It’s tall enough that it finds you.
Still, if you want a few easy, low-effort ways to take it in, think in terms of classic Austin viewpoints:
- A lakefront walk gives you the “city rising behind nature” look, where the tower reads like part of the skyline rather than a single object.
- A creekside stroll near Waller Creek gives you the most dramatic “vertical wall” feeling, where the tower’s scale becomes obvious fast.
- And any downtown drive that swings near Rainey gives you that moment where you look up and realize you’re seeing a new era of Austin height.
A Quick Reality Check: Tallest Doesn’t Mean “Most Austin”
Austin’s identity has always been bigger than its buildings.
Waterline is a record-breaker, but it doesn’t replace the city’s defining landmarks in the emotional sense. The tower won’t become beloved the way a spring-fed pool, a live music venue, or a long-time neighborhood spot becomes beloved.
What it can become is something else: a reference point. A marker in photos. A “remember when that wasn’t there?” tower. A building that signals how fast the city has changed—and how much it continues to change.
And that’s exactly why people keep talking about it.
Final Thoughts
Waterline has already earned its place in Texas skyline history by reaching 1,025 feet and becoming the tallest building in the state.
But the longer story is what Waterline does to Austin’s sense of scale—how it reshapes views, how it changes the feel of the downtown edge, and how it brings a new kind of mixed-use intensity to the lake-and-creek corridor.
Whether you love the idea of a supertall or you miss when the skyline felt lower and looser, Waterline is now part of the city’s visual vocabulary. It’s a tower you’ll keep noticing—especially because Austin keeps giving you new reasons to look up.