Inside DPR’s Tallest Tower in Texas Project

DPR Construction's Waterline tower stands as a reference point for how complex, mixed-use high-rises can be delivered ahead of schedule.

Rising 1,025 feet in downtown Austin, the 74-story building is the tallest in Texas.

Construction was completed in 48 months, two months ahead of a planned 50-month schedule.

Spanning 2.7 million square feet across a footprint of more than three acres, the tower integrates residential, hotel, office, retail and parking into a single vertical destination, connecting to Waterloo Greenway's 13-acre Confluence at ground level.

A city within a city

Waterline combines five distinct uses within one tower, a scale of integration that was  central to the project's complexity.

"Waterline pushed every assumption about scale, complexity and coordination," says Brett Bickford, DPR Project Executive. "This was a massive undertaking, and we wouldn't be where we are today without our talented and resilient team of skilled craft professionals and trade partners."

Brett notes that DPR's dedicated self-perform team was central to finishing ahead of schedule, allowing the project team to manage critical scopes with its own workforce.

This gave DPR greater control over quality and schedule, producing more predictable outcomes across a project of this complexity.

DPR’s delivery of Waterline offers a number of considerations on assessing how to manage risk on large, multi-use towers:

• Deployment of a dedicated self-perform team for critical scopes
• Direct workforce control over quality and schedule outcomes
• Coordination across five distinct building uses in one structure
• Delivery of 150,000+ cubic yards of concrete on a phased basis
• Construction of 92 individual sculptural columns, including 15 on the roof
• Collaboration across more than 150 trade partners
• Management of a workforce that peaked at approximately 1,000 on site
• Recording of approximately 4.5 million worker hours across the build
• Completion two months ahead of a 50-month planned schedule
• Integration with an adjacent 13-acre public greenway opening

Aligning teams around one vision

Waterline was co-developed by Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential. 
"This monumental and highly complex project reflects what's possible when an extraordinary team aligns around a shared vision and never loses focus on execution," says Seth Johnston, Executive Vice President of Lincoln Property Company.

"Delivering a project of this size, scale and technical complexity requires trust, collaboration, resilience and relentless commitment," says Bryan Kent, DPR's Central Texas Business Unit Leader.

 "And to get it done ahead of schedule is almost unheard of. Thousands of people helped bring Waterline to life, and their contributions have shaped Austin's skyline and strengthened how people experience and connect with our city."

DPR Construction's key partners:

Lincoln Property Company
Founded in Dallas in 1965, Lincoln Property Company is a top-ranked, commercial real estate firm specialising in the development and management of office, industrial, retail, multifamily and mixed-use properties. Lincoln co-developed Waterline alongside Kairoi Residential, contributing its full-service development and asset management expertise to Austin's tallest tower.

Kairoi Residential
Headquartered in San Antonio with offices in Austin and Denver, Kairoi Residential is a vertically integrated multifamily investment, development and property management company. Since 2003, the partner-led firm has transacted on US$9.8bn across 69,000 multifamily units nationwide. It co-developed Waterline's residential component with Lincoln Property Company.

KPF (Kohn Pedersen Fox)
Founded in New York in 1976, KPF is a global architecture firm with a portfolio that spans more than 40 countries, including some of the world's tallest towers. KPF served as design architect on Waterline, shaping the tower's integration of residential, hotel, office and retail uses into downtown Austin's skyline.

HKS, Inc.
HKS is a global architecture firm providing design services across commercial, residential, hospitality and civic sectors. On Waterline, HKS served as architect of record, working alongside design architect KPF to translate the tower's design into a fully realised, code-compliant, 74-storey structure.

Brockette Davis Drake, Inc. (BDD)
Brockette Davis Drake is a structural engineering firm that served as structural engineer on Waterline, responsible for the technical systems supporting the tower's 1,025-foot height and 2.7 million square feet of mixed-use space, working in close coordination with DPR's self-perform construction team.