Developers want to build America’s tallest skyscraper in an unlikely city

A group of developers wants to construct what would be America’s tallest building in an unlikely place: Oklahoma City. The proposed location for the 1,907-foot “Legends Tower” is certainly unconventional. The skyscraper would be more than double the height of Oklahoma City’s tallest building now and the fifth-tallest building in the world.

A group of developers wants to construct what would be America’s tallest building in an unlikely place: Oklahoma City.

The proposed location for the 1,907-foot “Legends Tower” is certainly unconventional. The skyscraper would be more than double the height of Oklahoma City’s tallest building now and the fifth-tallest building in the world.

The 10 tallest buildings in the United States are in New York and Chicago, the country’s first-and third-largest cities, respectively. Oklahoma City is America’s 20th largest city, with around 700,000 people.

The developers note that Oklahoma City is expanding, and they say the city can support such a project. It grew by nearly two per cent between 2020 and 2022. Between 2010 and 2020, Oklahoma City was one of 14 US cities that added more than 100,000 people.

The plan serves as an endorsement of a growing city. But the proposal may be doomed from the start. Oklahoma City’s mayor is noncommittal about the plan, and one city economist dismissed the skyscraper as “pie in the sky.”

The developers, led by real estate investment firm Matteson Capital and architecture firm AO, announced plans this week to build the skyscraper in Oklahoma City as part of a new mixed-use development project in the city with retail shops, restaurants and other attractions.

Another reason why the development is a surprise: The work-from-home revolution since the pandemic has weakened demand for office space. More office space is currently sitting empty in the United States than at any point since 1979. Many of America’s tallest buildings, such as the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center in New York and Chicago’s Willis Tower, which is 1,729 feet, are office buildings.