COMMENT OF THE DAY: HOW HOUSTON LEARNED IT’S NOT FLOOR COUNT, IT’S HOW YOU USE IT 
“Competing for the tallest building is the civilizational equivalent of comparing certain body part sizes. Houston may have been ‘robbed‘ of it back when it was a headstrong teenager, but with maturity comes the realization that it’s really not necessary to spend ridiculous amounts of money just to have the tallest, shiniest building on the block.” [meh, commenting on ExxonMobil Backs Off Property Tax Dispute; Fiesta Wayside’s New Look]
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Who would want the tallest building? This comment really isn’t grounded in reality. In addition Houston really has no spired towers downtown so this building would have been very unique and added a great deal to the skyline. By the way you can see this building (or a fatter shorter version) in Philadelphia, it’s called Liberty Place….
First of all, even if the Bank of the Southwest Tower was built, it would not have landed us with the world’s tallest. It would have been 4th, following the Sears Tower & World Trade Center Twins. Second, when the Chase Tower was completed it was the 8th tallest in the World. Quite impressive for an Oil town on a Texas Bayou. It held this for almost 8 years until Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Hong Kong decided to catch up. Third, we were the first city to build a tower over a thousand feet outside of New York & Chicago. Even today our skyline ranks pretty high in terms of general height of buildings. So if you’re going to make a body part measuring contest, don’t forget to put the ruler at the base ;).
It would have been the second tallest in the world at the time had it been built @ 1,402′ compared with the World Trade Center’s 1,368′ (1WTC)& 1,362′ (2WTC). The Sears Tower is 1,454′.
Yeah Right. That’s what ‘little’ guys say to justify their dismal little lives.
don’t we still have the tallest building not in a central business district?