Local airport authorities have flagged their concerns about the United States’ planned tallest skyscraper to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), saying the height of Oklahoma City’s Legends Tower would adversely affect the city’s airports.
Legends Tower is set to be 581 metres tall, and would host apartments, retail, restaurants, and a Hyatt hotel.
“The letter to the FAA is part of the normal process used for proposed structures,” said Will Rogers International Airport director Jeff Mulder. “The FAA conducts an airspace study and then provides that information to airports for comment and input, which was the case with this proposed project.”
“The letter is not in support or against the project, but to inform the FAA and the community about the impacts to aviation in Oklahoma City.”
According to Mulder’s letter, Legends Tower’s height would increase passengers’ travel time, as well as adversely impacting departure schedules and flight safety. Legends Tower would significantly raise the city’s minimum vectoring altitude, the lowest possible altitude to meet aircraft obstacle clearance requirements.
The skyscraper will be within the airspace of Will Rogers International Airport, Wiley Post Airport, Max Westheimer Airport, and Tinker Air Force Base.
Developers Matteson Capital and Centurion Partners said earlier this year that they had secured US$1.5 billion in financing to build the skyscraper. Oklahoma City authorities approved an unlimited height for the building in June.
Legends Tower would be more than double the height of the state’s current tallest building, Oklahoma City’s Devon Energy Center. It will be around 40 metres taller than New York City’s One World Trade Center, the U.S.’s tallest skyscraper.
The skyscraper will be part of a larger mixed-use development known as The Boardwalk at Bricktown, designed by California architecture firm AO. Construction on The Boardwalk at Bricktown is set to begin next year.
“The project is going to go on no matter what the [FAA’s] comments are,” said Matteson Capital founder Scot Matteson. “If we can't get the height, if it is the only question we're talking about, it will be a little shorter.”
“The height is not something that's necessary,” AO studio partner Bruce Greenfield said in June.