Tallest U.S. Skyscraper To Rise In Oklahoma City

A group of developers wants to construct what would be America’s tallest building in an unlikely place—Oklahoma City—Nathaniel Meyersohn reported for CNN.

The "Legends Tower" would be more than double the height of Oklahoma City’s tallest building now and the fifth-tallest building in the world. I Photo: AO

The proposed site 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 US 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 2% 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, as reported by Andy Rose for CNN.

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