What constitutes a highrise to you?

[Guest]

So this question came up in another thread. What do charlotteans consider a highrise and what do they consider a midrise. To me I've always considered a midrise to be anything between 5 and 12 floors. and anything above 14 to be a highrise (not including 13 because most don't have a 13th floor). Others however consider buildings like arlington, westin, nascar plaza, aloft, ritz, and others in the 15-30 floor range to be midrises. What do you think?

[HopHead]

I think it depends on the city. Probably before the building boom of the last ~20 years in Charlotte, something like 20+ stories was probably considered a high-rise. However, now I think anything over 30 stories is probably a high-rise in Charlotte. Some people in NYC might consider a 30 story building to be a midrise given the number of 50-60 story buildings there. In Dubai, well you might have to be 100 stories to be a high-rise

[Condoze34]

Here is my original post on this subject which was posted on Vue thread. I am specifically interested in Charlotte perceptions of mid vs high rises. Yes, each city will be different. Nimble, thanks for setting up the poll, will be interesting to watch the results:

I have a related question - obviously The Vue would be considered a highrise in any city, but what defines a highrise in Charlotte? Where does midrise end and highrise begin? Is it in the range of 15 - 20 stories / 90 - 100 meters? Or is it lower?

For example are Nascar, Ritz, and Westin considered midrises or highrises in Charlotte?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[Guest]

I think it depends on the city. Probably before the building boom of the last ~20 years in Charlotte, something like 20+ stories was probably considered a high-rise. However, now I think anything over 30 stories is probably a high-rise in Charlotte. Some people in NYC might consider a 30 story building to be a midrise given the number of 50-60 story buildings there. In Dubai, well you might have to be 100 stories to be a high-rise

[InitialD]

I tend to go with 16+ as highrise. I'd call the new NASCAR building a highrise but I think I'd call the Novare 440 South Church a midrise.

[AuLukey]

I personally believe that it really is all a matter of perspective. Like in the NYC example, there are so many towers with 50+ stories that the buildings in the 20-30 story range barely compare. Until Charlotte has a huge clustering of 50+ story towers, I believe it is safe to say that at least twenty, if not less, stories should be enough to be considered a high rise in Charlotte. I am on the fence with the NASCAR tower, it is so wide that it feels shorter, same for the Westin. Back before the Wells Fargo building was built, I would've definitely considered the Westin a highrise, but now it is so extremely dwarfed by WF that it appears much shorter.

But, nevertheless, I think Courtside is a good cutoff for Charlotte, anything taller is a highrise IMO.

[mad_park]

I think people might have different thoughts depending if the building is residential or commercial. A 15 story condo might be called a highrise, yet a 15 story office would perhaps be considered a mid-rise.

[Guest]

I think people might have different thoughts depending if the building is residential or commercial. A 15 story condo might be called a highrise, yet a 15 story office would perhaps be considered a mid-rise.

[mad_park]

Strange, speaking that a 15 story office would be a good bit taller

[aceboogie]

Here's what I think. Low rise: >4floors, Mid rise: 5-12 floors, High rise: 14+floors. Then in the high rise department you have a separate super category of skyscraper. A skyscraper is any building above 90 meters, about 300 feet.

[Spartan]

Hah, are you one of those people who doesn't believe in the 13th floor?

IMO Its a matter of scale based on the size of the existing city and its skyline. In Charlotte, a 12 storey building is unimportant. Its not a skyscraper here. However, in my hometown (Spartanburg) a 12 storey building is a skyscraper of large magnitude.

[aceboogie]

Yea. I was sticking to the tradition of not including the 13th floor. A 12 story building in uptown wouldn't do anything, but if you placed in Ballantyne, Southpark, or University City it would have a huge impact. I do agree, much of what is considered a highrise has to do with the area. But, I also believe there has to be some objective way of viewing these things. In order to be objective I suggest floors/height be included in determining what is a low, mid, and high rise.