Soon to be tallest tower in Texas breaks ground. The 74-story building will be more than 300 feet taller than the Independent, Austin’s tallest, and 20 feet taller than the state’s current champ, the JPMorgan Chase Tower in downtown Houston. Features include a 251 room hotel: Hotel Austin, 352 luxury apartment homes plus 700,000 square feet of office space. The developers says the tower will serve as a new gateway from the Central Business District to the Rainey Street district.