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43-599: Frost Tower may refer to: Frost Bank Tower in Austin, Texas, USA Frost Tower (San Antonio) in San Antonio, Texas, USA Frost Tower (Midland, Texas) in Midland, Texas, USA Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Frost Tower . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

86-543: A dry-cleaner . Following the builders tradition, a tin Christian cross was embedded into the concrete of each floor during construction, with the last being added on May 27, 2003. The idea came from a story of an immigrant who worked on construction during the 1940s in New York City . Also, a 30-foot (9.1 m) cedar tree was hoisted to the top of the mechanical penthouse during the topping out ceremony. At

129-687: A nominal 0% interest rate on loans. Other aspects of the Japanese economy were good during the early 2000s; unemployment remained relatively low, and China became somewhat dependent on the Japanese exports. The bear market , however, continued in Japan, despite the best efforts of the Bank. Transition left the economy of the European Union in a cautiously optimistic state during the early 2000s. The most difficult years were 2000–2001, precipitating

172-554: A segmented pyramidal form. Lighting covers the crown, where a section of the building 150 ft (46 m) lights up, and sometimes changes color for special occasions, such as the 2006 Rose Bowl , when the Austin-based University of Texas Longhorns defeated the USC Trojans . More than 200,000 sq ft (60,960 sq m) of glass was used for the facade of the building alone and 45,000 sq ft (13,716 sq m) of glass

215-515: Is closely linked to that of the United States, and economic conditions south of the border tend to quickly make their way north. Canada's stock markets were especially hard hit by the collapse in high-tech stocks. For much of the 1990s the rapid rise of the TSX had almost wholly been attributed to two stocks: Nortel and BCE . Both companies were hard hit by the downturn, especially Nortel, which

258-518: Is thus a determination that the expansion that began in March 1991 ended in March 2001 and a recession began. The expansion lasted exactly 10 years, the longest in the NBER's chronology. However, economic conditions did not satisfy the common shorthand definition of recession, which is "a fall of a country's real gross domestic product in two or more successive quarters", and has led to some confusion about

301-565: The 1990s, began to recover from it. Japan's 1990s recession continued. A combination of the Dot Com Bubble collapse and the September 11th attacks lengthed and worsened the recession. This recession was predicted by economists because the boom of the 1990s, accompanied by both low inflation and low unemployment , slowed in some parts of East Asia during the 1997 Asian financial crisis . The recession in industrialized countries

344-403: The 2003 Texas Construction Magazine Award of Merit. The Frost Bank Tower contains a wide variety of amenities . Such amenities in the building include conference facilities, building concierge , 24-hour cardkey access, fully equipped fitness center , state-of-the-art telecommunication systems, tenant controlled HVAC , upscale restaurants, deli / carry-out restaurants , a coffee shop , and

387-400: The U.S. economy was in recession from March 2001 to November 2001, a period of eight months at the beginning of President George W. Bush's term of office. The NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee determined that a peak in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in March 2001. A peak marks the end of an expansion and the beginning of a recession. The determination of a peak date in March

430-548: The U.S. to begin construction after the September 11 attacks . In March 2003, Frost Bank announced plans to move its downtown Austin operations into the skyscraper, signing a lease for 52,000 sq ft (4,800 m ) of office space and becoming the building's lead tenant; in response, Cousins Properties renamed the building after the bank. The building's retail space was fully leased in April ;2003 with

473-609: The US dollar on July 15, 2002). This hurt business for companies based in Europe, as the profits made abroad (especially in the Americas ) had an unfavorable exchange rate. France and Germany both entered recession towards the end of 2001, but in May 2002 both countries declared that their recessions had ended after a mere six months each. Both economies suffered from global tech crash with

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516-423: The United States no major tax cuts or major new expenditures were introduced. However, during this time, Canada did pursue an expansionary monetary policy in an effort to reduce the effects of a possible recession. Many provincial governments suffered greater problems with a number of them returning to deficits, which was blamed on the fiscal imbalance . 2003 saw elections in six Canadian provinces and in only one did

559-401: The addition of a McCormick & Schmick's restaurant. Frost Bank Tower topped out on May 28, 2003, including the final concrete pour and the hoisting of a 30 ft (9.1 m) cedar tree onto the top of the building as part of the topping out ceremony. A tin cross was also ceremonially embedded into the concrete on each floor. In August 2003, the total cost of the building

602-551: The bubble would burst emerged during the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s. Predictions about a future burst increased following the October 27, 1997 mini-crash , in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis . This caused an uncertain economic climate during the first few months of 1998. However conditions improved, and the Federal Reserve raised interest rates six times between June 1999 and May 2000 in an effort to cool

645-455: The building in 2006 to EQ Office for $ 188 million before the building was sold to Thomas Properties Group the same year. In 2013, ownership of the building transferred to Parkway Properties . The building is currently owned by Endeavor Real Estate Group. Beginning in 1998, a joint venture composed of Civitas Investments, Highgate Holdings, and T. Stacy & Associates (collectively Block 42 Congress Partners) consolidated tracts of land at

688-495: The building is expressed in honed finish limestone while the main superstructure of the building is a blue low-e glass skin , which is a thicker type of glass, that covers the entire tower. The Frost Bank Tower is one of only two places in the world with blue low-e glass skin, the other being the Reuters Building in New York City , which was the earlier structure. The folded panes of the building step back to create

731-473: The building site on the intersection of 4th Street and Congress Avenue . At the time, the city block included a row of brick buildings and the Mexic-Arte Museum . In June 1999, plans for a 27-story, 495,000 sq ft (46,000 m ) office and retail building were unveiled by the joint venture that would occupy three-quarters of the block, replacing the brick buildings and preserving

774-540: The building, including Frost Bank, Morgan Stanley , Ernst & Young , PIMCO , UTIMCO, and Heritage Title Co. Designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP with HKS, Inc. as the Architect of Record, the Frost Bank Tower is considered one of the most recognizable buildings in Austin. The building starts with a rectangular shape on the ground that eventually becomes a square point in the crown. The base of

817-499: The crown looks more like a riff on the post-modern ornamentation of the 1980s than any kind of newly inspired form." Austin Chronicle readers voted the Frost Bank Tower as the "Best New Building (Past Five Years)" in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It was also voted for best architecture in 2004 and 2005. The newspaper also said that the "owl face of the Frost Bank Tower" helps keep Austin " characteristically weird ". The tower

860-575: The economy to achieve a soft landing . The burst of the stock market bubble occurred in the form of the NASDAQ crash in March 2000. Growth in gross domestic product slowed considerably in the third quarter of 2000 to the lowest rate since a contraction in the first quarter of 1992. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which is the private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization charged with determining economic recessions,

903-698: The final two quarters of 2002. In the final three quarters of 2003, the market finally rebounded permanently, agreeing with the unemployment statistics that a recession defined in this way would have lasted from 2001 through 2003. The Labor Department estimates that a net 1.735 million jobs were shed in 2001, with an additional net 508,000 lost during 2002. 2003 saw a small gain of a mere 105,000 jobs. Unemployment rose from 4.2% in February 2001 to 5.5% in November 2001, but did not peak until June 2003 at 6.3%, after which it declined to 5% by mid-2005. Canada 's economy

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946-743: The governing party not lose seats. The Soviet Union's last year of economic growth was 1989, and throughout the 1990s, recession ensued in the Former Soviet Republics . In May 1998, following the 1997 crash of the East Asian economy , things began to get even worse in Russia. In August 1998, the value of the ruble fell 34% and people clamored to get their money out of banks (see 1998 Russian financial crisis ). The government acted by dragging its feet on privatization programs. Russians responded to this situation with approval by electing

989-481: The highest logo in the city at 420 ft (128 m). This advertises the San Antonio –based Frost Bank , whose Austin headquarters and insurance division are in the building. Tenants in the building besides Frost Bank include the Austin offices of Morgan Stanley , Ernst & Young , and PIMCO . The silvery blue color glass facade was first used on the Reuters Building in New York City . Cousins sold

1032-513: The initial design for the building from Block 42 Congress Partners called for a 352 ft (107 m) tall building with 27 floors, the Cousins Properties design called for a 515 ft (157 m) tall office building with 33 floors, over 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m ) of space, and a plaza. The building was to be the first new high rise on Congress Avenue in two decades. Initial clearing and demolition of

1075-460: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frost_Tower&oldid=1227469885 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Frost Bank Tower The Frost Bank Tower was designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP and HKS, Inc. It carries

1118-749: The more pro- dirigist and less liberal Vladimir Putin as President in 2000. Putin proceeded to reassert the role of the federal government, and gave it power it had not seen since the Soviet era. State-run businesses were used to out-compete some of the more wealthy rivals of Putin. Putin's policies were popular with the Russian people, gaining him re-election in 2004. At the same time, the export-oriented Russian economy enjoyed considerable influx of foreign currency thanks to rising worldwide oil prices (from $ 15 per barrel in early 1999 to an average of $ 30 per barrel during Putin's first term). The early 2000s recession

1161-533: The museum. Development of the site was complicated by the lease on the museum and municipal limits on building heights to preserve views of the Texas State Capitol . Block 42 Congress Partners acquired all of the land required for the project by August 1999, but ultimately sold the 1.7-acre (0.69 ha) lot to Cousins Properties in January ;2001 for $ 13.8 million. While

1204-529: The preexisting buildings on the site began in November ;2001. Work on the project continued despite an ongoing recession , rising office vacancy rates in Downtown Austin , and a downgrade of Cousins Properties's stock rating by Merrill Lynch in response to the project's announcement. Construction of the tower began on November 27, 2001; at the time, the building was the tallest in

1247-420: The procedure for determining the starting and ending dates of a recession. The NBER's Business Cycle Dating Committee (BCDC) uses monthly, rather than quarterly, indicators to determine peaks and troughs in business activity, as can be seen by noting that starting and ending dates are given by month and year, not quarters. However, controversy over the precise dates of the recession led to the characterization of

1290-413: The rapid pace of the 1990s. A number of explanations have been advanced to explain this. Canada was not as directly affected by 9/11 and the subsequent wars, and the downward pressure of these events was more muted. Canada's fiscal management during the period has been praised as the federal government continued to bring in large surpluses throughout this period, in sharp contrast to the United States. Unlike

1333-461: The recession as the "Clinton Recession" by Republicans, if it could be traced to the final term of President Bill Clinton . BCDC members suggested they would be open to revisiting the dates of the recession as newer and more definitive data became available. In early 2004, NBER President Martin Feldstein said: It is clear that the revised data have made our original March date for the start of

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1376-418: The recession much too late. We are still waiting for additional monthly data before making a final judgment. Until we have the additional data, we cannot make a decision. However, in 2008, the NBER confirmed that the recession started in March 2001. From mid-1999 to 2001, the Federal Reserve , in a move to protect the economy from the overvalued stock market , made successive interest rate increases. Using

1419-540: The skyline. Early 2000s recession The early 2000s recession was a major decline in economic activity which mainly occurred in developed countries. The recession affected the European Union during 2000 and 2001 and the United States from March to November 2001. The UK , Canada and Australia avoided the recession, while Russia , a nation that did not experience prosperity during

1462-509: The skyscraper's lead architect. After Austin's skyscraper construction boom, which began in 2007, Frost Bank Tower was soon surpassed in height by the 360 Condominiums at 581 ft (177 m) in 2008. As of March 2011, it is the 54th tallest building in Texas . In 2006, Cousins Properties sold the building for $ 188 million to EQ Office , which eventually sold it to Thomas Properties Group . Currently, there are many notable tenants in

1505-551: The stock market as an unofficial benchmark, a recession would have begun in March 2000 when the NASDAQ crashed following the collapse of the dot-com bubble. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was relatively unscathed by the NASDAQ's crash until the September 11 attacks , after which the Dow Jones suffered its worst one-day loss and largest one-week losses in history up to that point. The market rebounded, only to crash once more in

1548-412: The time of its construction in 2004, the Frost Bank Tower was the tallest building in Austin. In 2023 it fell to the 9th tallest completed building. The building covers most of its block, which is located near the center of downtown at 4th Street and Congress Avenue . When it was completed, along with its location in the skyline, matched with its height, excited Austinites and was known as a centerpiece to

1591-551: The worst years of the American recession. The European Union introduced a new currency on January 1, 1999. The euro , which was met with much anticipation, had its value immediately plummet, and it continued to be a weak currency throughout 2000 and 2001. Inflation struck the Eurozone for a few months in summer 2001 but the economy deflated within months. In 2002, the value of the euro began to rapidly rise (reaching parity with

1634-418: Was avoided in Russia due to rebound in exports and, to some degree, a return to dirigisme . Japan's recession, which started in the early 1990s, continued into the 2000s, with deflation being the main problem. Deflation began plaguing Japan in the fiscal year ending 1999, and by 2005 the yen had 103% of its 2000 buying power. The Bank of Japan attempted to cultivate inflation with high liquidity and

1677-489: Was awarded the 2005 International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Award of Merit for lighting design by Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design for its "second set of narrowly focused accent lights that showcase the vertical mullions at the setback near the building top" and "monumental custom sconces that add scale and create a welcoming frame around the opening portals of the lobby". The building also won

1720-570: Was estimated at $ 137 million. It became the tallest building in Austin, Texas , and the fourth tallest building outside of Dallas and Houston , Texas, (excluding the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio ). The 99 ft (30 m) crown atop the building was ceremonially illuminated for the first time on the night of January 21, 2004. Over 700 people attended the event, including Turan Duda,

1763-590: Was forced to lay off much of its workforce. The September 11 attacks also hurt the Canadian stock markets and were especially devastating to the already troubled airline sector. However, in the wider economy, Canada was surprisingly unhurt by these events. While growth slowed, the economy never actually entered a recession. This was the first time that Canada had avoided following the United States into an economic downturn. The rate of job creation in Canada continued at

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1806-541: Was not as significant as either of the two previous worldwide recessions. Some economists in the United States object to characterizing it as a recession since there were no two consecutive quarters of negative growth. After the relatively mild 1990 recession ended in early 1991, the country hit a belated unemployment rate peak of 7.8% in mid-1992. Job growth was initially muted by large layoffs among defense related industries. However, payrolls accelerated in 1992 and experienced robust growth through 2000. Predictions that

1849-483: Was used in the crown. The building also contains an 11 level parking garage with spaces for more than 1,400 vehicles . The Frost Bank Tower's design received a polarized response upon its completion. Austin American-Statesman columnist John Kelso compared the building's crown to an enormous set of nose hair trimmers. Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, a Statesman art critic, opined that the "jagged form of

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