KPF Director Andrew Klare and KPF Senior Associate Principal Franz Prinsloo delivered the opening plenary at the 2026 CVU Americas Conference in Austin, TX, where a tour of Waterline was also on the program.
The plenary, titled “Down to the Waterline: Transformation of an American Downtown, opened with short presentations by Andrew, Seth Johnston, Executive Vice President at Lincoln Property Company, and Larry Speck, Senior Designer at LPA Design Studios, exploring how the project’s mixed-use program and connections to its surroundings contribute to the broader transformation of downtown Austin. Franz then moderated a group discussion on the project’s role in shaping the city’s rapidly evolving urban fabric.
Conference attendees had the opportunity to tour Waterline, now in its final phases of construction, and gained insight into supertall design and the role of mixed-use development in shaping Austin’s skyline. Andrew, Franz, and senior representatives from Lincoln Property Company and Kairoi Residential led the tours.
Set to be the tallest tower in Texas, Waterline is a 74-story, mixed-use supertall that integrates luxury apartments, office space, a hotel, retail, and public plazas along Waller Creek in downtown Austin. From its multi-leveled ground plane and pedestrian Paseo to its position at the start of Austin’s first light rail line, Waterline is designed as a vertical urban district with deep roots in its surroundings. The project embodies many of the questions at the center of the CVU Americas Conference: how to manage density, activate the public realm, and connect a major high-rise development to a rapidly growing city.
The 2026 CVU Americas Conference was held in Austin, TX, from Thursday, March 26, to Friday, March 27. The plenary took place on Thursday from 9:55 to 10:55 AM, and the tour of Waterline took place on Friday from 9:00 to 11:00 AM.
