Glass panels keep falling from downtown Austin building

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Glass panels continue to fall from a downtown Austin high-rise which is under construction, but why does it keep happening?

That's the question many people who work and live in downtown Austin are asking.

On Monday, July 28, Ryan Companies discovered a broken glass panel at the ATX Tower, which is located at the intersection of W. 6th Street and Guadalupe Street.

This is now the 4th incident where glass has fallen from the building onto the streets below.

This is glass, this is something that could seriously injure someone," said Christian Gervasi, who lives and works downtown.

Gervasi says he walks under the ATX Tower often and will now be keeping his eyes pointed toward the sky.

"We live in a world where you walk down the street and you could be hit by a car. I am never really looking up thinking about things falling down so definitely something I am a little nervous about," Gervasi said.

KXAN reached out to Ryan Companies asking about the recent incident on Monday and what they are doing to ensure people's safety. Below is a statement we received from the company:

"On Monday, July 28, Ryan Companies discovered a broken glass panel at the ATX Tower construction site in downtown Austin. The team alerted the Austin Police Department and cleaned the area to ensure the safety of everyone on and around the site.

We can confirm that no injuries occurred due to this incident.

We are continuing to work with a third-party consultant to investigate this incident and determine its cause. As a safety measure, the covered walkway will remain in place."

-Ryan Companies spokesperson

KXAN also reached out to the city to find out what they are doing to resolve the issue. We also wanted to know if the company is facing any fines because of the ongoing issues. The city sent us this statement:

"The Development Services Department is deeply concerned about Monday's incident involving falling glass at 321 W. 6th Street, following several similar incidents this year. We are working closely with the contractor, who has implemented enhanced safety measures to protect the community and continues to investigate the causes of all recent incidents. The contractor is providing us with regular updates, and we will be making site visits until the any safety concerns are fully resolved,"

-City of Austin spokesperson.

 KXAN followed up asking "What enhanced measures is your department referring to? Do you have any examples? Do you know what the cause of these glass panels falling is? Can the company face any fines?"

The city responded saying, "We recommend reaching out to the contractor, who can speak in more detail about the safety measures they've put in place and their current investigation into the cause."

Ryan Companies told us they installed a covered walkway.

KXAN reached out again asking the city "Can the company face fines or penalties from the city?"

The city responded in an email saying, "We are still assessing all options."

"I am really disturbed and quite frankly disgusted that this continues to happen," said Council member Zo Qadri, who represents downtown Austin. "There needs to be accountability, our office plans on talking with folks in the city, if there is something that can be done from the managers end great, but if it requires council action then we will look at bringing something forward."

A permit shows the building will be 55 stories and include residential, office, retail and financial space.

KXAN previously reported on glass panels falling from this construction site in June and during two separate instances in March. The City of Austin Development Services Department (DSD) previously said high winds likely caused one of those incidents. First responders closed streets to clean up the broken glass, and no injuries were reported in March.