Crews find broken glass panel at ATX Tower, construction company says

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- On Thursday, crews with Ryan Companies found a broken glass panel at the construction site of the ATX Tower downtown, according to a statement the company provided to KXAN Monday.

This comes after four incidents in which glass panels fell from the same high-rise at the tower, which is located at the intersection of West Sixth Street and Guadalupe Street. Nobody was injured in any of those incidents. Ryan Companies previously put up a covered walkway under the construction site.

In a statement regarding Thursday's discovery, a Ryan Companies spokesperson said in a statement:

"We recently engaged third-party consultants who confirmed that the installation and design of the glass exterior meets all safety, industry and quality standards. Their independent investigation of prior glass breaks found no systemic issues with the building’s glass panels. We continue to monitor the situation closely as part of our commitment to maintaining a safe, high-quality environment for all occupants and community members.”

A KXAN photojournalist went to the ATX Tower noting there was no glass on the ground. However, glass frames could be seen stored on the ground floor on the side of the building.

KXAN reached out to the city of Austin to see what it was doing to address the issue, and a spokesperson said the following:

"Development Services has directed the contractor to reinstall sidewalk protection while this issue is addressed. The contractor has identified a defect in some of the broken panels that resulted in recent breakage. City staff remain in ongoing dialogue with the contractor about community safety and will continue to actively monitor the site."

In July, KXAN had also reached out to the city asking what it was doing to resolve the issue and said its Development Services Department was "deeply concerned" about the "incident involving falling glass."

"The contractor is providing us with regular updates, and we will be making site visits until the safety concerns are fully resolved," the city said in its statement at the time.

“I am really disturbed and quite frankly disgusted that this continues to happen,” Council member Zo Qadri, who represents downtown Austin, said in July. “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.”

Nabil Remadna contributed to this report.