“Supertower” (or “super tower”) is another term for a “skyscraper.” The term “supertower” was seldom used before 1990, when the NEC Supertower opened in Minato, Tokyo. ‘Supertower” might have been influenced by the term “superpower” (or “super power”).
 
“Supertower” (or “supertower”) became popularly used in New York City in 2013 and 2014, when many tall buildings (such as One World Trade Center) were being built or planned.
 
   
Wikipedia: NEC Supertower
The NEC Super Tower, headquarters of NEC Corporation, is a 180 metre (590 foot) tall skyscraper in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was completed in 1990 and was designed by Nikken Sekkei. Its primary use is as a commercial office space. 43 stories high and five underground, it was constructed at a cost of some 60 billion yen, according to Nikkei Business, January 5, 2007 edition.
 
Google Books
Notes and Queries
August 1, 1885
Pg. 93:
... transferred to the “gorgeous east” of the story, and the murderous husband struggled with the inquisitive Fatima on the leads of the tower, while Sister Anne ascended the winding stair to the summit of the supertower or bartizan to look out for the expected Selim bringing succor.
   
Google Books
Great Buildings
By Anne Lynch
Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books
1996
Pg. 59:
THE NEC SUPERTOWER
This corporate tower in Tokyo, Japan is narrower towards the top and looks like a space shuttle.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Higher ambitions Supertowers are still seen as the symbol of prosperity but ecological imperatives are beginning to find other forms of expression
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: WORLD ARCHITECTURE -LONDON- GROSVENOR PRESS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED- no. 98, (2001): 40-43
Database: British Library Serials
 
OCLC WorldCat record
NEWS:Buildings"Tall Buildings: Dubai supertower is “supersensored”
Publisher: [New York, N.Y. : McGraw-Hill], c1987-
Edition/Format: Article Article : English
Publication: ENR. (January 18, 2010): 10
Database: ArticleFirst
   
Forbes.com
4/30/2013 @ 10:13AM
Rise Of The Super Towers: The Next Big Thing In Luxury Housing
By Morgan Brennan
The residential tower under construction at 432 Park Avenue in Manhattan will have plenty of opulent amenities to draw the moneyed crowd: The units, which start at $7 million, feature private elevator landings, 12.5-foot ceilings, separate servant entrances, heated bathroom floors and the option to buy additional climate-controlled wine cellars and guest apartments. The building will have a 75-foot-long pool, a private restaurant for residents, room service and catering, even chauffeur service. But for all of the over-the-top features of the Rafael Vinoly-designed tower, the one sure to get the most attention will be its height.
 
432 Park Ave will jut 1,396 feet into the air over midtown Manhattan upon completion in 2015. At that lofty height, the building, developed by CIM Group and Macklowe Properties, will be New York City’s third-tallest behind One World Trade Center and the Empire State Building.
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Nova. Ground Zero supertower
Author: Terri Randall; Jay O Sanders; Terri Randall Film and Video Productions,; WGBH (Television station : Boston, Mass.),; Public Broadcasting Service (U.S.),
Publisher: [United States] : PBS, [2013]
Edition/Format:   DVD video : NTSC color broadcast system : English : Widescreen
Database: WorldCat
Summary:
Nova returns to Ground Zero to witness the completion of One World Trade Center, the skyscraper rising 104 stories and 1,776 feet from the site where the twin towers stood. As the super storm Sandy bore down on New York, many feared that the still-incomplete structures would be especially vulnerable to the storm’s wrath. Nova reveals the engineering story behind their remarkable resilience to nature’s worst blows. The greatest test is still to come, though: will the final product be a fitting site for national remembrance?
 
New York (NY) Post
February 15, 2014 | 2:17pm
NYC’s coming ‘supertowers’ are nothing to fear
By Steve Cuozzo
Who’s afraid of “supertowers” near Central Park?
 
Most of the city’s inflexible preservationists, ivory-tower urbanists, community “activists,” pandering politicians, architectural critics and architects themselves, except for those fortunate enough to design them.
 
The five ultra-tall towers rising or planned along 57th Street and Central Park South were conceived to sell megabucks “homes” to globetrotting gazillionaires.
 
Twitter
Adam Fusfeld
‏@afusfeld
Don’t necessarily agree with @stevecuozzo, but appreciate his contrarian viewpoint on NYC’s forthcoming ‘supertowers’ http://nypost.com/2014/02/15/nycs-coming-supertowers-are-nothing-to-fear/ …
6:35 PM - 15 Feb 2014