the new lotus tower: less phallic, more fillling

the proposed shapery lotus tower has changed again, probably to appease the anti-penal forces rallying against it. it's still pretty radical by downtown's boring architectural standards of late. from the developer's site:

Shapery Lotus Tower is a proposed 40 story condominium/hotel and residential tower in downtown San Diego containing 90 hotel/condominium suites, 30 one bedroom condominium suites, 42 two bedroom condominium suites, one penthouse condominium suite, a spa/health club, pool, 40th story restaurant, roof top bar served by a glass elevator, ancillary commercial space and 164 parking spaces located in the project parking garage.

Shapery Lotus Tower sits on the western half of a substandard block (200’X 108’) bounded by Russ Blvd. on the north, A St. on the south, 11th St. on the west and Park Blvd on the east .

and i thought the condotel concept was done in downtown (see the setai, for example). there's an interesting article on sandy shapery, the developer, in the UT from a while back. he's the developer of the iconic emerald shapery with the neon hexagonal towers, which has gone from a wyndham to a westin. now if some other architects would show some cajones with their designs...

speaking of which, jay and i were in hillcrest the other day and the new atlas hillcrest is a bit disappointing style-wise. the side facing fourth avenue is finished, and there's nothing particularly interesting to look at:



strangely, the fifth ave facing side still has a ways to go, and that's the more high-profile street.

finally, could the last two days have been more beautiful in san diego? yesterday was a bit chilly but crystal clear; today i was biking downtown in late december and didn't even need a long-sleeve shirt. some photos from the dog park at petco follow; we noticed that the old candy factory building looks completely restored - all the windows have been replaced, and there's newly-painted trim. hopefully they're able to lease out the space.