Sherman Plaza update

Not that this has anything to do with my life, but I think this is an ugly piece of shit. It's ugly in its construction phase and it will be even uglier when it's done and Evanston is renamed East Las Vegas. OK, I am really excited about Ann Taylor Loft - we could really use one. But I'd pick Osco over ATL any day ( in this particular case, that abbr. stands for Ann Taylor Loft, not Hartsfield-Jackson).

Why I don't like this building:

1. Skyscrapers were meant to be tall, not fat. I wouldn't mind a wide residential base and then a tall slender tower, maybe even up to 4oo ft, where they would be able to preserve the same number of units. Just as long as there are no balconies. Evanston would never approve anything over 300 feet though, since they scaled down the Optima on Elgin Road from 36 floors to 16 floors, resulting in the unusual circumstance of a high-rise having width>height, creating an unsightly vantage point for anyone walking west on Clark Street. It's sort of like this, except with more glass.

2. What is it with the rounded balconies?

3. This is sort of related to point #1, but I don't understand why it needs to be L-shaped. It's not a casino. On the plus side, pretty much everyone (on the upper levels, at least) will have a lake view or downtown-Chicago view, with the exception of the unfortunate souls whose condos face west.

Here are photos I took today while heading down to EPD:

These apartments here are the ones with the lake views:


The east elevation, facing Sherman Avenue (probably why it's called Sherman Plaza).
They recently started putting the brick facing on the retail/garage portion that faces Davis Street: