Everyone knows the downtown skyline is going to change dramatically over the next few years. Skyscraping towers are planned along the Capitol Mall, promising grand views, high-style, and elite living, right here in the river city. But is the Aura condo development (watch it, most of the links in the post take you to sites that play obnoxious music, reason enough to live elsewhere) playing fast and loose with what it’s promising prospective buys?

I note the sign at the corner of L and 6th Streets everyday as I enter and leave the Downtown Plaza parking lot on my way to 24 Hour Fitness. But it wasn’t until I had the occasion to walk past the sign on foot that I noticed details past the larger-than-life photo of the architect whose black-framed glasses scream “I’m trendy and a style nerd - check out my kitchens.” Aura sells itself on the three-paneled ads with scenes titled “Your architect, Your building, Your view.”

Now, I will be the first to admit that while pondering this post, I did not dig back into high school trig to prove my theory here - so I welcome comments from math-types or architects. But here’s what I figure:

If you look at the “Your view” panel, there’s an alluring shot west, across the Sacramento River, taking in the iconic pyramid building, the Tower Bridge, etc. But they used a rather old shot because there’s a building in that photo that doesn’t exist anymore. Plus, uh, call me crazy, but won’t this change the vista, like, a bit?

The Towers At Capitol Mall boasts two towers reaching some 53-stories in the air. Aura, on the other hand, has a mere 38 stories planned. I’m guessing, unless Aura’s stories are twice as big, that Aura’s west-facing units will miss out on some of the view used to lure buyers in the first place.

Lower-floored Aura-ers already lose out to the clunky black and glass building immediately across 6th Street. And I haven’t stopped in to see if the sales pitch mentions Aura’s place in the general downtown development. But based on the photo alone, I gotta raise an eyebrow at their whole strategy.

Here’s a non-artist rendition of what a more honest ad might look like: