sentences:  The Genesis of the project began in the early 1990s and was originally designed as a "point tower" exceeding 40 stories for a Canadian developer.The design of the 'point tower' was crafted by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill/San Francisco under the direction of Larry Doane and Steve O'Brien and won what at the time was a 'beauty competition' managed through the San Francisco Building Department.The project was voted through just before the economy for Class A office buildings fell into a severe recession and the developer for the project developed financial difficulties.