Purchased as a shell for $9.35 million in 2009, the late venture capitalist Tom Perkins spent another $9 million building out the Grand Penthouse A atop the sinking Millennium Tower. And the 5,000-square-foot lair, which is configured as a two-bedroom, with a 3,000-square-foot great room and rooftop terrace, has traded hands for $13 million or roughly $2,600 per square foot.
The buyer, a former Oracle executive, owns another unit in the tower and is betting that the building’s tilt will soon be repaired and remain habitable, noting: “I’m willing to take whatever risk there is to benefit from a depressed environment.”
I checked this unit out a couple of months ago, unbelievable finishes. The interior is an EXACT replica of the insane $130 Million Super Yacht Maltese Falcon Tom Perkins built. The clock on the wall in the pic: a technician from Switzerland flies in once a year to maintain it!
Considering there may be some swaying back and forth, perhaps replicating the yacht was a good idea.
“a technician from Switzerland flies in once a year to maintain it!”
due to the pendulum being out of plumb?
A clock requiring thousands of dollars in annual maintenance is hilarious. Especially when it an be outperformed by a 79 cent digital timepiece that requires no maintenance.
Maybe that is an indication of the skewed values at this level of the stratosphere.
One can ask: Why do we need a digital timepiece when we simply watch the sun?
One can argue that ALL of our values are skewed. Or, if not skewed, simply unconscious. Especially if one thinks about the environmental destruction and the labor exploitation needed to create an economy that can give us a cheap 79 cent digital watch?
Maybe you have sun reading superpowers but I can’t read the time via the sun with enough precision to know whether or not I’ll make an appointment. As for a 79 cent timepiece, that low cost is mostly due to Moore’s Law and advances in integrated manufacturing, not labor exploitation. You could build the same with USA union labor for maybe $5.
And that’s not a measure of exploitation?
Maybe exploitation can explain some of the difference. Other factors include local cost of living, taxes, and perhaps overhead introduced by labor unions.
But that’s not the point I was making. Just reread my original comment and substitute $5 for 79 cents to remove the orthogonal issue of globalization.
Great point, Brian.
that 3,000 sq ft grand room looks perfect for marble runs! no wait…
I’d like to applaud the editor for not subtly tilting the photo. I’m not sure I could have resisted.
The photo is tilted. That’s why it looks level.
Is he betting that the tilt will be repaired? Or that the tilt won’t get much worse and won’t matter? The latter is how I understood the situation. I was under the impression that it was only a problem if it got a lot worse.
I would think the repairs (if they could be done at all) would not be sufficient. Building is prematurely settling and tilting. That in itself calls for a tear down. With SF in an earthquake zone, how much more to make the building safe?
So this is a gamble for the buyer involved. I would rather be the owner selling at a discount, than a buyer at a discount. That’s just me since I don’t have $13M to completely lose or tie up in multi-year litigation.
How would you tear down a building of that size? The mind reels. You can’t possibly do a controlled demolition due to the location.
Battle of the experts @ trial. Each side will have their experts testify as to the structural integrity of the building, proposed repairs, etc. One side will argue it is a tear down at X cost, the other will say it can be repaired at Y cost. Meanwhile, the building continues to settle and tilt. You already got hints of the possible expert testimony outlined in the L.A. Times article.
I wouldn’t buy anything from an Oracle exec. In two years his goons are gonna show up and demand another $5M based on “usage”.
“repaired”? Maybe. But it seems a lot more likely this is going to end up like the 47 story Harmon Hotel in Vegas last year. Demolished. I have not read one credible idea on something like this could be “repaired”.
Hopefully there is not an earthquake anytime soon or it will be the taxpayer’s picking up the tab to clean-up this millionaire’s folly.
It’s amazing how uninformed SocketSite readers appear to be on the Millennium tower issue. Misinformation and bad jokes is all I see here.
[Editor’s Note: Please feel free to lead by example or simply follow the link above to the more serious discussion with respect to the tower’s stability and situation.]
As published here on SS and else where, the tower is structurally safe, but it seems a few of the above readers struggle to grasp this. They are suggesting “it’s a tear down”.
“structurally safe” for now maybe. But what about tomorrow or next year? My understanding is the engineers report says that the bottom of the building will be stressed by a seismic event.
Smart buy. Kinda like buying a used VW desiel. Whatever problem exists will certainly be resolved at the taxpayers expense. Also, this sale undermines anyone claiming zero value for tax purpose.
this i like, from the perspective of a citizen of San Francisco who wants city services funded through tax receipts.
We visited Perkins in this apartment, and it was striking, especially the views, but also some of the “art” he had collected. It is hardly a place to call home, however, or even one home among many. It feels like a large lounge or lobby of a contemporary hotel. For $13m, one could buy a very nice house or a large apartment in an older building. This really felt like a place for an aging bachelor to seduce much younger bimbos. Trump might like it, although it is not gaudy and had no gold faucets.
According to the Chronicle, quoting WSJ, the buyer is Craig D. Ramsey.