Purchased for $2.15 million in the second quarter of 2014, the 2,018-square-foot live/work unit #602 in the historic Hales Warehouse building at 2 Mint Plaza returned to the market priced at $2.495 million this past May, a sale at which would have represented total appreciation of 16 percent over the past five years.
The two-bedroom, two-bath unit features southeastern cityscape views and an “A-plus address in the vibrant, amenity rich SOMA/Mid-Market neighborhood,” with a “light-drenched open-plan living space,” “soaring 11-foot-6-inch ceilings” and a “rock star kitchen” with top of the line appliances.
And if you’re kicking yourself for having missed the discounted resale of 10 Mint Plaza #5, a sister unit in the adjacent Silver Building which ended up fetching 16.7 percent below its 2014 price a month ago, the list price for 2 Mint Plaza #602 has since been been reduced to $1.995 million and the seller is now offering a year of prepaid HOA dues, which currently measure $1,694 per month, as well.
Mint Plaza is certainly not commanding a lot of market love. There are reasons for that, of course. Typical problem of not a light (only one exposure, but at least it has a southeastern exposure). Floor plan otherwise seems pretty good for a loft style space…I particularly like the separation of the bathroom from the kitchen/living room. A little privacy, please!
It’s a great floorplan and great loft, but price is high for location in its current state. We need to give those Navigation Centers a few more years to try chip at the problem, and who knows… maybe Central Subway will result in 4th Street get the same treatment as 2nd and Folsom are today.
The high HOAs really show what happens when you have too few units to share the building maintenance with. Good thing the building has no amenities to drive costs further.
No windows in the bedrooms is very depressing.
“rock star kitchen” A gigantic stove with only 15 inches of counter space on each side. No matter the island – it’s counter space near the stove and the sink that matters in kitchen design.
My, how the dervishes spin:
“[…] only one exposure […]”…
“[…] location in its current state.”….
“No windows in the bedrooms […]”…
“[…] only 15 inches of counter space on each side […]”….
Curiously, none of these impediments were problems when prices were all going up.
Just as the real estate
boom bubble had nothing to do with the merits of any particular unit, so the overall decline in pricing has nothing to do with the defects of any particular unit.I think those who bought in 2014 in this area likely thought the area would improve in terms of homeless, needles, feces and property crime. They bought thinking it would be “up and coming”. However, the reality is that it is worse than it worse in 2014.
Paying $2M to have squalor just outside your front door and windows is just nuts
Agree. It may or may not be worse, but I don’t think anyone would argue that the immediate vicinity has improved in any meaningful way.
i would say its definitely worse. the drug and needle epidemic was barely underway in 2014. homeless was obviously an issue, but now people are shooting up on every block in this area.
much worse. and that’s saying a lot!
The market has definitely softened, driven in part by the glut of rentals on the market.
The biggest problem for these types of units is that the cost of ownership is not remotely close to how much a unit like this would rent for. Even at $2 million, you’re looking at more than $11,000 a month for cost of ownership. This unit would not rent for anything close to that. That has to be on the back of any potential buyer’s mind. If the owner’s circumstances change, renting this unit out is not even an option. Same problem with the Ritz units.
Dumb question: how do they get away with no windows in the bedrooms? Is it because it’s a live/work unit so these don’t have to be bedrooms?
There are no dumb questions…only dumb buyers: if you look at the floor plan, it actually shows a “2 ‘conference room’/2 bath” condo; that the staging placed beds in these conference rooms should by no means be taken as an endorsement to do the same.
yes, the bedrooms are not technically rooms, but are partitioned areas of the main room which…has windows. And you’ll note that the plan labels kitchen and baths and closets but does not label bedrooms.
The location is a HUGE problem here. I like the condo.