Purchased for $925,000 in March of 2018, unit #2E at 288 Pacific Avenue, “the perfect SF pied-a-terre” and “urban home in a beautiful full-service building…directly across the street from the Battery Club,” returned to the market priced at $1.045 million last March, a sale at which would have represented total appreciation of 13 percent since the first quarter of 2018, or just 1.4 percent per year for the since upgraded studio, not accounting for the cost of said upgrades (which included new lighting, high-end fixtures and built-ins to create a separated bedroom).
Reduced to $995,000 last May and then to $895,000 last July, the luxury unit was then withdrawn from the MLS and briefly offered for rent at $4,950 a month.
And with the larger unit #3G in the building having since resold for over 13 percent less than was paid for the “meticulously maintained” unit in February of 2019, unit #2E has just been relisted anew for $895,000, a sale at which would be considered to be “at asking” and with only “1” day on the market as of today, at least according to all industry stats and aggregate reports, but would be 3.2 percent below its value in the first quarter of 2019, not accounting for the cost/value of the upgrades.
If you think you know the market for luxury units in San Francisco, now’s the time to tell. And yes, the widely misreported Case-Shiller Index for “San Francisco” condos is still up 6.0 percent over the same period of time.
It’s an estimated $6,800 per month all in based on current rates. The HOA’s themselves are $1,227. This is too much for a glorified hotel room. It’s too small for the really wealthy, and for everyone else, better value can be had elsewhere.
The much-maligned Lumina and many other modern buildings downtown have numerous 2-3 bedroom units, very modern and with great views, for ~$6,800.
Yup, nothing wrong with this condo. It just simply isn’t worth what they’re asking for it. Those high HOAs are a real problem for condos like this.
From wall to cabinet edge, that is about 10 feet, maybe 11. Way too narrow for a main room in a luxury unit. If they were limited by lot size, then they should not have built as luxury.
It’s a 33 unit building, and it appears there are many more “normal sized” units. My guess is that they couldn’t figure out how to integrate this square footage into another unit, and thus it became the runt of the litter, so to speak.
That seems likely. There was an open floor plan studio in a new construction building I looked at on Hayes. The kitchen was part of a hallway to the bedroom, the “deck” was big enough for a single chair and a planter box (and I suppose an old coffee tin for cigarette butts), and it had a lofted area that was tall enough to sit in but not stand… I suppose for air mattresses?
Though, I ended up buying the smallest unit in my building, which bases HOA dues on square footage… so I think there’s value in units like this. It actually seems really well done (for a studio) IMO, and with the deck and all the large windows, it seems like a fun place to entertain guests.
This place seems like it would be perfect for someone who has a family home in say, Napa, and needs to be in the city a few days a week. But now with remote work, the number of people who fit that profile is lower – just stay in a hotel if you need to be in SF once a week or once a month
It would rent for $5k ?
This is too tiny of a unit without easy access to a beachfront a minute away from your front door, like a comparable Waikiki pied-a-terre condo may have. Jackson Square is a lovely historic hood to live in, but unless there’s a 7 in front of the asking price, I’m doubtful this unit gets bought for its current ask, with nearly a year in total on the market now.
Bingo! Zillow estimates it at 734K!
Looks like room for a dining table for two. Hurt my brain to see this. Beautiful but small.
Sorry I must of missed it. But how many square feet is this unit? By the looks I’m guessing just under 400Sqft sens outdoor space. What about parking? Or a bike locker? Additional storage? Also, behold the now “forbidden” gas range and oven.
Nice finishes, but the HOA dues of $1,227 are a killer for, “the perfect SF pied-a-terre.”
If you scroll down to Public Facts in the RedFin listing, you’ll see that they call the floor area out at 392 ft.². The Parking Fee is $81 covering a single tandem-accessed spot, it isn’t apparent how frequently that has to be paid.
The HOA dues aren’t really “a killer” for the class (in the literal, socioeconomic status sense) of person this unit is intended for. I think a certain percentage of that $1,227 is just to dissuade certain pretenders from buying into the building.
You might be onto something. HOA dues for unit 3H, a 1,250 sq. ft. 2 bed/2.5 bath, are only $200 higher.
My experience with HOA dues in older SF buildings are that they’re calculated by what percentage of the building you own (aka your square footage). I’m guessing new construction/luxury buildings do things differently.
Consider me dissuaded.
Not to mention your living room/private open space is directly adjacent to residential open space and all of the other units look down into your unit. Its an overpriced fishbowl.
UPDATE: The list price for 288 Pacific Avenue #2E has just been reduced to $885,000, a sale at which would be 4.3 percent below its value in the first quarter of 2019, not accounting for the cost/value of the aforementioned upgrades, but would be “at asking” according to all industry stats and aggregate reports.
UPDATE: High-End Pied-à-Terre Relisted Anew at a Larger Loss