Book Concern Building: Studio with Loft Floor Plan

A studio with loft (#211) has hit the market in the condo converted Book Concern Building (83 McAllister).

Originally priced by the developer at $335,000 (in 2006), it’s currently listed at $334,900.
And while it’s awfully difficult to tell by the listing photos, the studio looks to be in mostly original condition.

And as an aside, we’d love to see one that has been redesigned if any budding young (or old) designers would care to share (email tips@socketsite.com).

23 thoughts on “A Book Concern Building (83 McAllister) Benchmark To Be”
  1. I checked these out when they were new and they were, without exaggeration, the worst development I have ever seen in SF. Almost no natural light in any of the units, this really creepy fluorescent lighting, “lofts” you couldn’t even stand up in, and tiny kitchens with half sized refrigerators and stoves.

  2. I seem to remember these places, without the loft, only like 225-250 sqr ft and priced around $260k for the studios?
    Which put the pricing around $1000-$1100 sqrft plus another 250-350 in HOAs.
    Is there parking?
    I mean other then the fact that these are ‘new’ what do they have going for them?

  3. I walk past this building every day both in the height of commuter traffic and after typical work hours (if I can avoid it) on my way to and from the Civic Center BART station. This is not a very safe area, but will hopefully improve over the next 5 to 10 years with all of the mid-Market development in progress right now (Argenta, Fox Plaza, etc.). That being said $1,000 +/ sq ft to live in a drug infested cesspool of an area would be laughable if it wasn’t so absurd (I saw on their sight that they have unit # 502 going for about $1200/ sq.ft.). On top of that the noise off of Market (think sirens, car horns and inebriated people) is very much a factor unless they installed some very well insulated windows in there. I think the area is still too dodgy to attract the pied a terre crowd, but these would work well as rental units for maybe grad students or young professionals.

  4. There’s no parking in the building. You’ll have to lease from one of the nearby garages.
    Also, I wouldn’t call that a loft, and it’s true you can’t even stand up. It’s more a nook than anything else….

  5. Stop calling it the Tenderloin … it is now the “Theater District.” 🙂 Just kidding …. I agree, there’s no way in the world I would want to have live next to UN Plaza/Carl’s Jr. at 7th and Market

  6. These units were designed for the UC hasting law school crowd. If you think of them as dorms, they do not feel so small…

  7. This place will be nice and quiet inside – as long as they get some of those nifty whisper-quiet windows from One Rincon Hill!

  8. that neighborhood is no fun to be in….ugh.
    what gets me is that weird little ladder for the “loft” …it’s not exactly the kind of thing that says “cool”….but I guess you can sell pretty much anything in SF nowadays…

  9. The first posts on craigslist had units at $1200/mo and then it went up to $1500/mo and recently was posted at $1600/mo. This seems to be related to the recent high demand for almost anything in the City proper.

  10. I bought a unit without a loft with an exterior window so I get lots of natural light. I changed some of the interior lighting and it looks great. I love the location-I can hop on Bart,Bus or Muni in a quarter of a block. Almost every unit in the building was sold by the developer and I never could have bought anywhere else in SF. Best of all I pay a mortgage instead of rent and friends that come over cant believe how nice it is for the price.

  11. “friends that come over cant believe how nice it is for the price.”
    what price was it and how many sq ft is it?

  12. These evaluations are harsh.. the units up on the 5th floor have skylights that bring in natural light. The area is fine if you know what you’re doing. BART is a block away. You can walk downtown in 10 minutes. It’s going to take a few years but when Trinity Plaza is built the area will be a lot better. You have Hastings security, BART police, SFPD.
    True, you can’t park at the building and the area needs to be flushed out. No doubt.
    I’m biased because I live there, but I’ve been in since December and I like it!

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