The SocketSite Scoop And Rumor Confirmed: Artani Suspending Sales
November 20, 2008
From a reader’s rumor last month, to a plugged-in tipster’s confirmation today:
The developer of [The Artani] is temporarily suspending sales and will continue to offer these units as rentals. It will be public information soon enough but I’d appreciate it if you kept my name and email anonymous.
Done. And now who’s next?
∙ Argenta’s Confirmed And Artani’s Rumored, Will 77 Van Ness Be Next? [SocketSite]
∙ The Artani (818 Van Ness) Opens And A Plugged-In Reader Reports [SocketSite]
Comments from Plugged-In Readers
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Anyone knows the original $/sf they expected? And how much do they want to rent these?
In any case, I hope they price them right and not at “luxury wish prices”. There are too many overpriced “failed condo sales/resales gone rental” on Craigslist.
[Editor’s Note: Original asking prices: The Artani (818 Van Ness) Opens And A Plugged-In Reader Reports.]
Did anyone close on one? I assume no if the building is going rental…
1BR for $2450:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/927393844.html
1Br+Den for $2550: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/927556092.html
2BR with “corner views” for $3k:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/apa/927416724.html
And interestingly, they’re spamming CL by cross-listing as Downtown/Civic/Van Ness (which seems right) AND Nob Hill AND Hayes Valley AND Financial District AND Pac Heights (!!!).
Do I win a prize for such insider information 😉
Give them credit where it’s due – at least the asking rents seem reasonable and on par with today’s market. Unlike the specuvestors at ORH and Infinity, hoping somebody pays $7K for a 2-bedroom.
They may get those rates. Nevertheless, to forgo sales for these (relatively) low rents, they must have been getting absolutely no offers and their market analysis must have shown they could ever only hope to fetch a fraction of their asking price. Just cutting losses and damage control at this point.
PRFB, great job.
These rates are a bit steep for this part of Van Ness. The TL is too close to make this a premium neighborhood.
These are actually cheaper than Fox Plaza which is asking $2,860 for a 675 sq ft 1 Br. I would assume that the units at the Artani are much nicer while the neighborhood is comparable. I’m guessing they want to get people in before the end of the year (when I think the massive layoffs will begin) and rents start to taper off next year – but that’s purely supposition on my part.
Keep increasing the rental supply!
Bad news for all those accidental condo landlords who traded up from their “starter” places and kept the old one as a rental “investment”.
The fact is that these buildings are not an enticement to buyer except during the bubble. Without a bubble, they are little more than housing projects at a midwestern mansion price. SF has finally woken up to its dilemma. Who wants to spend a fortune to live in a nest of crack heads and homeless drifters? Its an insult, and the market has responded appropriately.
OPINION OPINION OPINION: I really like this building! (From the outside)
The Mercer in downtown Walnut Creek just suspended sales and will be renting units. We’d looked at them while over there a few months ago and had periodically received emails about reductions and other incentives. Got another email this week about the change.
Approximate rent:
2BD (approx 1200sf): $2560 – 2735/month
2BDw/DEN (approx 1400sf): $2760 – 2955/month
We actually liked the larger units which I believe were selling in the 800’s at the time.
They were represented by the Mark Company and the development ream is Prometheus Real Estate Group.
Last month they were offering the 2bd at Artani for $4000. Apparently, they had as much success at that price as they did trying to sell them.
So now even the rentals are 33% off.
Here is another example of where rental rates in San Francisco are now going back closer to what I see in the more high density parts of Los Angeles and Chicago. A 1br + Den for $2500 a month is exactly what the rate is in a newer tower in the Lakeshore East neighborhood of Chicago or an “O.K.” part of the Westside of L.A.
sf – But it is not TALL! How can you like it? I like it a lot too.
Is there anything that prevents the developer from selling a few units and renting the others, or does it have to be all of the same? Or is the problem not with what the developer can do, but what the lenders will allow?
There are many buildings in SF that are owner occupied and rented out, there is one on Bush and Taylor right off the top of my head.
Last time I commented that I saw a rental for $2500 here SS shot me down and said I was not “factual.”
I agree with SF in that I had also posted about a condo across from a property I own in the Marina that was a 2bd that rented out for 2,900 a month and was called “not factual”, and worse. Of course it was listed on CL for 3,800 a month, (at one point it was listed for $4,200) but I spoke with the owner who had trouble finding a reliable prospective tenant with good credit and no animals and no co-signers. There is a large spread in this city between what rentals are listed for and what they actually end up renting for.
Wow. Rents seem like a really good deal, especially for new construction.