Last asking $2,750,000, the “eco-friendly” 118-120 Cervantes closed escrow today with a reported contract price of $2,430,000 (19% below its original asking of $3,000,000).
A weekend-starting “as it looked before” redux:
∙ 118 Cervantes: From Architecture Watch To (Almost) On The Market [SocketSite]
∙ 118 Cervantes Boulevard: Listed, Numbers, And Your Peek Inside [SocketSite]
∙ Architecture Watch: 118 Cervantes Boulevard Gone Green/Modern [SocketSite]
I know I’m not alone when I say this. I want to see the solar powered giant robot of 118-120 Cervantes do battle with the sentient stone monolith which presides over 449-451 Eureka’s greatroom. Who would win in this throwdown amongst titans?
^^^
Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah!!!
My money’s on stone monoliths, f’sure.
Any robot that positions its solar cells at rights angles to the sun is going to get crrrr-ushed.
That’s not a cheap price. I guess sky isn’t falling down after all.
Funny comment, annon.
Does this 20% off sale price mean the end of the eco building movement in SF? Both this home and the one in Cow Hollow went for 20% under the initial ask. $800 psft is not great for a complete rebuild in 94123. 230 Cervantes just sold two months ago for $750 psft and needed some work.
Best case, needs-everything “shell space” in the marina peaked out at about $675 psft in 2005-2006. This poor seller spent a hell of a lot more than $125 psft to eco-fy this house. He therefore threw money down a rathole doing it (long time owner, assessed value was $250K, could have just sold it off in 2005-2006). Sure, he got caught in a downdraft, but it didn’t seem to bring any outsized price for the current market, so all in all, it seems like a gargantuan waste.
Maybe the next attempt at design change is a big mailbox in which people can collect unemployment checks?
Wow, that is quite a drop from the ask – 600k plus carrying costs. The house is actually pretty neat and the construction quality looks extremely high. It looks like “Class A” office space type construction – will likely last for 100+ years. However, it isn’t as attractive in real life as in the pictures and looks very out of place in the neighborhood. It looks out over an intersection and is basically like a fishbowl which I think was the biggest drawback. You can see deep into the living from most angles in the intersection so I think the shades will be drawn most of the time. Kind of a cool place at a high price given the “new normal”, however I remember seeing plenty of two story places (with garage and 1/2 a floor below) listed (and sold?) at $2.3m-ish in spring 2008 so a pretty big haircut across the board in the 94123 north of Chestnut. At that time a single flat in a 3 unit building with parking was going for $1.3-1.4m.
Amazing what a liberal arts degree, a rent controlled apartment, distaste for those who can afford a mortgage payment and an internet connection will get us as far as cutting edge commentary.
Thanks again T*****r for the great commentary… I’m sure the Nobel committee is taking note.
I have every reason to believe that this house is NOT the least bit eco-friendly. When you stop to think about it for a moment, there’s really nothing even slightly green about it.
How so?
1) It is built out of resources. Resource come from the Earth in way or another. This means that the house consumed our precious Earth.
2) Lawyers were involved somewhere in the process. There were probably several lawyers, from multiple firms, involved in numerous steps throughout the process. They no doubt made thousands of dollars. Then spent that money on expensive SUV’s, parties that lead to excessive waste, and cosmetics for their wives. These things are all deplored by Mother Earth.
3) This house is very expensive, and therefore will be owned by a player. Players get laid a lot. That’s what players do. And what do people do after passionate pounding? They smoke cigarettes. Bad for the earth. Bad for our lungs. Bad for our city’s progressive vibe. Do you want cigarette butts all over Cervantes street? Absolutely not.
So, as you Socket Site readers, like Tipster, have probably figured out by now is this: everything about 118-120 Cervantes Street is an ecological nightmare. My logic has taught us all some valuable lessons.
“But, gentle NewBuyer”, you may find yourself wondering, “how can you disparage such a nobel attempt at helping the Earth, even if it ended in financial vicissitude?”
Well, my friends, it does not matter that this house was a monetary disaster. What matters is that it was nothing less than a dirk in the heart of our ecological system. A system built on ecology. And that is something that I cannot excuse under any circumstance.
There is a solution, though.
What is that solution?
We must pass the Condo Bypass Bill for TIC Owners like me, NewBuyer. That way I can have more money. And, no, I will not spend it on things like those new super-flat LCD screens and a Kiton suit.
So let’s do it!
@Tipster,
I’d like to share my perspective on Jimmy C’s mean spirited attempt at slandering you and your rent control views.
But I’d rather point out a separate, and tenuously-related fact:
I’m handsomer than every man who supports rent control policy.
I know this to be true, because the only people I ever hear defend rent control are: grizzled taxi drivers who an escort wouldn’t touch, self-entitled artists who attempt to look ‘interesting’ because they are otherwise unattractive, and pancakes, who shouldn’t even get a say in the matter because they spend their days drenched in syrup and (sometimes) strawberries.
So, if you support rent control, I encourage you to revisit your perspective, as you maintain the same misguided opinion as a triple stack of delicious, but civically ill-informed, pancakes.
And for what it’s worth, both crepes and belgian waffles sit firmly within the mayor’s cadre of free market evangelists.
@NewBuyer: Interesting… have you been drinking?
Tipster, I’ll support you from the slanderous attack. Jimmy C is just bitter ’cause his house has gone so far down in value. Those of us who sold recently, put our money in a secure instrument and are waiting it out, say phhhbbbbtttt. Not only am I prettier than you, I also still have my down payment and then some. Just biding my time and waiting for all the bitter buyers to get a load of the new reality.
Note that I am in no way suggesting that I am more attractive than female proponents of rent control.
There are several pro-RC women, possibly including 3-year renter, who are objectively superior in their aesthetics, as measured on a 1 – 10 scale.
Hopefully that clarifies any confusion.
@ Jimmy,
No I have not been drinking.
The people who have been drinking are the rubes who proliferate this blog with endless go-nowhere debates about rent control, obnoxious economic tirades every time the C-S Index gets reported, or make pithy comments about interior design.
I’m just making arguments that are (A) more intelligent than 90% of SocketSite commentary and (B) not-yet brought to the attention of this board.
To the best of my knowledge, few SS’ers can say as much.
Ok. Got it. The pancake comment made me hungry, maybe I gotta go for a walk to IHOP. (My recommendation: Don’t move to the suburbs).
@ Jimmy,
It’s perfectly alright to eat pancakes, but I’d strongly advise you to lend them no credence when they broach the topic of rent control policy. I’ve known many pancakes whose views are shaped more by personal experience and financial gain than by any sort of economic policy.
If they do attempt to woo you with their pro-RC siren song, the best approach is to simply stop listening, and cut them up into bite-sized pieces.
The four stages of grief (including that which occurs over the loss of most of your life’s savings) have the mnemonic, “SARA”: in order, they are Shock, Anger, Rejection, Acceptance. Jimmy C: We’re all glad to see that you are over the first phase: Shock. Feel free to express yourself all you want. We’re here for you, as you travel down the road towards acceptance of your loss.
NewBuyer: A lot of us, including myself, try to crack everyone else up as much as we can. Usually it’s diemos who gets the best comment in. Anonn’s repeated attempted personification of the solar panel house as a huge robot has been a fun running gag. However, your post at 10:42pm was quite possibly the most creative, funniest post I’ve seen on here.
Jimmy NLB: I think it’s safe to say that everyone has been drinking.
IMO this building sold for much less than asking and for much less than 230 Cervantes for 2 reasons. It is a 2 family home and will always be one. It will always be hideous to at least 50% of the buying pool.
The 230 Cervantes buyer probably “overpaid” a bit but it doesn’t matter. That building was an architecurally fitting, classy single family (needed a ton of work) 3 doors down from Marina Blvd where it would’ve sold for 2x. It was a “must have” that I’m sure the owner will live in for a long time.
And btw this sale didn’t help the agent who had been on quite a listing streak in the marina until this turd sat around too long and started smelling.
$2.5M seems like a pretty fair price for new construction in the marina.
I have a liberal arts degree, so I’m just going to once again express shock and dismay over that work triangle up in the picture up there, and then go make some pancakes.
I love this site so much.
I’d like to point out that some of the older, filled-in suburbs on the peninsula are at least as walkable as much of SF. There are over thirty restaurants within half a mile of my front door, and many of them serve pancakes.
Sadly, they do not serve pancakes all night. I admit this is a flaw. (And I admit I would love to live in SF if my partner and I didn’t both work in the south bay.)
@Jeremy,
You should really avoid eating pancakes late at night. Several studies indicate that men are far more vulnerable to a pancake’s rhetoric when eating late at night. It’s also bad for your metabolism.
flapjacks flip upside
down pancakes some call summer
waffle breakfast time
JimmyC, it’s equally amazing what rich parents, a sense of entitlement, and a broadband connection will bring you.
bitter pancake sours
as fall turns poor syrup in
sticky nasty bites
golden morning light
memories of childhood home
sticky sweet pancakes
solar night light beam
shine on orange pith helmet
winter raises price
Only use haiku
When speaking to my clients
New resolution
hunched on pink haunches
cold light falls on falling house
market transformer
Not to break the Haiku string, which they didn’t teach me about at state college, but the doom and gloom “regulars” make my point here.
If they had something pertinent to say about a particular property, I’ve never seen it. It’s just a broken record about how prices are going down and they are smarter than everyone for renting. It’s a bizzare gloating over the woes of a minority which don’t benefit anyone.
Now if you excuse me, I need to get to work and contact the orphanage and track down these “rich parents” who abandon me in Alabama in the 70’s.
regular gloat buzz
worker bees good to see friends
lem bee holds rent coin
bitter green renter
bitter bulls graze on green banks
arise green solar panel
I’m New Buyer
A troll? Perhaps. But still cool.
My TIC rules!
When did this site become a hangout for the pro-pancake lobby? Seriously buying pancakes is a horrible investment. They depreciate 100% in value the moment you eat them. Are they really worth the cost just for that “new pancake smell”? No. People need to look out for themselves and learn how to game the pancake system using the “dine and dash” pancake investment system. For just $10 you can order my new DVD that explains the benefits of this pancake investment system and you will soon have free pancakes for life!
It’s a bizzare gloating over the woes of a minority which don’t benefit anyone
this is simply not true (although I rarely if ever gloat over someone’s misfortune).
lower prices benefit future buyers who then are able to spend less on housing.
it also will eventually help our economy because lower prices allow for more discretionary income with which to spend. (spending 50% of your income on interest payments for your house isn’t beneficial for our economy).
lower prices also lead to lower Cost of Living, which makes us more competitive in the global economy.
the transition is painful however as we have a lot of debt that must be destroyed.
I don’t revel in the pain, but I know it must happen. Just like childbirth… I don’t relish the fact that women must go through pain, but I also know that it’s unavoidable if we want the child to see the day of life.
====
on the flip side:
keeping housing prices high helps current owners and overindebted people and people who lent foolishly to those overindebted people. but that is the path that has caused us the problem in the first place (unsustainable housing price increases).
SS, can we have an “after” shot in about a year (after the rains) to see what the wood siding looks like? I feel like I’ve seen one too many places in my area that are “post modern wood and stucco” where the wood is weathered and looks like &*@^%$! Am I missing something about this aesthetic (like irony?) And I’m curious, does proper maintenance dictate the exterior wood should be stained every three years like a deck? How many buyers (or HOAs) know about this?
PS – NewBuyer, nice self-awareness 🙂
Successful realtor
snatched by dingoes the bush
raised on grubs and roots
Does anyone know what kind of wood was used for the exterior siding? I’m also curious if anyone is planning for the traditional 3-5 year treatments of the wood or if the builders just concentrate on the short-term aesthetics with this look. To rephrase, is any homeowner installing this or is just for homes looking for immediate sales?
Its hand-oiled teak … just like the deck of the 50′ sailboat that the seller would’ve bought if he had gotten his original wishing price.
Ongoing maintenance will be someone else’s problem, as you correctly noted.
In the “Before” picture, look at the stub of a dying tree.
Does anyone else see a woman with her head bent down looking at a baby?
Probably not… which probably says something about what was sprinkled on my pancakes.
rented life longs for
place will have a home winter
grave resting at last
tree silently weeps
the summer fog blows through
mushroom flavored syrup
giant robot fights
slate monolith to the death
because they are tough
Stub of dying tree
there is no child in view
winter’s apocalypse
Um, that wasn’t a haiku Tipster.
^So I suppose you will be reporting me to the SEC?
gnarled mother babe
nurturing hearts see embrace
heartless winter blind