Don’t panic, The Warfield itself isn’t going condo (or away). But seven of the eight adjacent floors of the Gustav Albert Lansburgh designed Warfield Theater Building (988 Market) are about to return to the market as commercial condos with a twist.
Zoned C3G with an allowance for Accessory Use Housing, up to a quarter of each floor of the building could be converted to full-time residential use. And while floors 2-5 which share a wall with The Warfield auditorium (i.e., they’re likely to remain 100 percent commercial), the top three floors will be marketed with the residential component in mind.
In fact, the roughly 5,000 square foot penthouse floor has already been built-out as such, with a quarter of the floor turned into a one-bedroom, one-bath with a loft-like living area and wall of windows. The other three-quarters of the penthouse floor has been remodeled for commercial use (albeit with a wet bar and full bath). The penthouse also boasts a private 5,000 square foot roof deck.
And speaking of that penthouse floor, we’ve been told that at one time it housed the offices of Al Capone. No word on whether or not Geraldo already knows.
∙ Coming Soon (and not yet live): Warfield Condos [warfieldcondos.com]
Is that an old picture or is the Warfield for sale again?
[Editor’s Note: You might want to read that first paragraph again.]
Am I doing something wrong? Can’t open the Warfield link.
[Editor’s Note: The website isn’t yet live, we’ll clarify above.]
I’m guessing the penthouse was built out like that to either save the arch fees or to let the owner do what they will, right? 5K sqft and 1/1 just screams “buy a saw” to me.
Cool, I like these old buildings. Keep us updated when we know more details.
Who is marketing this? Who is architect? I pray they make all the condonimiums roomy to compensate for the location.
It would be sweet if they all were 2000 sq ft quasi raw spaces built out minimally as 1/1’s
I like the building. I actually like lot’s of stuff in the loin. Problem is – Market deteriorates rapidly once you cross 5th heading west. By the time you get here it’s sketchy. I think it has to turn around but how long will that be? I am a bike commuter who somtimes comes downtown early 5:30 – 6ish. There are generally 2 sfpd foot patrolers on this corner keeping an eye on the drugged out crazies who are still on the street.
Who is marketing this? Who is [the] architect?
Pacific Union has the listing. And other than the penthouse (photos coming soon, so keep plugging in), it’s BYOA (bring your own architect).
That section of Market has a long way to go. Baby steps, but at what price? Who would pay 6-700 sq. ft minimum to live there as things are right now? Just asking…
Years ago, around 1992 or so, I installed some party elements for some event and got to check out the basement of the Warfield. Very cool place, as at one time it was a speak-easy with some of the walls painted with well dressed monkeys chasing women around the room…and a secret bar set up that could be disguised as a bookshelf in case the coppers arrived. I hope they never remodeled this great piece of history. It would be cool to open it up as a bar again……they were storing chairs there at the time. Just thought I’d share.
I am thrilled to be involved with the design process of this beautiful space!
UPDATE: It looks like there may be some “potential” issues with the interpretation of the “accessory use housing” for this “commercially zoned” space. The City wants the seller to take this case to the “board of appeals” to get special permission (and clarify) to have “accessory use housing” (referring to the example of the penthouse unit). So unless you are planning to use this for strictly commercial reasons, anything else without a final stamp of approval for “accessory use housing” is a risk you need to be aware of.
Oh…and parking is of concern as the rear parking lot (separate owner with month to month leasing avail) currently does “not” have an ingress/egress point to rear of the (Warfield Theater) commercial space. One must walk down Taylor (sketchy especially at night) to Market and turn left onto Market and enter via the Market St entrance.
Found this info by accident and I must say… this is quite interesting.
There was a time (in mid 90’s) that I happened to rent an office space at the Warfield, on the 6th floor… a 2 room suite… and ended up living here for two years.
At that time approx. 3/4’s of the commercial residents were actually residing in their office spaces too, and that place really “lit up” after 5:pm and on weekends, as you can imagine.
Living in the Warfield was the most AMAZING experience I have ever enjoyed thus far in my life… the music coming from the theater was to die for… and all for free.
The 6th floor happens to be the “roof” of the theater below. Every concert was a special treat, to be sure… but New Year’s Eve (1995 or 96) was pure magic as the band “Santana” played for hours and I was transported back to my 20’s when the world was full of promises and possibilities and my heart was filled with the power of love.
Sigh!
Imagine… The Warfield all modernized. I’m not sure that I even like the idea, actually. That building, both inside and out is full of history. The stories those walls could tell!
Just saying…!
I am curious about the cost of possible live/work space available. I am starting up a small screen printing business that will have a different approach to attract sales online and off. Could you please send me info on who to contact?
UPDATE: Condo Conversion of the Warfield Theater Building, Take Two