Buyer Emerges For The Most Expensive Bank-Owned Condo In The US
December 14, 2011
According to a plugged-in tipster over at the St. Regis, a buyer has emerged for the $35 million bank-owned two-floor penthouse atop the building at 188 Minna, the most expensive bank-owned residential property in the U.S.
We’re working on details, but “no comments” and apparent non-disclosure agreements keep getting in the way. That being said, according to our tipster, the buyer isn’t Mark Pincus unless he was wearing one hell of a disguise.
A sale within two million dollars of asking would make it the most expensive residential sale in San Francisco history, with 2840 Broadway relegated to runner up we do believe. Oh, and remember that uberexpensive staging job we first reported? It’s now on display, so grab some popcorn and take a peek inside while you can.
Full Disclosure: The co-listing agent for the penthouse atop the San Francisco St. Regis advertises on SocketSite but couldn’t comment on the sale.
Comments from Plugged-In Readers
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Obviously there is a direct and undisputed correlation to the release of the ULI Report and this place going into contract. My guess is some foreign investor looking to keep his fortune safe and secure in our hot market and also take advantage of this 24-hour gateways located along the global pathway we call San Francisco.
I’ll add a 🙂 in case anyone doesn’t catch the obvious cynicism.
Don’t rich people like to cuddle while watching a movie?
This is the nastiest staging job I’ve seen in some time. Also, this property begs to be photographed only at dusk or at night, not during the day. What were they thinking?
cuddling is only for the 99%
the 1% just let the hookers sit in their laps.
^^^ Seats are big enough for 2 skinny ones actually. Trickle-down economics at work.
Not banked owned, but $60M in NYC for 2 units combined:
http://www.christiesrealestate.com/PropertyDetails/271198/1051049/65/6#271198/1051049/65/6
I wonder if ODADA ever got paid for their fabulous interior design..
Eddy: I had to look at the NYC listing. Very Nice.
One question: Can anyone give a plain english version of the following sentence from the listing: “A Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure.”
For that price I want my own elevator. I don’t want Al Gore slowin me down!
^justlooking I believe the only way that sentence makes sense is to precede it by “To possess…” But my god that sure is wince-worthy.
I wonder how much EQ insurance will be on that place?
That’s a lot of f-you money.
@justlooking, I think the literal translation is:
“Look at my thesaurus and give me your disposable income.”
@justlooking et al.
The broker lifted part of a sentence from the preface to a book about the NYC apartment houses designed by Rosario Candela and James ER Carpenter. The full sentence is: “Nowadays, to own a 10- to 20-room apartment in a Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural, as well as social cynosure.” She did neither the sentence nor herself any favors.
Wow, not seeing how the staging costs that much coin. Some nice furnishings and but nothing exceptional. Included are a couple of items I’ve purchased previously and left in place when I decided to rent my former residence furnished, like the Kartell Chair:
http://www.dwr.com/product/louis-ghost-armchair.do
and mirrors from IKEA?
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40047883/
This kind of stuff is just not that expensive.
I see there was a bit of debate on a prior thread on the budget being $500k?!. And now we see that it almost had to have been staged for far less . . . .
I can see a New Yorker cartoon where one lemming says to another, “All the best people are acceding to social cynosure.”
Way up there might be a tad windy, so the high glass balcony walls are a nice touch — especially since they aren’t high all the way around, so you don’t feel too enclosed up there.
Rarely do any apartments change hand from owner to owner at the 740 Park Avenue high-rise building [do they usually pass thru the doorman?]. Built in 1929, designed by Rosario Candela and constructed by James T. Lee- [poorly spaced dash] grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, [where is the closing dash?] this Pre-War Candela M[m]asterpiece is a sophisticated space with unparalleled scale and light that is [are] not offered at any other residence throughout New York City [it’s big, but it’s not big enough to exist throughout NYC]. A Candela-designed building is to accede to architectural as well as social cynosure [gosh, I hope this building is the one to accomplish that feat].
As for the ending word:
cy·no·sure
[sahy-nuh-shoor, sin-uh-] Show IPA
noun
1. something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc.: the cynosure of all eyes.
2. something serving for guidance or direction.
There’s too much wrong with the sentence to fix.
I love the line, “grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.” How is that relevant, except for a status-craved sort of name-dropping? And if someone can afford the $60M price tag, do they really need anything more to impress people?
As for the St. Regis, is it too much to expect a great view of either the Bay Bridge or the GG Bridge for that money? It has a so-so view of the Bay Bridge and I think buildings will block the view of the new section – which is going to look unbelievable. Lop off another $10M and I’ll reconsider.
It is sortafunny how they obscure the ionic breeze tower in one of the shots as if it is some sort of eye sore, which it is. Sort of like a big middle finger to the city.
purple glow bathes deck
moths accede to cynosure
zap zap …. zap zap zap
That’s the diff. between SF & NY:
In SF, you actually get spectacular spaces and views for your $35M.
In NY, you get over-rated Park Ave: a 6-lane thoroughfare with trains trundling audibly beneath. Boring hood. No river or Central Park views. And the apartment? a string of boxes with prosaic punched windows. Yawn.
RE agents are more brazen in their craft there….
Park Avenue has always been a better address, perhaps the best address in NYC, for some people. Reasons unclear even a half-century ago. Fifth Avenue has the park.
The description sounds like a translation by Google translate.
There is something ironic about the record for most expensive piece of SF residential real estate going south of Market. Who would have thought?
When is the open house? And does anyone know where they got those doorknobs?
Sure, it’s in a suboptimal neighborhood. But mortgage rates recenly hit record lows again, and you can get an FHA loan with only 3.5% down. That’s only $1.2 million here – chump change for all the 20-something techies moving to Soma these days to work for twitter and salesforce. Plus don’t forget that the Soma rental market is en fuego! Can one of the savvy real estate investors out there tell us what this would rent for? Maybe $5K/month? More?
In any case, the way that Soma is gentrifying, this area could be prime SF before you know it! May make a good buy for a bold investor with some patience and elbow grease.
TV over the fireplace.
I love the line, “grandfather of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.” How is that relevant, except for a status-craved sort of name-dropping? And if someone can afford the $60M price tag, do they really need anything more to impress people?
There may be a certain demographic which would enjoy peeing nightly on the Kennedy legacy, however tenuous.
sfluxe is reporting that this was ‘reported’ to them from sfarmls.com
http://sfluxe.com/2011/12/15/35-million-san-francisco-penthouse-in-contract/
However, I don’t see it listed there. Odd.
Where is the MLS for this place? What are the HOA’s on a 20,000sq foot unit there?! How many parking spaces does it include?
This truly is an amazing property and befitting the title “trophy”. The views are spectacular and the St Regis has incomporable amenaties and service. As a designer, Id say the staging looks luxe and stylish…. I see many custom peices and upholstery…. those things don’t come cheap. And apparently it helped this thing sell in just what 60 days? (of course, the half price sale price may have helped)
Wow that is something. I can’t imagine what the tax bill would be like but it’s a unbelievable property for someone with money coming out of their ears!
UPDATE: Penthouse Atop San Francisco’s St. Regis Sold For $28 Million
@ goodbuybadtimes…. rethink that IKEA mirror link you were so quick to throw out there. Quality makes a difference when face to face with a product.
http://www.csnmirrors.com/Desiron-O-Mirror-DSO1042.html
$3,080.00 for a Desiron O Mirror!?! I will stick to the Ikea…