Listed as an “Ultra Rare Super Sized Home at the Infinity” for $2.4 million in September of last year, the two-bedroom unit #5C at 301 Main Street sold for $2.3 million last December.
Six months ago, the “Massive sized condo with tons of storage!” returned to the market listed for $1,999,888, a price which was reduced to $1,899,888 in July.
Withdrawn from the MLS without a reported sale in August, the 1,752-square-foot unit with a deeded parking spot was listed anew for $1.875 million last month, a price which was just reduced to $1.75 million, or “LESS THAN $1000/SQ FT!” per the listing agent, a sale at which would represent a 24 percent decline in value for the condo on an apples-to-apples basis.
This seems like a pretty step price reduction. Certainly more than the modest decline that has been reported in prices for new condos this past year. Of course, this is not a new condo.
Could the proximity to the Millennium be impacting Infinity re-sales?
I don’t know why the Millennium would be a factor.
2.4 mil for a low floor, no-view unit is a pretty bubbilcious price.
True – but you wonder, given that, why someone paid 2.3 mil last December.
Agreed. The story here isn’t the 1.75M asking price, but that someone paid 2.3M for this low-floor, no-view unit a year ago! For that price, should’ve been able to get a similar unit 20+ floors higher!
Not quite. A smaller two-bedroom (1,317 square feet) with “Dramatic views of the Bay, Bay Bridge and City” and “Custom designer finishes” on the 23rd floor did sell for $2.42 million seventeen months ago, but that was at $1,836 per square foot (a premium of 40 percent).
Speaking of which, that unit is now in contract having been listed for $1.995 million, or 18 percent less, last month.
So, depending on what these end up selling for, the big reduction in 5C is not a one-off. The thing they have in common is coming on the market since the Millennium news broke. I have to believe that is a factor, not the only factor of course, in the reduced prices.
As reported above, 5C has been on the market since March. In addition, new construction sales and pricing started trending down over a year ago.
The lack of an open view affects this condo greatly. It’s on a low floor (5th?) and it seems to be facing the court yard and the other towers. I do like the floor plan.
All of which were already priced in when the unit traded for $2.3 million ($1,313 per square foot) last December. What has changed over the past ten months? A 33 percent drop in new construction sales despite an average 27 percent increase in available inventory.
Lumina?
“What has changed over the past ten months? A 33 percent drop in new construction sales despite an average 27 percent increase in available inventory.” Please provide 2-3 other examples of such an extreme drop in newer condo pricing.
“A 33 percent drop in new construction sales despite an average 27 percent increase in available inventory.”
“despite”? Or perhaps this phrase “Ultra Rare” being bandied about everywhere is not quite so accurate. There was a glut of people willing to move to the bay area last couple of years but I think that’s more than tailed off.
What has changed over the last 10 months?
Ans: Dirty drug needles in all the streets and many parks, violent bums, violent youth from the East Bay, vandalism, car break ins, police with their hands tied by City Hall, public transportation became unusable due to violent youths, driving is very inconvenient but it has become a necessity because of City Hall’s dysfunctional policies and allowance/encouragement of youths – bums – drug addicts – ruining what used to be a neat place to live. You ain’t seen nothing yet on these property values CRASHING since City Hall’s policies are turning this City into a living hell hole.
Unfortunately this has been happening for the last 10 YEARS (at least), not months
I’ve been here 20 years and have been coming here for over 30 years. It has never been this bad. I am leaving very soon. I will never come back, not for a “night out” not for a concert, no more Nut Cracker, ever. No, this is very different than other hiccups in the structure of this society.
And I used to live in THAT exact building after I sold my condo around the corner.
I can mark the time. Since the Super Bowl came through town, this town fell flat on its face, never recovered, and went to hell in a bucket real fast. 10 months, not 10 years. SOMA got really gross RIGHT THEN. Market St. and Mission St. weren’t full of fecal matter and urine in the huge quantities one finds today until RIGHT THEN. Used drug needles being discarded in the streets and public spaces everywhere in SOMA weren’t an issue during my 12 years living there, until RIGHT THEN. These weren’t issues before either when I lived in other areas of the City but they are prominent issues everywhere now.
I used to walk to work, walk to shopping, walk almost everywhere on weekdays. I used to take public transit including BART rather than drive – for many years. No, this change is dramatic and FUBAR. I know this from close-up and personal experience.
I assume RR is a troll. I’ve lived in the neighborhood for many years. Some things have improved, some not. I’ve never heard anyone time the changes to the Super Bowl.
RR – you are unhinged. How old are you?
RR is right… this town has turned into a giant toilet with poo and needles everywhere. And maybe not timed exactly with the superbowl, but it has gotten significantly worse this year
To MKP, I’m sorry if I came across as “unhinged”, leaving a city I used to really like a lot is not pleasant for me. That said, my age is none of your business.
SF Realist, I’m not sure why you call me a “troll”. I assume that your [livelihood] may be about to break with this downturn and I am truly sorry if that is the case.
I think you’re overstating things. SOMA and parts of Market have always been iffy but I don’t know that its changed for the worse. I’d think parts of the area are improved from what they were a decade ago. I don’t know the stats, but I don’t think violent crime is up in SF.
That said, the quality of life has worsened here over the past decade. I’m referring to a soft deterioration and from the perspective of someone who lives West of Twin Peaks. And someone who was born and grew up in SF.
The changes have been the worsening traffic and the clutter of vehicles that line streets in Mt. Davidson. No violent crime, but nuisance stuff like keying cars is common in my area and it was rare just a decade ago. The first insurance claim I made on my car was because some kids pulled the antennae off of it and scratched the side panels. Dislodging the top panel in the process so it became a 2K repair job. The noise from late-night parties on weekends as a result of all the techies renting rooms in the area, is fairly common now.
Finally, the lack of maintenance of streets and parks is worsening. The pine trees across from Tower Market were vandalized 6 months ago and still go unattended by the City. Also, after almost a year, some of the median strip trees along Portola have been replaced after vandalism and being hit, I presume, by cars. It took a crew of 6 city workers to replace the trees. Please – just give the contract to a private garden maintenance company and they’d do it in half the time and with half the workforce. So yes, City Hall is a problem for sure.
Anecdotal but I crossed a 4 mile bridge on a recent trip and was fumbling for money to pay the toll. Only came to find out there is no toll – the bridge was paid off 20 years ago and is free now. State gas taxes pay for the maintenance – that epitomizes to me the waste of municipal money in SF. It’s not just SF, but the Bay Area and the state as a whole.
Declining quality of life issues in SF will cause some to move, but I disagree they will cause a crash in property values.
Me,too.
Peculiar turn of events. Betting buyers purchased for an adult child who is no long interested/able to live in San Francisco. No debt against the property. Not sure why selling now makes sense. Good trade by the seller in ’15 apparently. Redfin estimates the value only at 1.67mm?
Think we are out of greater fools! Though hey, there is always hope for the rapacious.
Can’t imagine someone paid 2.3mm for this a year ago. But, as many have warned (inc. yours truly) sometimes the “prize” for bidding the highest in a hot market is not so great. This was first back on the market after just 3 months. I don’t see how this one doesn’t end up selling at a significant loss. The horrifically bad photos almost make me think that is the seller’s goal.
Yes, for an open floor plan with walls of glass the photos make it feel strangely claustrophobic.
Best I can say is that it seems very inefficiently laid out. The “study/office” area is almost useless.
Study/office/foyer. It does have a purpose!!!
I wonder if someone got laid off and wanted/needed to sell right away.
It’ll be interesting to see if / when the downturn in SOMA spreads to other areas. Recent apple-to-apple transactions in the Mission / Noe area suggest that the market here is flat or slightly up year-over-year.
Obvious foreign money laundering. The price discount is a minor price to pay to move capital. Who else attempts to sell a condo 4 months after it was bought at such a discount?
Nope. Gringo couple own it. Something unusual happened.
I have to say I hate these unit designs Although the curved living room looks great, there’s not really enough space to cram both living room furniture AND a small dining room table. The room is just awkward. And then wasting space in a small apartment for 3 bathrooms, 2 bathtubs and 5(!) sinks. The cult of the bathroom takes valuable living space away.
The cult of the bathroom is compliments of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Wheelchairs need lots of turn around space.
It’s interesting how everyone jumps the conclusion that something negative must have happened.
First, at $2.3m, I don’t think your average tech office employee is buying this pad. The person buying this would probably have a golden parachute clause written in the contract.
Second, what if it was a positive turn of events: big bonus, promotion, need for a bigger place, or new round of funding that caused the owner to move up.
If you are flush with cash, a 0.5m loss is not so bad.
0.5m looks so much smaller than 500K
The whole story makes no sense – buying it for such a high price and selling it for such a loss so quickly. There has got to be a story here.
And any floorplan with curved walls is terrible! Looks nice on the outside but makes for bizarre floorplans and furniture layout. Not to mention you’d need to keep the blinds down 24/7 unless you are a total exhibitionist.
re: blinds. no you don’t. its part of urban living. i live across the street and my living room blinds never come down. i love looking across the street and reflecting that i’m just another ant in this ecosystem.Plus, it would be horrible to pay so much for a home and then cover up the amazing views. Clearly not for everyone, i’ll grant you that.
Twitter just announced laying off 300 people, 8% of its workforce.
Its still insanely easy for a Twitter developer to find a good job
yeah, but less easy for Twitter sales/marketing and other non-technical folk. Twitter ain’t Scala programmers and devopsians all the way down. Besides, these investor-subsidized $$$ jobs have a multiplier on other jobs in SF, which most put in the range of 3-fold min to 5-fold max.
Twitter will report their Q3 losses late Thursday. Q2 GAAP net loss was $107 million on $602 million revenue, which means revenue was only covering ~85% of costs. May they need a yugger tax break.
The staging/decorating company we use said that it is very difficult to find furniture to fit the floor plans at the Infinity. Not only are the curved walls a problem but most units have a large column in the living room which is very hard to work around.
In related 301 Main Street news, G’s penthouse atop the tower has been whitewashed and listed anew for $12 million.
Was that track lighting a last minute add? Or did someone just like crappy track lighting?
The owner probably wanted point light sources distributed across that arc and this was the cheapest solution because it could connect to the single preexisting electrical box in the center of the arc. The alternative of putting 5 can lights into the ceiling would require opening the ceiling up, installing the can lights, and then sealing up the ceiling again. Much more intrusive and expensive.
The ceiling is probably concrete and against HOA rules to cut into it.
This building’s curved glass reminds me of my office @ 101 California St. Not very good utilization of space with floor to ceiling windows and curvature. Now I know what it is like to live in it, as opposed to just working in it.
I think all high-rise condos in SOMA are being affected by the Millennium Tower’s issues and will continue to be. I don’t know how that might ripple to other areas and building types.
Are the Infinity slabs built on piles that go to bedrock? I certainly wouldn’t buy in a SOMA high-rise until I knew that for sure. And what about all the other high-rises? Granted, the weight of the MT appears to be a factor. But still, we’re talking about SOMA landfill and the potential for issues, if not disaster, from liquefaction during a seismic event is just too high for me.
So which towers go to bedrock and which do not? I can’t imagine anyone even considering a SOMA high-rise condo without finding that out. I can’t be the only one.
Infinity is built on piles driven down to bedrock.
I really don’t think this has much to do with Millennium. I think the 2.3 mil price was an aberration – without a view I’d say $1000/sq ft is probably the max.
As a 20 yr resident, i would say many parts of SOMA have gotten significantly nicer during that time. central soma, south beach, mission bay, yerba byena, etc. Poop and needles used to be worse in my opinion, and crime was also worse. THere were many homeless but many more places fro them to hide as there werent so many buildngs and people living in SOMA. However, the tents and tent cities are newer phenomenon that were in some degree caused by the city giving people tents in return for moving away from the downtown area so they wouldnt be seen as part of the superbowl coverage. And once you push them away and give them tents, its harder to then take them away. The homeless are now not as prevlaent in union square and ferry building area in my opinion. They have tried to take them away from tourists, but now there are camps in various areas of the city as they’ve moved them into the neighborhoods to force them on residents as opposed to tourists. Now there are camps certainly in western SOMA, The mission, the Richmond, Potrero, and literally under every overpass in the city.
the city did make the situation worse in some days, corresponding both with Superbowl and El Nino. Of course they used EL Nino as the excuse.
DItto. Nostalgia is crack for old people – everything always used to be great regardless of the actual facts.
I remember clearly how these things were 20-25 years ago. The drugs, crime, filth, and homeless were far worse. I suspect a lot of people don’t recall seeing it because there were large parts of the city where one simply never set foot because they were too nasty and dangerous, and those were, of course, where it all was most concentrated. Widespread gentrification – a very good thing – has deprived these elements of their hideouts so it has dispersed somewhat. The tent cities are not a civilized way to handle the issue, and handing out tents (not just by the city but by well-intentioned private groups) is not a productive practice.
I agree. My first visit to the city was back in 1989. I took the bus into the transbay terminal and then walked to Union Square. I also spent 4 years leaving in SOMA back in the early 2000’s. Drugs/crime/filth/homeless are not getting worse.
removal of the elevated fwys after the 1989 quake displaced a lot of lots of homeless in SF. Also, when 80 in SoMa was rebuilt and braced there was some attention to making it harder to live under (better fencing, etc). That moved some of the camping to under 280 near Mission Creek, which then got more fencing and on and on. Plus Mission Bay, Showplace, and Dog Patch have all become less hospitable to those lacking investor subsidies. Gradual displacement by removal of habitat and replacement by $$$$, for better or worse depending on your values ….
At the risk of sounding nerdy — the Bay Bridge is anchored into bedrock in what used to be called “Rincon Point” — so most of the towers surrounding it in Rincon Hill, including the Infinity, are sitting on the same bedrock.
I don’t think this comp has anything to do with the Millennium.
We Listed and SOLD 5C for $2.3 Million in 2015.
We Listed and SOLD 23B for $2.418 in 2015.
We are now representing the buyer and in contract for 23B.
All the theories expressed here are not correct.
We also have the exclusive NEW Listing for the Penthouse at the Infinity.
The conclusion is nobody cares about South of Market, this is an area where transient people live not real San Franciscans. Anybody who was born in our city would never live South of Market unless you were going through some type of mid-life crises.
The cops, your board of supervisors and your elected officials all could care less about South of Market and now combined with traffic and construction there is no way to properly police the activity. Now if a homeless camp was erected overnight in any of your proper neighborhoods like Pacific Heights, The Marina or Russian HIll, you would see an entire SWAT team responding that day. But for SOMA why do anything? it’s a sea of non San Franciscan’s who often are dumb enough to spend millions on an apartment with no real neighborhood or infrastructure around it. If you want to be part of the SOMA energy and scene then rent an apartment but too purchase? How dumb can one be? If you were sold on the concept that condominiums down here are an investment then you don’t know the basic fundamentals of real estate investing and the importance of location. If you look at the North end of town at any of the neighborhoods I previously mentioned there still is no substantial inventory of properties for sale in those neighborhoods. SOMA will never be an area that the city considers a community or neighborhood, just an overbuilt playground of 20 and 30 year olds who know nothing about San Francisco.
San Francisco has always been a city of transients. That is not new, but it seems to be getting worse and it impacts more than SOMA. Lots of younger techies, and other workers, renting rooms in homes in “outer” areas for a year or two and not really being invested in the neighborhood or the greater city.
SOMA has the added problem of being a sterile place. On weekends when I’ve gone to SOMA and this particular area the streets are mostly empty with empty storefronts complementing that. Rincon Hill is the worst example of this IMO. I don’t see a neighborhood ever really emerging there.
SOMA is the last place I’d live if I wanted to live in a high rise. Which I don’t, but pressed to do so I’d choose the 50 year old Golden Gateway towers in a NY minute over the Infinity and other such places.
It might be true that nobody cares about South of Market. I disagree, but you have a right to your opinion.
The Infinity is located in South Beach.
The Infinity is located on the toxic mud and landfill of the former Yerba Buena Cove, known historically as Tar Flats because of the thick layer of tar in the soil and flat; and known since at least 1980 by the official SF Redev Project name of Rincon Point because Tar Flat don’t sell so well and the actual Rincon Point was included in the project. South Beach is on the other side of Rincon Hill. Of course self-serving MLS types have appropriated ‘South Beach’ all the way to Market St, which is silly and ahistoric. But then the MLSers like to pretend that “South of Market” is only the western half of South of Market. Wonder why.
Informative history of the making of the land upon which the Infinity stands (from namelink):
A dominating force in the lives of neighborhood people was the Donahues’ gas works. At the northeast corner of First and Howard, the plant distilled coal to manufacture illuminating gas. It successfully introduced gas lighting to San Francisco early in 1854, over the years absorbing all competition and re-incorporating in 1905 as the PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company). At first, coal gas technology, less than forty years old, was quite primitive; distillation temperatures were too low to separate byproducts. The sludge waste was dumped into still-open water at Fremont Street on the eastern edge of the plant’s compound. This sludge killed the shellfish and the industry that harvested them, and it spread such an odor that the neighborhood was nicknamed “Tar Flat.”
I believe the San Francisco Board of Supervisors decides the boundaries and names of the individual districts and Subdistricts.
While San Francisco’s ten Supervisor Districts are set by the city, the “official” neighborhood names, per the MLS, are managed by the San Francisco Association Of Realtors. See: The Incredible Shrinking Mission Bay (And Expanding South Beach).
Correction:
While San Francisco’s ten Supervisor Districts are set by the city, the “official” neighborhood names, per the MLS, are managed by the San Francisco Association Of Realtors.
Correction: the MLS is operated by an unofficial non-profit: The San Francisco Association of REALTORS®.
The City and County of San Francisco has a Planning Dept which designates the Infinity as being in Planning District 9: South of Market; Planning Area: Rincon Hill. South Beach proper (as in the historic South Beach and the South Beach of the very much official development plan going back 35+ years and not the unofficial name-it-whatever-sells MLS designation) is in District 9: South of Market; Planning Area: East SoMa.
But to those of us with a nose for history, The Infinity will always be in the Tar Flat.
This is an old thread, now — but for anyone interested in historical accuracy you can refer to page 20 of this link. It shows pretty clearly the Infinity block bounded by Folsom, Beale, Main and Harrison was part of the rocky outcropping called “Rincon Point” as early as 1852. “Tar Flat” looks to have been farther west and north from the Infinity site.
In any event, I passed by the Infinity excavation every day on my way to work — it was a deep hole, for a deep garage — and they were chipping out bedrock all the way to the bottom. So any fill material that might have been there originally is now long gone.
Except, you are looking at the wrong block. The Infinity is not bounded by Beale. It is bounded by Main, Folsom, and Spear. And that dear readers puts it (or at least a good portion of it) in said SF Bay during the era of peak tarring. And the “tar”, being the various waste and byproducts of oily not-so-refinery, washed about in the tides. The old fashion and traditional SF sharing economy.
BTW, the google has a nice map of San Francisco – Original Coastline and Geography (probably based on the 1852 survey).
My mistake — yes your map shows both Lumina and Infinity were part of Rincon Point. They are both sitting on bedrock.
uh, look again. 301 Main was not land in the 1852 survey or in the google map. Dig down through the tar and mud and you are sure to hit bedrock. Too bad some developers didn’t bother in the Tar Flat.
cool map. Never knew. Even though I grew up in the bay area, I didn’t really move to the city until 1999. I always knew it as SoMa, then later South Beach.
UPDATE: In related news, Two Years Later and $518K Less at the Infinity
UPDATE: Withdrawn from the MLS in December, 301 Main Street #5C has just been relisted as new for $100 less ($1,749,900) and an official “1” day on the market according to all industry stats.
UPDATE: The sale of 301 Main Street #5C has closed escrow with an “over asking” contract price of $1.75 million.