Purchased for $2.94 million in April of 2006, which was $310,000 “below asking” at the time, the full-floor cooperative unit #1 in the boutique 7-unit Russian Hill building at 2222 Hyde Street features sweeping panoramic views, thanks to the slope of the hill, three bedrooms, three full bathrooms, and nearly 2,800 square feet of “turn key” space, not including two storage rooms and parking in the building’s garage.

Returned to the market priced at $3.395 million at the beginning of this year, a sale at which would have represented total appreciation of 15.5 percent since the second quarter of 2006 or roughly 1 percent per year, the list price for 2222 Hyde Street #1 was reduced to $3.1 million this past May.

Relisted and further reduced to $2.75 million two weeks ago, a buyer for the full-floor unit has yet to emerge. If you think you know the market for prestigious view units in established San Francisco neighborhoods and buildings, now’s the time to tell.

24 thoughts on “Full Floor Russian Hill View Unit Drops Below Its 2006 Price”
  1. Is there a local committee of established San Francisco Real Estate agents that approve terming a building or neighborhood “prestigious” in a listing?

    I don’t think I know the market for full-floor co-op apartments at the top of Russian Hill, but I think the original asking price of $3.395 million earlier this year was a bit of a stretch and the listing agents should have known it at the time.

    Just before the pandemic, Apt. 6 in this same co-op (just below the penthouse) sold for $3.195 million, which was over 15 percent below the original asking price when it was listed in June of 2019. Property valuation/data provider Collateral Analytics estimates that today it is worth $3.388 million.

    1. Even that comp you reference was initially listed at nearly $4M. Maybe that’s the strategy: first try fishing for a whale. Then if after a year you’re skunked, lower the price to discover the actual value.

    1. It’s efficient, but I don’t like the kitchen’s small size or distance from the “media room” (aka family room/den). Not sure that’s really fixable though.

      1. Is it really that the kitchen is small, or more that the other rooms are somewhat oversized ?
        (Or are you deducting space because of the service elevator opening directly into the area…an admittedly awkward arrangement)

      2. The media room could be a bedroom. And the kitchen could be opened up to the adjoining bedroom. It would be a bit odd but would fit the modern lifestyle more. (I’m assuming $$$$ would surmount structural issues.)

      3. Interesting to see a condo built 100 years ago with the traditional amount of interior wall-space. This appeals to people who like great views *and* own artwork. The positioning of the kitchen doesn’t lend itself to being “opened-up”…a good thing in my book.

  2. Maybe hearing the constant clang of the Hyde St. cable car outside your bedroom window, or fighting the tourists trying to get to Lombard St is not worth $3M? Maybe being at almost ground floor level despite the views is not as appealing in SF anymore?

  3. Comment is sometimes made about the use of the phrase “quietly” here on SS; this building seems to define the term: in the 100+ year history, I can find only two listings (neither mentioning price….darn it!) The first in 1923, the second two years later (02/07/25): UNUSUAL OPPORTUNITY Beautiful Apartment, entire floor in Community Building for sale or lease; marine view; 7 rooms, 3 baths, 2 servants’ rooms and baths. There would seem to be a 1-in-7 chance it’s this very same unit.

  4. i had a client who lived next door at 2238 and he said the new apartments in his building rented for $12-15K/month.

    when the owners died 3 different tenants bid on the whole building.

    now 2 celebrities have apts in the building and use it as a pied-a-ter because the views are so A+

    1. I don’t have first-hand knowledge of leasing in this neighborhood, but 2238 Hyde St. looks to be the taller building with the green-accented bay windows to the left in the top photo displayed above. Today, some of the usual websites indicate that you can rent available units in that building for $7,895 – $8,795 per month, before incentives to move by July 31st.

      If it’s true that the same units used to rent for $12,000-15,000 per month (i.e., between a 34 – 41 percent decrease between then and now) that is great news for everyone worried about inflation, because shelter costs constitute a third of CPI and about 42 percent of the PCE inflation measure. I kinda doubt it, though. Probably there’s a substantial premium for a high-floor apartments and high-floor apartments are still going for five figures monthly.

      1. i think he pays the upper end of that window but only because he’s been there for 25 years. i’ve known him since 2003 and he’s always been there. it’s his party pad. his real house-house is in Silicon Valley.

        the entire 2238 building was gutted and modernized. it’s a fairly small footprint but every window is a postcard quality view. every unit has a garage and it actually has a front/main and rear service/garage elevator

        i’d be surprised if available units ever hit a public listing. i asked him why it never got condo’d out and he thinks it’s considered too valuable as a rental holding. it’s immaculately maintained.

  5. This is one of the more shocking price drops I’ve seen on this site. $1K/foot for a very nice, refreshed, desirable floor plan condo with sweeping views of the Bay? That is extremely low. These kinds of units regularly would get $1,500 or even $2K/foot a few years ago.

    1. The CPI Inflation Calculator on the BLS website indicates that $2,940,000 in June 2006 has the same buying power as $4,406,769 in today’s money. Dividing that by 2,800 ft.² gives me a quotient of $1,574 per ft.², so in real terms, when it sold 17 years ago it was within the range you’re talking about.

      Today’s asking price would seem to imply a decrease of about 37.6 percent on a per ft.² basis.

      As a layman observer, I would think you can’t directly compare this unit to other condos in the vicinity because of the restrictions a buyer would have to deal with when purchasing a co-op unit. I personally would pay a premium to have the assurance that a new buyer wasn’t going to be able to list the unit on AirBnB because they saw some fast buck artist on TikTok’s video talking about the passive income they were raking in from their S.F. “income property”.

      1. Most condos have amended their CC&R’s to ban short-term rentals (if they weren’t banned already), so it’s not really a premium you’d find in a co-op anymore.

  6. Super efficient plan, outstanding natural light and multi-aspect natural cross ventilation.

    Single-stair high-rise building, no sprinklers, and no history of any fire-life-safety issues in the approx. 100 years since it was built.

    We should revise/update our building/fire codes to allow such outstanding buildings once again.

    1. Funny you should bring this up, but the one remarkable news item I ran across on this address was a 3 alarm fire on 12/19/49 that did “major damage” ; apparently it began in – or perhaps spread thru – the service elevator shaft.

  7. UPDATE: Having failed to secure an acceptable “over asking” offer, 2222 Hyde Street #1 has been relisted anew, with an official “3” days on the market and an upwardly revised asking price of $2.995 million.

  8. UPDATE: With the “transparent” pricing strategery having failed to yield an acceptable offer, the list price for 2222 Hyde Street #1 has just been slashed by $495K to $2.5 million.

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