Purchased for $1,275,000 in October of 2019, the “elegant and spacious” unit #502 at 850 Powell Street, an 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom condo in the “fabulous luxury doorperson building” dubbed The Francesca, returned to the market priced at $1,395,000 this past May, a sale at which would have represented total appreciation of 9.4 percent since the fourth quarter of 2019 or 2.6 percent per year.
Reduced to $1,324,999 in July, the re-sale of the three-bedroom condo “in the heart of Nob Hill” has now closed escrow with a contract price of $1,222,600, down 4.1 percent on an apples-to-apples basis. And yes, the frequently misreported index for “San Francisco” condo values is “still up 3.5 percent” over the same period of time.
Gorgeous unit. HOA over 2K/month though, yikes. But I don’t know much about the market atop Nob Hill, maybe that’s typical for those old buildings?
For $2000/mo I would ask if this is a Co-op with tax included in the HOA, but I probably could guess that it’s the cost of having a “door-person” and additional costs of maintaining and insuring such an ornate building with brick elements in a earthquake zone.
No parking, no in-unit laundry and $2K a month for the privilege. Also on the Cable tracks and the non stop revving traffic up Sacramento. Nice looking unit though
Unit doesn’t appear to face Powell Street (and it’s on the 5th floor)…I don’t think the cable car noise would be an issue. In-unit laundry can be added. The deal-killer for me would be the the HOA fee and the lack of assigned parking. In the not-to-distant future, inability to charge EVs at home will be a real disability for selling homes claiming to be “luxury”.
Absolutely this is going to be a huge challenge for a lot of people, including myself and others who are not exactly wealthy. I had rented a house in midtown terrace, where a 50A 240v outlet installed was already by a previous tenant who had a industrial sewing machine – to Nob Hill into a home with parking offsite. I had needed to downsize- 2400 square feet on the top of the summit, way too much house to have to heat ($800/month electric bills.)
I thought that since I do not drive more than 6 miles a day I would be fine with overnight charging at the Polk-Bush garage for the overnight $8 parking garage fee, and otherwise I am renting a parking space from a private garage for $310 a month.
Well SFMTA Decided to upgrade the parking garages’ EVSEs (chargers) but haven’t actually set up the units on chargepoint yet. As a result of this, there is no place to park and charge easily nearby overnight, and there is no specific date for these to be activated. Removing working equipment to install new equipment without considering how it might affect frequent users, makes me feel like the city is not “all in” with EV adoption. It’s not completely a lack of money situation, but it is a annoyance that I can’t find a dedicated parking spot with the option of installing its own EVSE charger. I would love to buy a parking space nearby to solve this challenge, but no, it simply isn’t a option, no space for sale.
My experience with this situation, and additionally the further decline of the City’s retail sector making the “no need for cars, walkable city” argument harder and harder to accept, means that I would buy never myself (or otherwise recommend to others) to buy a property that doesn’t have a assigned parking space with the rights in the HOA agreement to install a 50A 240v outlet connected to the units’ electrical meter. This probably means that everything but a duplex, or house with a private garage is the only option.
Editor’s Note: Polk Gulch Garage to Be Preserved, Demand for Parking Grows