Purchased for $1,098,000 in May of 2017, the 838-square-foot Yerba Buena Loft unit #911 at 855 Folsom Street, a modern industrial loft condo in a Stanley Saitowitz designed building, with high ceilings, a wall of windows, a private, south-facing outdoor space, a “sleek and stylish” floor plan, and a deeded parking space in the building’s garage, returned to the market priced at $1,198,000 in March of last year, a sale at which would have represented net appreciation of just 9.1 percent over those six years.
Relisted for $998,000 last May, the list price for the one-bedroom condo with one-and-a-half baths was reduced to $948,000 in July, to $899,000 in August, to $799,000 in September, and then to $779,000 this past November.
And having been withdrawn from the MLS last month and then relisted anew at $779,000 yesterday, with an official “1 day on the market” according to all industry stats and pivotal market reports, an “at asking!” sale of 855 Folsom Street #911 would actually represent a 29.1 percent drop in value for the unit on an apples-to-apples basis since the second quarter of 2017, despite the fact that the widely misreported index for San Francisco condo values is “still up over 10 percent!” over the same period of time (but trending down).
If you think you know the market for modern units “in the heart of vibrant San Francisco,” “steps away from restaurants, cafes, boutiques, Whole Foods, Oracle Park, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Yerba Buena Center and other cultural attractions,” now’s the time to tell.
$789K
note however that it had already been listed below that price in november.
It’s listed below that – “then relisted anew at $779,000 yesterday” –right now.
If this closes at the asking arrived upon/announced yesterday, the price will be $930 per ft.², which is within shouting distance of the overall market average for condos currently. Compare that against that two-bedroom, two-bath, two-parking space unit 513 at Stage 1075, approximately 7 tenths of a mile away from here (a fifteen minute walk, but in the 94103 ZIP Code), which at current asking would be only $799 per ft.².
This listing apparently went contingent. I don’t know the market for “modern” loft units in SOMA, but I’ll guess it closes for $748k.
I have been in one of those (NOT the particular unit, but pretty much identical) as a potential buyer back in 2018. They are just generic cookie-cutter boxes with no character, charm, and with very limited functionality. Think luxury dorms. I had one look and said “no thanks” . And that was back in the “good days”
Concrete and charm rarely go together. The pictures gave me a ‘parking garage’ vibe.
Yes. As alluded to above, this is one of Stanley Saitowitz’s infamous Brutalist cast concrete columbariums. Architects (say they) love this kind of thing. I hope it’s time is over.
i was thinking brutalist but then thought o was over-thinking it and it was merely industrial
i think it would do well with large scaled wall art to leverage the background as a frame – Jeremy Novy (Koi fish garfitti guy) has started doing much larger scale stuff in street intersections. i had him do some smaller ones in front of a house i flipped (trendy neighborhood)
The exposed concrete is what makes this building Brutalist, by definition, there’s no need to avoid that term although Saitowitz and Co. (and apparently the site editor) would prefer “modern”.
From The August 8, 2002 edition of Architectural Record (if you actually follow that link, scroll down to page 117), tens of paragraphs in:
Both of those buildings cited as the inspiration for this one are noted in architectural textbooks as Brutalist works.
The article goes on to state flatly that the project sponsor was betting on “the dot com boom in full-swing and young computer geeks looking to spend large sums of money on cool places to live”. That must have motivated the design team for224 Clara roughly twenty years later when they wrote that their complex was designed for “an international gathering of millennial techies that…have sophisticated urban tastes and money.”
I had a friend who owned a unit in the building and loved it. I loved it when I visited too. I think concrete is a great material – but obviously not for everyone. The price is sounding pretty good to me! Any lower and I may have to make an offer.
I think you access the half bath from there….or vice-versa.
(Sorry: that’s a response to BobN’s comment[below])
What a dismal, soul crushing piece of concrete brutalism.
Stanley says, “mission accomplished!”
Thanks! I found a video of the listing (possibly in a former life). Still not quite sure what’s under the stairs, but now I see where the half bath is.
There appears to be a rather large, sloping void under the stairs. Can you get to it? Is it storage?
Saitowitz style has no soul. Welcome to the machine.
maybe you can invent your own signature style and rescue humanity