83 McAllister #511 Living

Get ready for the “OMG” headlines, stories and exclamation points as a 275-square-foot studio in San Francisco is in contract with a list price of $450,000!  Yes, that’s over $1,600 per square foot!  And it might even sell for over asking!

Of course, having originally been listed for $485,000 (versus priced at 50 percent below comparable sales in order to generate traffic, a bidding frenzy and perhaps some press), the sale of 83 McAllister Street #511 will likely close escrow with a contract price below its original list.

Regardless, a sale at its reduced ask would represent total appreciation of 15 percent over the past eight years for the Book Concern Building condo which was purchased for $391,000 in May of 2007 having been listed for $407,000 in 2006.  That’s a compound rate of appreciation of 1.8 percent per year.

We should also note that while the legal square footage of the condo is only 275 square feet, which is 16 square feet smaller than the 291-square-foot “smallest condo in San Francisco” which made headlines when it sold for $415,000 last month, the legal square footage of the Book Concern studio doesn’t include its sleeping loft which is technically “storage” space.  But hey, why let those kinds of insights get in the way of an attention grabbing headline or story.

And while 275 square feet might seem small, keep in mind that there are a couple hundred condos in San Francisco which are all legitimately smaller and more are on the way.

40 thoughts on “$450K For A 275-Square-Foot Room Without A View”
  1. Not-so-fun fact: this is the building where disgraced political consultant Enrique Pearce lives, and where the SFPD allegedly found troves of child pornography and a stolen SF parking meter.

    1. Reprehensible and disgusting! We should put these depraved souls on some sort of parking meter offender registry! And they shouldn’t be allowed to live within 2,000 feet of any metered street! For shame!

  2. So tiny studios are now going for half a million In the Tenderloin? LOL

    It’s one of the roughest/poorest/dirtiest/most violent neighborhoods on the west coast of the US, has the highest robbery rate in the city, is plagued with 24/7 open air drug dealing and use, etc. There was a fatal drive-by shooting just this past weekend, three blocks away from this building, and a fatal stabbing three blocks in the other direction, last month. Oh and a dismembered body was found in a suitcase three blocks away in yet another direction, earlier this year. And they want half a million for you to live in a shoebox there?

    It shouldn’t be surprising, but it still is. Thanks for restricting the housing supply so much over the decades, NIMBYs, This is what happens.

      1. SF Examiner reports the Mission Coalition wants to extend its moratorium to the Bayview district. Did I hear those who bought high just see their equity evaporate?

        1. Heck, it sounds like a Republican’s paradise to me. The Free Market in all it’s red and raw glory. Plenty of guns. Entrepeneurs getting business done. Heck, what is sillier, some good illegal weed or heroin or an “ap” to make it easier for a spoiled yuppie to buy dinner reservations at the latest hip restaurant?

    1. 16th & Mission is worse and people pay more to live near there. In fact, this building is virtually on the fast gentrifying strip of Mid-Market and could soon be very fashionable.

      I love it when people on here trash other parts of town without identifying their own living circumstaces. Owning even this small condo puts you economically ahead of somebody paying rent for decades, especially if that rent is uncontrolled.

      1. What do my own living circumstances have to do with anything? Everything I said about the Tenderloin is true, I’m not trashing it (do I need to extol it’s virtues now too, to make you happy?). It’s just not worth it to pay $500,000 for a tiny 250 square foot studio there (or at 16th and mission, or anywhere in SF, for that matter), in my opinion, or in the opinion of anyone else I know. Of course there are still plenty of people who have tons of money to throw around, who will buy it though.

      2. Mid-market is indeed becoming fashionable. And UN Plaza is still a big homeless camp and open air drug market. There is no indication the situation is going turn any better. You just have to content with crime and mental disorder in the hood. Buyer beware.

      3. i would prefer to rent than own this. I am pretty sure if i put the cost of this closet into the NYT rent vs. own calculator, then I could make a strong case to rent.

        I do however own a 2200sq ft condo and my mortgage is $2906/mo, so i feel pretty good about owning my property

    2. It’s also mere blocks from all types of transit, the central library, theaters, restaurants, and the burgeoning tech-hub of mid-market. I would think that is a much bigger draw for folks who half half a million to spare than living in some larger, soulless place in Daly City. Though the price is still crazy.

  3. Read the disclosures -there’s a weird one about excessive noise between units and from building systems. They claim it’s because the building is half old, half new construction. Even weirder it’s built on top of the former Buena Vista Cemetery where between 3,000 and 7,000 bodies were never relocated.

  4. I am very excited. If this hell hole is worth $480,000 then my condo on Dolores and Market must just doubled in value!!!

    Yay!!!

  5. I wouldn’t buy this even if I could afford it. My small rental apartment at least has a view and is not in a crappy hood.

  6. One of the units at this building was recently on an episode of one of those shows about tiny houses. They did an episode about tiny homes in SF. The buyer looked at this property, a 600 sf SFR in Bernal right up against San Jose for $600k, and a tiny shack behind a home in the Castro for $500k. I think the unit at this building was priced at $450k on the show. They husband really wanted it because it was “below budget”. Wife won out and they took the Bernal home which was $50k above budget.

    1. I just watched that Tiny House Hunting ep this Sunday. Dude’s TL enthusiasm was surely scripted because THH is even more fake than standard HH shows. I’ve never so little effort applied to trying to disguise the fact that nearly all the hunters already lived in the “chosen” homes.

      Regardless, it’s always interesting to see smaller SFRs and SF is first place I saw ads for 1bd houses.

  7. The cottage on Richland is indeed probably a little bit noisy. But that whole walking path/greenbelt that goes along the rim of San Jose Ave (which the cottage borders) is actually kind of sweet. Much nicer, in my opinion, than being shoved up against Mission St. or some other big avenue, and the noise level is probably pretty similar. I’ve walked by that cottage and thought it looked pretty cute actually.

  8. I love that all these newbs are flocking to the worst neighborhoods in the city. You couldn’t pay me to live in the TL or the Mission. But, then again, I’m not some sheltered mope from the Midwest.

  9. You have to start somewhere on the ownership ladder. For one, best to find closest place to work so this is probably the case with buyer. Maybe the headache of commuting overshadowed being in this urban neighborhood. The buyer can always choose to rent it out. Lots of options.

    1. I haven’t read the HOAs, but a buyer cannot always choose to rent out their unit. Depends on what the HOA says. Also, condo buildings with a high percentage of renters are harder to insure. You can’t always assume you can buy and just rent it out in SF.

  10. If you were not aware of the history of the area, you would look at the immediate streetscape and think it wasn’t so bad (but don’t stray too far, especially at night!). I hope the buyer researched those issues highlighted above…. on a side note, the “storage area” is pretty much a usable loft bedroom with 7’4″ ceilings and a skylight. as far as “275 sq ft: micro-condos go, the actual layout is not bad (lack of view and neighborhood not withstanding).

    1. At least you can run around naked in the unit without drawing the window shades. Better than staring into some other building’s occupants.

  11. Look at that, there was a stabbing yesterday at UN plaza, right next to the building. Things like that are common there. Yup, it sure sounds like it’s worth $500k!

    1. at least this person gets to stay in the city in which he’s born and raised. strike that. he just gets to stay in the city, regardless of where he was born and raised.

      1. Not sure I follow…but there was a second stabbing yesterday right by this building. But nevermind those stabbings and shootings and such, it’s basically union square! Now give us enough money to buy a gated mcmansion in 95% of the country, so that you can live in the ghetto…I mean, uh…in “the historic theater district”, right next to union square, nob hill, the farmers market, and city hall, in beautiful downtown SF! Those drug dealers, addicts, and homeless people are actually actors rehearsing for a play.

  12. Was the dismembered body a statement about how expensive it is (an arm and a leg) to rent in SF? Is the killing the crime or are high rents the crime? Getting these mixed messages all the time…

    Back when I was a kid, a MUNI ride was a nickel and a bag of chips was 15 cents. I walked to school and did not eat chips. Obesity was not a problem.

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