Argenta (1 Polk)
As far as we know they’re still not building any more land. But they are continuing to build thousands of new condos where none stood before.
Speaking of which, it looks like the Anka Group has broken ground on the 17 story Argenta at 1 Polk (corner of Fell/Market). Once a parking lot, the new development should add 180+ condominiums to the mid-market neighborhood (and is located two blocks from Hayes Valley).
And then there’s the Union 76 gas station at the corner of Buchanan and Market. According to J.K. Dineen, Arquitectonica has been hired to transform that lot into an eight-story, 115-unit unit condominium building.
Mid-Market Development “Breaking” News [SocketSite]

18 thoughts on “Argenta (1 Polk): Ground Breaking”
  1. “And then there’s the Union 76 gas station at the corner of Buchanan and Market. Arquitectonica has been hired to transform the lot into an eight-story, 115-unit unit condominium building.”
    Great! One gas station down, 3 more [on Market] to go.

  2. I wonder how much they will have to pay people to move into the units that face Fox Plaza. This location is terrible. Other than perhaps the view toward the top of City Hall there is nothing to see and Hayes Valley is several blocks away. Perhaps the developer is being forward-looking but unless these are priced really low I can’t see much of a market for this spot.

  3. Who cares about the views. This part of town needs people badly. If there is going to be any improvement to mid-market, its not going to happen without moving people with a little money to spend on neighborhood businesses into the neighborhood. If the views aren’t great, who knows, maybe the prices won’t be absurd so the ultra rich might be able to afford to buy here.

  4. This is great news for mid-Market (but please, someone’s gotta come up with a better name for that area — it sounds so City Hall.) This should be part of the thread involving the Soma Grand — it’s all part of the same vision — housing for city living, for people who really live and work in the city, and aren’t just buying a condo as investment or second home, etc..

  5. BTW, I spoke briefly with someone at Anka today. It looks like occupancy will be about a year-and-a-half away, and more info about sales should be in two months. So again, 2008 is going to be a very busy year for condos!

  6. I agree with Adam, etc, that if the product is priced reasonably, it should be great for mid-Market and San Francisco. It’s a good central location that will work for a lot of folks…not the same folks who want expansive views from the 40th floor…but folks who appreciate being close to Hayes Valley, Symphony/Opera, restaurants, etc.
    My pet peeve about the location is that the Muni station doesn’t work nearly as well as it should for people because in peak direction at commute hour trains are crammed full before they ever reach Van Ness. The Castro Shuttle (S) solves much of this problem for Van Ness patrons, and with even more residential coming on line in this location the shuttle should be beefed up. It’s one of those no brainers that Muni just doesn’t seem to get…

  7. I like the Deco Ghetto name for the area just a little bit up-market from here. Could this name just be extended to cover this area as well?
    I also think the Lower-Upper Market or LUMa name is good and SOMa-esque.

  8. No name. Resist cuteness. Let the experience and intrigue of an evolving area become an experience of place, a tempo, a feel – in and of itself – free of come-and-go trendy labels & definitions a la Soho, which ultimately end up being seized by realtors and advertising and become hollow trendy references.
    Great cities confidently rely on a long history of street names, area names (eg Civic Center), and landmarks which well serve that purpose. Every uptick in development doesn’t warrant a label.
    A cute name misses the pleasure of a long layered past & neatly organizes it into a surfacy message.
    No one will get lost if we don’t have a new name for this evolving & truly fascinating area.
    The name is San Francisco.

  9. That’s beautifully phrased, Glenn, and I wish I could agree. But yesterday I was telling someone about the building, and he didn’t know where it was located. When I explained it to him, he said, “Oh, where all the poor people live.” Maybe that’s sort of accurate, but I don’t think it’s going to be taken up by developers and redevelopment folks. One Rincon has “Above It All” and Argenta ends up with “Come Where All The Poor People Live”? I don’t think so.

  10. The architectual rendering at the top of the page shows a 20 story building, but the text says 17. Which is the real building? A couple of weeks ago the construction crane was raised a couple of stories has the height of the building been raised from the original plan?

  11. Whilst it looks to be a pretty building, the builders have incurred the wrath of the residents at Fox Plaza. Construction begins between 4:30-5:00AM “due to circumstances beyond our control” (per builder flyer posted at every elevator in the building). As a result, the residents on the Western side of Fox Plaza are in the process of forming a resident association with an attorney in an attempt to get the planning/zoning office to stop the construction in the middle of the night. If the lawsuit goes forward, I would lay better than even this property NOT to be available when targeted.

  12. If Argenta is as good as Anka’s two condo projects in Downtown San Diego, this will be a beauty. Their attention to detail is impressive. A real class act!

  13. That part of Market is still a seedy area all the way to Van Ness/Market. At night you don’t want to be walking around outside. But maybe the Market Street corridor starting from Bloomingdales to Van Ness will be evolve for the better.

  14. I walk by/drive by/take the bus by this construction site almost every day. The building seems to have topped off. Is there any pricing information on this building? When will it be complete?

  15. The site was not a parking lot. It was a low-rise commercial building with a low-budget chinese restaurant in it.

  16. Now that this thing is done, they have not been able to even consider selling any of these as condos. They will all be rentals. Unforutnately, that may even be tough since the rental market is on the slide and with the higher cost of HOA dues in these newer towers, the rents will be set rather high. Good luck….

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