2701 Broadway

Having originally been listed for $32,000,000 this past September and withdrawn from the MLS in January (having been reduced to $28,500,000), the sale of 2701 Broadway closed escrow on the last day of February without a reported contract price.

The “super confidential” sale price, according to a plugged-in tipster, however, has since been recorded at $27,000,000.

The buyers of the 16,000 square foot Gold Coast corner home? Nope, it’s not a Pincus nor another web wunderkind, but rather local celebrity chef Roxanne Klein and her old-school entrepreneur turned new-school environmentalist husband who once toured with The Dead.

32 thoughts on “The Super Confidential Sale Price And Raw Scoop For 2701 Broadway”
  1. Well I certainly didn’t make the connection. But for the sake of the remaining readers who didn’t get the headline hint, from The Los Angeles Times Living foods’ guru Roxanne Klein saw her marriage and restaurant crumble. Now she’s dishing up a comeback:

    Two years ago, she was the hottest thing on the American food scene. People called her a revolutionary. Comparisons to Alice Waters were made.

    Her elaborate take on so-called “living” foods—a then almost laughably obscure branch of veganism in which fare cannot be heated above 118 degrees Fahrenheit lest it lose certain attributes—had almost single-handedly turned the phrase “raw cuisine” into something other than a punch line for carnivores. There was the cookbook with Charlie Trotter, the clamor for reservations at her restaurant in Marin County, the national press coverage marveling not only at her cooking, but also at her translucent complexion and wraith-thin physique.

    And to top it off, there was Klein’s seemingly blissful marriage, which had underwritten her rise to celebrity chefdom. No interview was complete without a mention of Michael Klein, the wealthy environmentalist who had supplied both her best connections and her bankroll. Rich hippie. Tech fortune. Harvard degree. Buddy of the Grateful Dead. Did yoga with her. Even without the amazing food, the image was of a counterculture dream team—her with her talent, him with his drive.

    Then in 2004, it all went, as it were, right into the juicer. The Kleins abruptly shut down the restaurant and stopped promoting Roxanne as a brand unto herself…the fine-dining end of their business had never made money; in fact, when it opened, the Kleins said they didn’t care about cash and billed it as a nonprofit.

    Soon enough, the real reason for their troubles became public: The owners of Roxanne’s were splitting up.

    You can go read the whole thing, but that’s enough to get you to understand the headline if you don’t keep up with local celebrities or you aren’t a foodie. That article was published back in 2006, so I’m sure enough time has passed for either a large-ish divorce settlement that would deliver her enough money to buy this place, or a reunification or perhaps some other resolution, who knows.
    Congrats to them on their closing. Maybe she’s found some way to deduct part of the expense of owning this place because she’ll throw big parties there and promote herself or her products or services or whatever.

  2. The good news for us all, their new tax bill of $300,000+ should be able to care and feed at least one new city employee who will then provide us with great services.

  3. Having been in the home, no pictures do this place justice. Dare I say it is worth the sale price. The master is to die for.

  4. I bet it wasn’t even close to $27 mil.
    no different than a lot of props in the surrounding area not trading for the “recorded price” .. many ways to massage a “recorded price” for the unsophisticated
    just one example: 2849 Pacific a few years ago ($12 mil – not even close)

  5. When we write “recorded,” as in above, we’re talking about the contract price recorded with the assessor’s office for tax purposes, a number we rarely have a reason to doubt.
    When we write “reported,” we’re talking about the sale price that was agent reported on the MLS which isn’t always the most accurate.
    With respect to 2849 Pacific, while the “reported” sale price appears as $14,000,000, the sale price actually started with a twelve as we first reported back in 2009 and which tax records confirm today.
    Now back to 2701 Broadway…

  6. a truly sophisticated real property professional or investor knows that “recorded” numbers are not always transparent in documenting the economic exchange between the Buyer and the Seller.
    from and operating company perspective, think of it as “market capitalization” versus “enterprise value”
    and btw, I am not insinuating anyone is “fabricating” anything here.
    I’m only interested in true valuations.
    For example, the “buyer” of 2849 Pacific in 2009 were/are sophisticated investors and in my opinion, and I am virtually certain of this, the buyer’s true economic cost was Not $12 mil.

  7. Well they sure are paying taxes on a $12M basis and that is the comp and recorded value with the city unless someone proves otherwise. So feel free to produce information that verifies your virtually certain opinion. I would be interested to know, as I’m sure would many others.

  8. @johnny
    There are a lot of “truly sophisticated” readers on this blog who have been involved in all sorts of transactions, but gotta go with eddy on this — either put up or shut up…

  9. How about we stay on topic and not ask questions that anyone can google in 5 seconds on a simple finance 101 topic? You obviously have nothing other than than a virtually certain opinion. You may very well be correct that there was some cash back; seller financing, or other back ended deal. Maybe the house came with a free Maybach and a used learjet. But either make a formal allegation or just stop making unsubstantiated claims.

  10. ” anyone can google in 5 seconds ”
    Guy who makes up fake facebook friends to help Team Realty
    Then blames “The Internet” when caught now wants substantiation and googling
    Double Hilariousness!

  11. @tipster, I made up friends that work for facebook apparently and got “busted” red handed by the internets on the thread where i called you the biggest troll of all time or somehting like that. I take that back, fyi. I was wrong about that.

  12. tipster and “Who”…according to Carolyn Said, staff writer for The Chronicle, re: The Klein’s divorce:

    Roxanne Klein exploded on the national scene just after the turn of the millennium, making “living foods” almost mainstream, and briefly had an eponymous Larkspur restaurant.

    Her raw-food empire crumbled when the couple split up. Michael Klein married Michael Douglas’ ex-wife Diandra, and lots of drama ensued. He left Diandra and remarried Roxanne. Michael Klein now runs Modulus Guitars, co-founded by his buddy Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead.

    So there you have it. Hope this helps.

    Can’t imagine the guitar business is going that well, residual wealth must have been involved in the purchase of 2701 Broadway.

  13. Love the link to the FB discussion. Especially tipster’s insight that SF was being passed by. lol. Fast forward 6 month. Comedy gold.

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