38 Harriet: 8/23/12 (www.SocketSite.com)
The 23 prefab units which will become the four-story SoMa Studios development started being stacked upon their 3,750 square foot lot at 38 Harriet this week.

Originally expecting to sell the 310 to 340 square foot studio units for $200,000 to $275,000 when first proposed back in 2010, the development is now slated to be rentals.
SoMa Studio Unit Renderings
If a reader is correct, the units should be online by Novemeber and seeking rents of around $6 per square foot. And yes, the studios were rendered with one and two beds.
UPDATE: The Business Times is reporting target rents of about $1,500, closer to $5 per square foot. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.
UPDATE: Another interior rendering in response to a reader’s quesiton about the kitchen:
Soma Studio Interior
Small Can Be Beautiful But…Will “SmartSpace” Sell In San Francisco? [SocketSite]
42 Harriet: From Surface Area Parking Lot To 23 Units As Proposed [SocketSite]

14 thoughts on “See How 38 Harriet’s 23 Prefab Studio Units Are Stacking Up In SF”
  1. At $6.00 per sq. foot, that’s $2,000+ rent for a tiny studio and living in a funky neighborhood.
    I don’t see it happening.
    For similar rent you can find something in the trendy Mission/Valencia area, or even Alamo Square/NOPA.
    [Editor’s Note: The Business Times is reporting target rents of about $1,500, closer to $5.00 per square foot.]

  2. ExtendedStay branded studios on the Peninsula rent for around $2500 a month, and South of Market is hot with the same crowd for the same reasons.

  3. These floor plans are about as good as you can get for the [square feet]… but still unacceptable. This is kind of bottom-of-the-barrel apartment solution…
    I bet in the next 5 years… someone buys two of these at market rate and cuts a hole through the wall and makes a proper condo out of em.

  4. Is it me or do others find it wasteful that each unit will have their own washer/dryer? A waste of space and resources. Can they just put in a common laundry room onsite?
    These sound more and more like a short apartment stays for tourists and visiting workers (ie. one month or less) than anything else.

  5. I’ve lived (with 2 other people) in a 625sq ft 2/1 and a 816 sq ft 2/1, both came with in unit washer and dryer. Not having to carry your laundry down to a common laundry room and having to make sure you get your stuff out and moved along before someone else comes along and dumps your clothes on the table/floor so they can use the machine was well worth the space it took up in the unit. I do not consider it wasteful at all. In unit laundry is at the very top of my ‘must have’ list.

  6. Is there a kitchen/cooking area?
    There’s a galley kitchen along the wall opposite the bed(s). Follow the rendering link above or see the newly added rendering.

  7. “Is it me or do others find it wasteful that each unit will have their own washer/dryer?”
    Surely you jest!
    Having a W/D in a unit this size is what will enable the investors to get top rents because competition is virtually nonexistent. There are way too many functionally obsolete rentals in the Bay Area without W/D or even connections.
    Not sure why anyone beyond the age of, say graduate school, would want to live in a place without a W/D – I never have and hope I never have to. Even if I won the lottery and could afford to send everything to the cleaners I’d still want a W/D!
    The prospective renters for this place should be thankful they won’t have to compete with you. But likely hundreds of thousands of others in this metro are scratching their heads in wonder at your comment.

  8. I lived in an apartment in Tokyo smaller than this. It had its own washing machine on the balcony – agree it’s a must have. The layout was similar and I had no issues adjusting to the size. In order to make maximum use of space some of these small Tokyo apartments (though not mine) had the bed in a loft platform.
    For a single person, it can be a great solution.

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