Sometimes you just need a little real estate photo porn to get you through your day. Below are some images from One Rincon Hill (for those wondering, One Rincon Hill is the gigantic tower…some would say phallic symbol… that kisses the west end of the Bay Bridge off/on ramps), which were recently provided to us from the Design Above All Event (something we HIGHLY…no pun intended…recommend you go experience) that is currently taking place on top of the San Francisco skyline (~600 feet up to be more precise).
The views are incredible and the two & three-bedroom condominium homes (ranging in size from 1880-1957 square feet, and price of $3.1 and $3.6 million), which were designed by Carver+Schicketanz, of Carmel; Eugene Anthony and Associates, Ltd., of San Francisco; Labexperiment, also of San Francisco; and Donald Joseph Inc., of Sacramento, are quite nice, to say the least.
Living Room Design by Carver+Schicketanz or Carmel, California:
Unit 5301 Living Room Design by Labexperiment of San Francisco:
Unit 5302 Family Room by Eugene Anthony and Associates, Ltd., San Francisco:
Unit 5304 Living Room by Donald Joseph Inc., Sacramento, California:
Unit 5904 Living Room by theFrontSteps red tape ducking photog dawg prior to completion of the building (notice the Bay Bridge in the background), and post sucking back a tasty lager:
Unit 5904 Views captured by the photog dawg and his cohort that night! (That’s Millennium Tower in the foreground, not yet topped off.)
Beers on the balcony too…the balcony that didn’t have a railing (blurry image suggests shaking in fear of falling 600 feet to our death like idiots!):
And the elevator we took back down…duh! Obviously not that night!
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“Design Above All,” inspiration for luxury high-rise living 2009, is open to the public Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m., and Saturdays 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. through Nov. 1, at One Rincon Hill, 425 First St., San Francisco. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.sfdesigncenter.com. Admission is $20 (includes valet parking) and benefits three local charities: PAWS (www.pawssf.org), Food Runners (www.foodrunners.org) and At the Crossroads (www.atthecrossroads.org). Group rates available and must be arranged in advance. For more information, call (415) 490-5820 or visit www.sfdesigncenter.com
Hullabaloo, hullabaloo, hullabaloo. That appears to be what everybody loves these days (especially when it seems to highlight more economic hardship for anybody…we’d think it easier to claw out of a recession if we shifted our focus elsewhere), and so it is no surprise the city (we’ll call it more the real estate obsessed readers) were up in arms over Robert Selna’s Chronicle Article stating (among other things):
The developer of the new condominium tower that dominates San Francisco’s southern skyline has told The Chronicle that he does not plan to pay the $5 million in fees that were central to obtaining city approval to build the high-rise.
Apparently the Chronicle didn’t get it exactly right…shocker!
From the developer of One Rincon Hill himself:
An open letter to the leaders of the city of San Francisco, Rincon Hill residents, our project partners, and the media:
While it is unfortunate that my discussion with the San Francisco Chronicle was taken out of context and thus reflected inaccuracies, it does provide me with an opportunity to share what has been and continues to be our commitment to both the project and the City. As such, I share the following.
Not only is One Rincon Hill more than 70% sold*, but sales once again are brisk; in fact, sales traffic has been above the pre-crash level (60-100 tours) every week in 2009. We are pleased to report that we have almost fully paid our construction lender and contractors, have no liens against the building and appreciate the unwavering support of our partners. We have not received any funds from the City in any aspect of the development of this project.
We have every intention to complete Tower II, but, as I said publicly months ago, we are waiting for the economy, and the residential real estate market in particular, to turn on the upswing. There is no rush to proceed at this time.
In specific response to the reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle that “he does not plan to pay the $5 million in fees that were central to obtaining city approval to build the high-rise,” this is not my plan. In fact, to date we have paid more than $16.6 million in fees:
Affordable housing in lieu fee (offsite) $11,026,146 (Dec. 2005)
S.F. public school fee $858,448 (Feb. 2006)
Rincon Hill Community Improvement fee $3,162,889 (Sept. 2006)
SOMA Stabilization Fund fee $1,268,306 (Dec. 2005 and Sept. 2006) Total: $16,615,789
The sole remaining fee to be paid is the balance of the SOMA Stabilization Fee of $13.75 x 393,884 square feet or $5,415,905. This payment is not yet due. The payment becomes due when we obtain a final Certificate of Occupancy (which has not yet occurred); or, alternatively, we can post a letter of credit at that time to delay the payment by 6 months. In other words, we are not in default nor do we intend to be. Furthermore, the developer will not receive any distributions from the project before the SOMA Stabilization Fund fee is paid.
In my typical candor, I shared with the Chronicle the realities of today’s economy on our project – no different from what most every project is the country is experiencing. As we are in the most egregiously difficult financial environment of our times, I am realistically concerned with the burden of this fee. This was the intent of my discussion with the Chronicle, and I am disappointed it was not more clear. That said, we plan to pay the fees when due and proceed onto Tower II of this project which will provide a very singular living experience in a world class city.
Thank you for this opportunity to update our project and our vision.
We’ve all heard about the latest craze to talk about what buildings aren’t selling what, what price reductions happened where, what incentives are being offered here, and which penthouse condos are selling for what. If you’ve been reading up on your bay area blogs, you’ll likely already know that the entire 60th floor of One Rincon Hill is again available, but not presented as an opportunity to purchase yet another excellent slice of pie in the sky, rather a failure to close contracts due to the recent national recession (half full, half empty).
So, should you only be in the $2+ Million buying range, you could take your pic of one of the four residences on the 60th floor (at least one on the 59th too):
The views from up there are nothing short of extraordinary.
Or, should you be walking around with roughly $14 Million burning a hole in your pocket, you could chop down a few of those walls and take the entire 60th Floor (5900 square feet) all to yourself (okay, maybe you could share with your honey….or us).
Opportunity knocks, and we’re dying to come to the parties. We’re not sure if when you purchase the entire top floor you’d have exclusive access to swim in the seismic water tank on top, but it never hurts to ask.
“Your One Rincon Membership grants you 75 points and 900 miles (up to 11 reservation days) which are debited for each vehicle outing, giving you autonomy based on your personal preferences.”
You also get vehicle delivery to the One Rincon Hill property!
Yes, we know, the Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square beat them to the punch, but One Rincon Hill is the first High Rise to get the hint. We hope Millennium Tower is next, especially with the little parking situation they have there. Now if any of these developments would just start stocking residents’ refrigerators with Victoria Bitter on move in day, we’d all be a lot better off, hopefully be invited to a few house warmings, and be able to inform Ghirardelli Square that they’re setting a few trends other than chocolate. (In case you didn’t know Cellar 360 at Ghirardelli square is apparently the first place in the city to sell Victoria Bitter…yes, slabs!…and they’re f*cking good mate!)
We took you to this very floor a long, long time ago before it had walls (right after an earthquake mind you), and we took you there again just recently. This time, we’re bringing you a taste of what life will be like on top and from a North East corner unit…at night…and guess what? If you missed your chance to get one of these trophy units at the sales office, you might want to give us a shout, because there are more opportunities than you could imagine.
And yes, if you bought above the 54th floor your views should not be impacted by the second tower (build date still t.b.d.), and you can, without a shadow of a doubt, see all three bridges (Golden Gate, Richmond, Bay).
Truth be told, I recently had a client in contract to “take over” a unit above the 50th floor at One Rincon Hill from a “seller” that had purchased their unit via the sales office on the very first night said sales office opened. Yes, that means it was an attempted “flip”, a “cancellation”, a “pocket listing”, and the list goes on. The deal has crumbled (for various reasons), so now I can talk (a little).
[That's the lobby.]
It’s funny to see all the chatter online about one person (okay maybe many people) listing their One Rincon Hill unit for sale on Craigslist and looking for someone to “take over” their contract. First of all, it ain’t that simple to just “take over”. If you think you can go it alone without some third party advice, just post to Craigslist and all of your problems will suddenly vaporize, think again.
Secondly, it should come as no surprise that many people will not be able to go through with their purchase, but it doesn’t mean the sky has fallen. Actions of a few individuals in one building do not represent the well being of an entire group (the market). For every one person attempting to flip or find someone to “take over” their purchase, there are 10 others that aren’t.
Finally, there are more of those transactions going on than you know at every new development in San Francisco (at least those with residents moving in), and many of those units are changing hands to ready and willing buyers (I lost a client to one such agent who had a client “transferring” their unit at the Infinity), so the focus on One Rincon Hill, and this type of activity at all, is blown way out of proportion.
What we know is that although the market has changed significantly in the past year, it is by no means down and out (surprisingly), and using anecdotal bits of “resale” activity at One Rincon Hill to paint a picture of the entire landscape of San Francisco real estate is nothing short of loony!
As for which units at One Rincon Hill are “available”, or how great the views from the top floors are… you’ll have to come back, because I just went on a tangent. For now, I can tell you, there are several units above the 50th floor “available”, should you be interested.
We get a few inquiries as to what exactly went inside the so called “time capsule” that will be placed on top of One Rincon Hill. Well, according to One Rincon Hill’s Fall Newsletter, in which theFrontSteps actually has a couple photo credits:
[The time capsule] will be installed in an electrical room on the 61st floor of One Rincon Hill’s Phase I [tower one], more than 600 ft. above the City, with instructions not to be opened for 50 years.
[Inside the capsule is] …everything from a packet of Propel vitamin water to Eclipse gum, Clif bars and South Beach diet bars, to the City’s own Distillery 209 gin, the chief ingredient in ORH’s signature drink, The Gincon.
Also added were local magazines and newspapers, as well as gossip tabloids [,...] a signed copy of the latest book by noted San Francisco storyteller Armistead Maupin, a photo of the current Board of Supervisors, a baseball from Mayor Newsom and a beanie baby from the San Francisco Giants.
The shovel from the groundbreaking, as well as San Francisco Chronicle writer Carl Nolte’s series on ORH (a.k.a. “The Building of a Skyscraper,” rounded out the archive.
For the other questions we get wondering if Tower Two is a go, we provide a quote from the developer, Michael Kriozere:
One Rincon Hill was designed to be two towers, [...] We look forward to completing that vision, and for the second tower to reach its topping off in the San Francisco skyline by 2009, with completion in 2010.
And for the questions regarding sales and Interior development of Tower One:
Closings of floors 8-27 will commence in January 2008. The framing of the interiors has reached the 54th floor, the drywall is to level 36 and the finishes soon to [be] completed. [We have a hunch they must be close to the 55th floor due to our tardiness in posting this.]
Since Tower Two is a go at One Rincon Hill, we thought you’d like to see some raw video of the construction elevator ride down the outside of Tower One, during consctruction…in case you missed it.
“After months of speculation concerning the status of Tower Two at One Rincon Hill, it’s now official – the groundbreaking for construction is going to be in January, 2008. There had been a persistent rumor out there that Tower Two would never get built. The announcement of the groundbreaking comes a few days after they opened their online registration list for purchases in the second tower.”
Last Friday I hastily threw some pictures and video up on this blog of my visit to the almost highest point of the tallest residential building west of the Mississippi. I promised the full story and more “unobstructed view” pictures, so here goes…(Some pictures that wouldn’t fit in this screen can be viewed in full glory by clicking the photo.)
Why not start things off with a booming view that some lucky home owner will have from their window. This is looking North, North East at Treasure Island, the Bay Bridge (obviously), the East Bay, and if you look to the right, you’ll even see Mt. Diablo.
I had the distinct pleasure of being invited to the “topping off ceremony” at One Rincon Hill this morning. There were quite a few notables in attendance, including Mr. Willie Brown (da mayor), the architects, and a few others, which I’ll note next week when I revise this post. For now, I thought you’d enjoy some pictures and video of the inside, outside, views, and elevator ride to the 59th, and 41st floors. Enjoy…The views were INSANE! (Click the thumbnails for larger images.)
These are undoubtedly some of the first images you are seeing of this, so please if you take them, claim your source, and link back to here.
Lots more unobstructed view pics to come next week, as well as descriptions of these pictures. For now…I have to get out of town. Thanks for checking them out. Oh…that is Julie with the hat, which is now in the time capsule.
J.K. Dineen of the San Francisco Business Times (highly recommend getting a subscription if you haven’t already) reported in their latest issue, “Developer Michael Kriozere plans to begin construction on the second tower of One Rincon Hill by the end of the year…”
(photo credit: sfcondo.org, this is a view from The Infinity to One Rincon Hill Tower One…not bad, eh?)
-One Rincon Hill- 3 bedroom, 3 bath on 29th and 30th floors with just under 2000 square feet. It is 200 feet up the hill with un-obstructed views for $2,190,000.
-The Infinity- 3-bedroom, 2.5 bath, 2-story home on 28th and 29th floor with approximately 1,679 square feet. It has two private 36′ wide Sky Terraces and breathtaking views for $2,400,000.
The rest we leave up to you.
In other One Rincon Hill news, they are on their 53rd floor of construction.
The picture is ours, and so are the horrible photo shop skills.
--------------------------- 45 Van Buren, Glen Park Condo $729,000
Top Floor 2 bed, 1 bath, 1 pk, views, decks, hot tub, remodeled kitchen, fireplace, Hardwood, W&D, feels like Single Family Home
Recent Transactions
Below is a PARTIAL list of my recent transactions:
-------------------------- 1119 Hopkins Ave in Palo Alto!
Buyer Representation
5 bed, 3.5 bath, 3626 sqft, Single Family Home
New Construction
Original Asking $3,475,000 (Purchased for much less) Contact Alex Clark for details
-------------------------- 195 Beacon
Buyer representation:
4 bed, 3 bath, Mid Century Modern "Green" Home
Asking $1,650,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------------- 2185 Bush #307
SOLD $790,000,
3bd,2ba,1pk condo
Lower Pacific Heights
Top Floor, High Ceilings, Living/Dining Combo, Fireplace, bright, patio & balcony, views, Earthquake Insurance, A+location
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details.
--------------------------- 62 Buena Vista Terrace
Buyer Representation
2 bed, 1 bath Top Floor Condo
$885,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------- 2186 33rd Avenue
Buyer Representation
3 bed, 2 bath Center Patio Home
$815,000 Contact Alex Clark for details
--------------------- 442 41st Ave (SOLD $1M) $1,049,000
3 bed, 1 bath up
1 bed, 1 bath down (unwarranted)
2 Pk, Outer Richmond Single Family
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details
--------------------------- 613 Peralta (SOLD Cash $520,000) 2bd, 1 ba, 1pk, $539,000
Bernal Heights Condo
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for details
------------------------ 241 7th Ave (SOLD-$950,000 cash) PRICE REDUCED $1,129,550 $999,000!
2bd, 1.5 bath, 2pk, Inner Richmond Single Family
Represented Seller Email Alex Clark for Details
]
Back in November, we advised 
