I’d heard that the average age of buyers at the 733 Front Street condo conversion was 30! Your mind says to you, why? Why are young people interested in that particular building here in the southern end of the Barbary Coast?
To find out I first talked with Heila DeSwardt, the on-site manager of the homeowners’ association. Heila (pronounced Hey- la), a delightful South African woman, laughed and told me stories about the building and the people who are becoming its new condominium owners.
Then I spoke with a few local realtors who told me that many new buyers are in their 20s and 30s. Apparently, about 50 percent of the building is already sold, and all the top-floor units are gone. Some were snapped up even before people realized the building was offering units for sale.
Paper factory
Heila tells me that the building was born as a paper factory in 1920. Back then it was a four-story edifice. Over the years, the building degraded and fell into disuse. But in 1980s the building began a new life as commercial space. The new owners added three floors—those top three floors we see set back from the original structure.
What was strong enough then for paper rolls now offers quiet and peace for its new inhabitants. Those cement floors effectively make each unit soundproof. To diminish street noise, the developer added triple-pane windows to each of the 69 units. But Heila says new buyers are impressed with more than the quiet. They like:
- State-of-the-art building and amenities
- On-site manager
- Fitness room (each machine has its own cable TV monitor)
- Rooftop lounge/ sundeck/patio
- High-end appliances
Who are the buyers?
Rather than out-of-towners buying units as a pied a terre, the current buyers, for the most part, are up-and-coming local professionals. They’re moving from other parts of the City and Peninsula into Barbary Coast because of our location and good weather.
“Most of them have told me they love the idea of being able to walk to work in the Financial District,” says Heila, “…they love being near water, the Embarcadero, the Ferry Building, fine dining and great transportation.” They’re coming from Pacific Heights, North Beach and Inner Richmond.
And how do they find us? Mostly by word of mouth, according to Heila. “We’re closing escrows nearly every day.” She reports that one of the two commercial spaces is already sold, purchased by the company that had rented the space prior to the renovation. “They liked the building as renters and like the renovation even more.”
Our new friends
These are our new Barbary Coast neighbors. With this in mind, we all want to know them better and find out how they heard about our neighborhood and the 733 Front Street building. So I talked with one of the first young buyers.
Non-existent window of opportunity opens
Only a stroke of luck allowed him to buy the prime units in the building. He credits Fred Allardyce, a realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty, with prodding him to look at the 733 Front Street building—even before the drywall was in.
Not only is 733 Front Street’s location near the Financial District a necessity for the young buyer's business, but also the newness of the building allows him to build out whatever he wants with the now 2,500-foot open space.
“I like modern, open space,” he says, “so we’re knocking out walls, repositioning the kitchen and building in a 800-square-foot, sound-proof music studio with a console, vocal booth, recording studio and stage area.”
Editor’s Note: We’ll be following this young buyer's activities as he designs and builds out his condominium. Watch for future articles as he finds an Australian fireplace, dissolving walls on tracks, and components for his 800-square-foot music studio.