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by
Carly Nairn
The San Francisco Chronicle is spotlighting a new condo at 441 Valencia St. with an asking price of $759,000.
The condo, which looks like something straight out of an Ikea catalog, has a private roof deck and is right down the street from Four Barrel Coffee.
Beyond the specter of gentrification run amok, it raises the question of who can afford a place like this — especially at 820 square feet.
Maybe this guy, but then again, he already owns property in the Mission.
A Modesto, CA native, Carly has been working in the news industry for the past five years. She has worked with The Portland Mercury as an Arts Intern, The San Francisco Bay Guardian as a News Intern, The Lewis County Chronicle in Centralia, WA as a beat reporter, and was the student opinion editor for her undergraduate newspaper, The Daily Vanguard, for Portland State University, in Portland, Ore. She currently lives in San Francisco, CA.
More by Carly Nairn6 Comments
I casually watched it get built. It is a new building. Used to be parking.
$925 a square foot, they must think this is Manhattan.
Not an Ikea catalog? Hm… It is certainly decorated like one, I spotted these:
Ikea Reidar chairs
Ikea Malm beds
Ikea Smörboll duvet cover
Ikea Vilmie Ruta pillow
Ikea Vinranka duvet cover
Ikea Nyvoll drawer chests
Ikea VÃ¥rlikt vases
Ikea Kulla table lamp white
Ikea Papaja plant pot
Ikea Gullholmen rocking chair
Ikea Stockholm pillow
Ikea Palmlilja duvet cover
Ikea Kulla table lamps black
Ikea Kivik sofa
Ikea Stockholm Blad pillow
Ikea Strind coffee table
Ikea Tullsta chairs
Ikea Alseda stools
Ikea Bjursta table
Ikea Nordmyra chairs
Ikea Oväntad vase
Hmmm, a lot of sour grapes in the comments to the Chronicle story and inherent in the reporting here. The quip about it looking straight out of an Ikea catalog tells me that the author doesn’t know very much about design trends, what furniture/fixtures really cost, or the difference between looking at the staging of an apartment versus actually assessing what you’re getting when you purchase the unit. Meanwhile, the reporting could’ve included more facts about this space. For instance, this is a “new” condo? Is it from a new building, or newly remodeled? And if it’s a new building, what are the other units going for? Why does this unit get a private roof garden? Do all the units? Is parking included? All of that said, this unit seems slightly over-priced, like you’re paying for the fancy fixtures, rather than square footage, which would be a much more enduring, sound investment.
Looks like a good addition to the neighborhood.
After they sell, perhaps you can do a follow up story on the new homeowners. My bet is that most of them are smart and hardworking. Hopefully they will contribute to the community.
Hideous looking. and the materials look cheaper than Ikea.