In the relentless search for free booze, food and valet parking, we found ourselves at 1 Rincon Hill last night. Actually, we were invited. White wine, San Pellegrino, and a cocktail created especially for the occasion, the Gincon. Hors d'oeuvres: scarce. More than one person remarked they'd been hoping to make it dinner; no luck there.
We were there not to nosh, we were there to buy apartments. Well, some of us. Most importantly, people there were buying apartments. None of that lining up on the sidewalk the night before, either. It may have been a big crowd, but this was commerce with comfy chairs and waiters.
The model (sneaky snapshot above) was in twilight mode. With literally wrapped-around views, you got the odd feeling of being in a diorama at the Museum of Natural History but without the stuffed Eskimos and with much nicer furniture. And at first the condo seemed small until we realized there would never be that many well-dressed strangers crowded into ours, ever. High ceilings, big bathrooms, handsome open kitchen, floor to ceiling vertigo-inducing views. Or in this case, imagined vertigo, looking down onto the Bay Bridge.
Favorite sales center device: touchscreens. Chose the unit's size and orientation, view the floorplan, and see the view from each window. Great stuff, alas, not on the website. So far, sales are open for the taller of the project's two towers.
[Update: The Chronicle took an odd slam at 1 Rincon Hill, linking it the flight of the working class and the lack of affordable housing. If anything, spectacular projects like this will turn places like The Beacon into "affordable housing."]
· One Rincon Hill
· City's Skyline Moving Upscale [SF Gate]