[The pretty stuff]
We'll be curious to see the sales reports following this past Saturday's champagne-soaked opening reception at One South Park, a retrofitted former tobacco warehouse now home to 35 new not-so-humble abodes. In an precious "value add," prospective buyers (or gawkers, such as ourselves) were plied with said bubbly, beer, passed hor d'oeuvres, and a truffle or two— just enough to inspire a spot of giddiness in the shopper. While at times we surrender these developments to the wolves our reader's analysis, we're always keen to (and wary of) the marketing shill; this time around, we feel the urge to share our observations with you. As we (sometimes) strive for a kernel of impartiality here on Curbed SF, let's go pro/ con with this one, beginning with the niceties. And for those of you who were there (and were sober enough to remember), agree? Disagree?
One South Park: Pros
1) Historical building: ceilings, supports, and many original windows preserved— lends an air of industrial grittiness to what could otherwise be read as an overly-modern and/ or machined space. Some buyers might feel like bad asses for living with exposed cement walls.
2) Quality kitchen appliances: Studio Becker cabinetry , Bosch stainless steel. No white IKEA-like crap in sight.
3) Light-filled spaces toward the rear of most units. Fairly generous exterior patios.
4) Several units sported truly economical and thus, actually useful floor plans (we were especially struck by units 208, 209, 305, 311.
5) Decent neighborhood (read: across the street from Jeremy's)
[From top left: Budget bathroom; mini-light; window to your neighbors; exposed boxes; useless spaces]
One South Park: Cons
1) Bathrooms are an absolute nightmare (we're talking all of them). Sloppy tile work, messy edges, poor choice of materials/ finishes, lighting. Think: Holiday Inn.
2) Atrocious carpeting; quasi-industrial feeling, office-like grey pattern. The courtyard-facing rooms receive less light to begin with, and are thus rendered more cave-like by the color.
3) Lighting— sparse, proportionally incorrect, very IKEA-like.
4) Several floor plans are truly illogical. For instance, unit 204 devotes too much space to extra-large bathrooms, and not enough to bedrooms. This 3 bedroom unit also lacks storage space save inside the bedrooms. Corners are often awkward with, say, a 2 foot wide nook between a closet and a wall. Why not simply extend the storage?
5) The courtyard remains suspect; it's is very cold due to the height of the building (i.e. lack of light). The design might minimize rain (we couldn't tell as the weather was SF-perfect), though we couldn't find any drainage on the ground level.
6) Exposed electrical boxes. Need we say more?
Overall, we suggest that buyers bring their headlamps and magnifying glasses when scrutinizing these spaces, as they range from the low $600's for 1 bedrooms, and sky rocket up to $1, 995, 00 for penthouses, some of which are better than others.
Love a good home tour!