Transformation of the derelict, graffiti-covered and vandalized Public Health Service Hospital into the Presidio Landmark has taken four years, and the old dear is finally buffed, polished, and ready for her closeup. Curbed SF has been watching all along, and yesterday, developer Forest City treated us to a private preview before the first of the events planned this week. There's been some serious nipping and tucking going on here, not to mention some liposuction.
Let's get one thing out of the way: this is luxury rental housing. There is no low-income component. It's immediately north of the quietly swank "North of Lake" neighborhood and there's nothing "budget" about it. Inside, there are two interior "themes", one grey-green with Jenn-Air kitchen appliances and gas ranges, one pale yellow with KitchenAid appliances and electric ranges. Stacked washer-dryers, with full-sized machines in a basement laundry room at no charge. The building's original six-over-six sash windows have been rehabilitated and fitted with screens while in the new wing the windows are floor-to-ceiling. The ceilings? Twelve feet high. Apartment sizes range from junior one-bedrooms at 400 square feet to three-bedroom townhouses, from the low-$2000's and up. The list goes on- from the attended front door to a private dining room with catering kitchen, private wine cellars, private massage room, a gym with an adjoining Pilates and yoga studio. "Smart" key fobs! Parking is extra. (We forgot to ask about pets.)
Target tenants? Empty-nesters, the well-off and the well-divorced who can't/won't leave the Richmond/Sea Cliff area. In the larger scheme of the park, the Presidio Landmark is one component of the ongoing redevelopment of the Presidio's Public Health Service District. Neighborhood residents are still concerned about the increase (probably double) in population that adaptive reuse will bring to this corner of the Presidio. And it's not exactly a walkable neighborhood. Hikeable, jogable? Yes, for miles. Scale? Basically, you drive up to a wide and austere building in a park, like someone had plucked the Huntington Hotel from Nob Hill and set it down in a field overlooking the Richmond from Lone Mountain to Sea Cliff. Odd, but exhilarating.
· Presidio Landmark [Forest City]
· Planning the Presidio [Curbed SF]
· Hospital-Apartments dubbed Presidio Landmark Coming this Summer [Curbed SF]
· Abandoned Hospital (Presidio, San Francisco) - PHSH [Tristan Savatier]
· Public Health Service District [Presidio Trust]
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