Millennium Tower penthouse asks $8.9 million

It’s a busy day at Millennium Tower: First we confirm the first post-sinkage sale (for a half million dollar profit, no less), and now the San Francisco Chronicle’s Matier and Ross point out that one of the luxe-beyond-luxe penthouses in the building is on the market, asking more than $8.9 million.

Strange as it sounds, that’s arguably a conservative sum: The unit last sold for $8.1 million just over a year ago, making this a modest markup on a centerpiece condo near the top of what is, for better or worse, presently the city’s most famous and notable building.

While other homeowners have slashed prices on Millennium Tower condos, packed up and delisted entirely, or even sold at a loss in private deals not publicly listed, the owner of PH1A (Karen Valladao, a partner at a Palo Alto accounting office) seems to be opting for the "Keep calm and carry on" approach.

Which makes a kind of sense: After all, it’s not as if she loses anything for listing at a big price and testing the waters. While worries about the building’s tilting ways have clearly hurt most of her neighbor’s prospects, it’s always possible that the allure of the penthouses will weather the present furor better.

(Besides, if someone downstairs managed to turn a half million dollar profit despite the news, why not roll the dice?)

It’s a two-bedroom place, although the ad notes that the library could serve as a third bedroom if needed. Valladao was not one of the 163 homeowners appealing the value of their condos; the city previously assessed the penthouse at a price of over $4.1 million, and Valladao apparently feels that’s still more or less fair.

• Penthouse Price Defies Gravity [Chronicle]
• First Millennium Tower Condo Sells [Curbed SF]
• Millennium Sellers Cut Prices Or Vanish [Curbed SF]
• Millennium Tower, PH1A [GPK]