What $2,800 rents you in San Francisco right now

Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a regular column exploring what you can rent for a set dollar amount in different neighborhoods. Is one person's studio is another person's townhouse? Today's price: $2,800.

↑ Change is in the air at 570 Jessie in SoMa, and not just because it’s a new building. Last time this place popped up on Comparisons less than two weeks ago the advertised price was $3,750/month for a one bed, one bath apartment in the designer Handel Architects-helmed building. This week, all of sudden, new ads pop up with a whopping discount down to $2,850/month. Is it a scam? Leasing agent Kory Powell-McCoy tells Curbed SF no. “We decided to do a little restructuring of the pricing to get things moving,” says Powell-McCoy. At last, rents are really dropping in San Francisco, at least on this one block. Note that this new ad refers to studios instead of single-beds, though, and that the featured photos are of “typical units” rather than the specific one offered. Pets permitted.

↑ Speaking of new construction, homes at and around the Shipyard in Bayview continue to pop up at every price point. In this case, $2,800/month nets a one bed and one bath apartment on Donahue Street. Hunters Point still has ways to go before it enjoys SoMa-level demand (although it’s interesting that these two buildings are now price peers), but the ad plays up the upside in the neighborhood by noting its proximity to new parks and shuttle buses nearby. Pets are allowed here too; however, the ad specifically notes “smaller pets welcome.” Great Dane owners continue to struggle in this market.

↑ And rounding out a trio of shiny new buildings fresh out of the wrappers and jostling for tenants, a freshly completed studio (just 420 square feet and change) in Dogpatch at 2660 Third Street. The ad plays up Dogpatch as “a neighborhood that once built ships and now builds crab bennies” before dangling the quartz counters, Berber carpets, and “wood-like floors” (a phrase that might need a rewrite or) in front of apartment hunters. They’re also offering up to two months free and puts on the charm saying “we love our four-legged friends.” This little place is $2,800/month too, and once again these photos are of “typical units” rather than this one.

↑ But renters who still prefer things the old-fashioned way may gravitate towards this Hayes Valley Edwardian on Fell. It’s offering an 800-square-foot junior one-bed apartment for $2,700/month. As far as old construction goes this one is as old as they come, or so we can imagine; predating the 1906 earthquake leaves its original build date a mystery. Note the vessel sink and old school wood stove. This ad doesn’t mention pets.

↑ And for a building still sporting genuine class after all these years, this “set of brick and stucco twin buildings” on Stanyan Street in the Haight just right on the corner where the panhandle meets the park and its tiny one-tree courtyard from 1928 fits the bill. A one-bed, one-bath apartment with the bay windows and the alcove kitchen is $2,800/month, but “sorry, no pets.” Still can’t have it all, at least not for renters.