What $3,900 rents 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 another person’s townhouse? Today’s price: $3,900.

Via Craigslist

Mint Plaza remains a favorite for newfangled SoMa lofts and condos—and 6 Mint Plaza is a favorite among favorites by virtue of its historic design and former life as a fire station. A unit inside the old building, a one-bed, one-bath, 600-square-foot loft, is on the market for $3,895 per month. That includes “gourmet kitchen with Thermador appliances,” granite counters, and “high-gloss acid-stained cement floors” as part of the package. The ad does not specify if the lease allows pets, but it does mention a dog run as one of the building amenities. Notice the frosted glass separating the sleeping area—just barely a separate room unto itself and verging on being a junior bedroom—from the rest of the unit.

Via Craigslist

According to Hauser Architects, the firm in charge of this building’s renovation, the Stagehouse Lofts on Tenth Street in SoMa started out in 1924 as “a stage scenery factory for its original tenant, Herbert L. Rothchild Entertainment” that was “intended to serve the Rothchild chain of movie theaters.” The building served innumerable businesses up until 1998 when Hauser helped convert the old building into 18 “high luxury lofts.” One of those lofts is on the rental market: a one-bed, one-bath unit on the top floor. It measures 875 square feet but also comes with “a private-use, 350-square-foot roof deck” to sweeten the deal. Whereas Mint Plaza strains to look authentically industrial, the ’90s design here feels more natural with its the concrete and rough finishes of the original building. The $3,900 per month rent is rough on its own, but the deal does soften the landing by allowing pets.

Via Craigslist

The building at 2070 Pacific Avenue in Pac Heights also dates to 1927 and appeals to renters with similar language, promising “luxury” and a “well-maintained building” with this one-bed, one-bath apartment on the fourth floor. But the order of the day here is the “elegance” of the antique building, with its “high ceilings and crown molding,” “separate dining room with hardwood floors.” Note that renters who want a parking space will have to add an extra $250 onto the $3,895 per month rent—extra luxuries don’t come cheap. Speaking of which, no pets are allowed. Alas, money can’t buy everything after all.

Here’s a “newly remodeled” three-bed, one-bath house in the Outer Sunset—the very Outer Sunset, in fact, all the way out at 45th Avenue and Kirkham—which packs in roughly 900 square feet. Coincidentally, this building also dates to 1927, but it’s hard to say when the advertised remodel occurred, as the Department of Building Inspection doesn’t have permits for it. In any case, it’s $3,800 per month and no pets allowed.

Via Craigslist

The last offering lies in Noe Valley, advertised as “hard to find [...] in this design” and “a rare find as a one-bedroom apartment, tucked away up the hill surrounded by lush greenery” near Diamond and 22nd Street. The one-bed, one-bath, 1,000-square-foot home includes “preserved oak floors” with a “raised oak platform” in the living room and “a very spacious and open floor plan with a formal dining room off the kitchen.” That all adds up to $3,880 per month in this neighborhood, but it doesn’t say whether or not renters may being pets along.