What $2,300 rents you in SF 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: $2,300.

Millionaires built Nob Hill, but these days it’s home to some of San Francisco’s most stylish yet economical homes—a true story of upward mobility since the days of the Comstock Lode. In this very typical example we have a “very large studio apartment located in a classic San Francisco building”—classic in this case meaning the city dates the six-story California Street building to 1924. The studio is on the second floor, and the leasing agent brags of its “great floor plan” but doesn’t provide specifics about how large this supposedly large studio is. Nor does the ad say anything about pets—but the one thing that it’s very specific about is the price, in this case $2,300 per month.

If this completely baffling looking live/work warehouse on Bayshore Boulevard looks familiar, it’s because it appeared on Comparisons once before, relatively recently. Here it’s undergone a price cut of a couple hundred dollars, down to $2,300 per month, which qualifies it for a second look. Readers gave it a firm thumbs down the first time, but maybe a discount will be enough to push it to a win? If nothing else, it’s certainly one of a kind, a “quiet space in a supportive community” for creative types, measuring 785 square feet with ceilings up to 14 feet. The owners still haven’t relaxed the pet ban, though.

Speaking of familiarity, this red and black Fell Street building in Hayes Valley also appeared in the very same aforementioned Comparisons column that sported the previous entry. It returns today with another one of its signature brick-clad studios for $2,300 per month. It measures 360 square feet with start white walls paired with crimson brick walls, refinished hardwood floor, and a “spa-like bathroom.” The biggest pampering you’ll get here: The building allows pets.

San Francisco renters have particular standards, and if there’s anyone out there whose standards include an exceptionally deep walk-in closet, have we have the apartment for you. Wander any further back into the storage space in this studio in Pac Heights, located on Sacramento Street and facing Lafayette Park, and you’ll be hanging your coat in Narnia. The corner unit here is $2,300 per month in this dignified 1924 building. The ad does mention that the photos here are of a “typical unit” and not necessarily the unit in question. No pets allowed, sadly.

Last up, in the Inner Richmond a low, brown brick building on Geary offers a one-bed, one-bath apartment with skylight, crow moldings, new kitchen, bathroom, and floor. It also promises an “easy commute to Marin”—in happier times. No mention about pets. It runs $2,245 per month.