What $3,700 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: $3,700.

Glory be, the days of baroque lobbies in San Francisco apartment buildings! Apartment renting doesn’t usually offer the same capacity for gorgeous interiors that a single-family home does, but the entryways on classic SF buildings are singular artifacts that deserve more love—especially in the case of this Marina marvel on Fillmore Street from 1932. The apartment on the line here is a one-bed, one-bath unit advertising hardwood floors, double-pane windows, and a formal living and dining room. The price is a hefty $3,695 per month, but the building is rent-controlled (another artifact of old SF buildings, one that does get the attention it deserves), and the lease allows for cats and dogs.

New construction in SF doesn’t have quite the same grandeur of older building stock (or, for that matter, rent control), but for some renters a new building is a perk unto itself, particularly in an upscale neighborhood like the East Cut, a designation that is itself a new addition to the city. The Bridgeview building on Beale Street is actually showing its age compared to its neighbors—dating to 2002—but perhaps that qualifies it as an early adapter to the neighborhood, and the marketing stroke of naming the building after its view of the Bay Bridge remains timely. Here a one-bed, one-bath, top-floor condo asks the very non-2002 price of $3,650 per month, parking for one included, but no room for pets.

Russian Hill is an old neighborhood and this building on Filbert Street dates to 1927. But the home for rent promises a “sleek and modern” look, the product of a recent renovation that now boasts white cabinets, quartz counters, and oh-so popular barn doors. Nevery room in this one-bed, one-bath setup is all gray-painted hardwood floors and white interiors, the one true design hallmark of San Francisco condo and apartment living in the 21st century. The one modern monetary hallmark is paying $3,695 per month, although the building still retains two entirely classic perks: it’s rent controlled, and it allows pets.

If the extreme angle on the photos of this SoMa loft and the tagline of a “rare conversion loft gem in historic lighthouse” seem familiar, that’s because this very apartment appeared on Comparisons before. In fact, that previous ad posted over two years ago now. Not much has changed since then—the photos and marketing language are identical—but the price jumped up $200 from then to $3,700 now. The place is still quite the looker, a one-bed, one-and-a-half-bath loft with towering ceilings and windows (17 feet) held together with and hard-nosed but scrubbed concrete and stainless steel. This loft previously allowed tenants to keep cats, but the new listing makes no mention of pets.

Last up, this condo on the very northernmost corner of Cow Hollow tells potential renters that it offers “luxury living” in a brand new one bed, one bath unit with 800 square feet, hardwood floors, radiant heating, and the promise that it’s like living in a “luxury hotel” (which is quite something given the state of the hotel industry about now). Pets are allowed here too; it’s $3,700 per month.