It appears that my beloved neighborhood ruin of 907 Post Street is on the market for $700,000 (which can buy you a town in other places). I love this place as I’ve mentioned before and (prior to Jane Kim appearing to have won D6) if my lottery-winning plans were actually working, I would have swooped it up, restored it, and opened a proper co-working/office space on the second floor with cafe on the first.
Alas, I do not have this kind of money and it appears that the owner (who according to records lives in Ashbury Heights) does not either. It could also be the case that the owner is looking to make a tidy profit on the sale given that the last price paid for it in February of 2000 was $224,000.
Let’s be honest though, it needs a lot of work. It was heavily damaged in 1994 by an explosion (oh how I yearn for those distant days when the Chronicle had actual news). I’m going to guess that it would also need seismic retrofitting as well. And once Chris Daly II takes office in January, any new owner would probably be forced to have a needle exchange program in the corner of whatever commercial space they would try to open there.
There are a lot of loose ends when it comes to what can be done with the building though as the records have a variety of blanks spots, such as the date of original construction. I’ve read that it’s historic and thus can’t be torn down, which would be dandy good if true. Of course, you never know what could happen and given that the lot is designated to allow buildings up to 80 feet tall and with a 1,224 square foot lot size, I’m sure, given the amount of work that the building needs, a developer would happily demolish it to build modern condos on the space with parking entry on Meacham Alley like 645 and 647 Hyde have.
We’ll see what actually happens to this building. Nothing is selling terribly fast in the current real estate market, so I’m sure it will get to rot a bit more before getting picked up and headed in to a foggy future.
20 Comments until now
I have a hammer here somewhere…
Just need the almost 3/4s of a million bucks…surely someone has that lying around.
Did you look under the sofa cushions?
There is so much misleading and inaccurate information in this article. I wish I had two hours to correct all the errors.
Jak, I’m not a licensed realtor nor a member of the SF Planning commission staff and make no allusion to being such so I only know a smattering of things from what I’ve picked up in passing.
Instead of just saying, “this is wrong!”, how about clarifying things for our readers if you feel that it’s important enough to point it out?
First, did we seriously end up with Jane Kim? EH GADS! RUN AWAY. Holy fuck this place with a broomstick.
Secondly, how is that derelict, run-down building in any way shape or form historic? If it’s historic, isn’t it required by law to be kept up? Yes, that’s the case. So no, this place isn’t historic.
Easy solution. Cook some meth in there and have it blow up. The structure might come down if the stuff is next to the right pillar, and secondly everything will be contaminated beyond cleaning. Done and done. I’m a problem solver.
Also, nothing wrong with owning a condo. People who directly pay property taxes are very sensitive to the services and quality of life around their property.
Yes yes, renters indirectly pay property tax — but at a disproportionate rate from one another due to rent control in SF.
Yup, Jane Kim won. And from now on district 6 will now be called district 3.2! All hail willi browns minions! Pssshhhh 6000 a year my arse!
Scurvy, agreed. What any neighborhood needs to stabilize are folks with a vested interest in it, thus those who own their home. It’s just unfortunate when the cost of having owners in a neighborhood comes at the price of demolishing the buildings that make the area desirable in the first place.
I just checked out the inside. The inside is totally destroyed. Fire, smoke and water damage, huge holes in the second floor and it didn’t look safe enough to check the basement. The walls are concrete and it is otherwise a beautiful building. It just needs to be gutted and rebuilt. This is an awesome opportunity for the right person.
How did you check out the inside? Or… maybe we’re better off not knowing?
I made an appointment with the agent
If you’ve got any shots you feel like sharing, toss them in the pool, although it’s probably not the most amazing inside.
It was too dark in there to take pics with my phone. I have about 14 seconds of creepy footage- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-_RYMXuPM8
907 Post was built in 1919, designer and contractor unknown.
@scurvy The structure is in fact an historic building listed in the inventory for the Lower Nob Hill Apartment Hotel Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places.
If you want to make a negligent owner take care of his property, file a complaint with DBI.
Over and out . . .
I think you have a responsibility not to diss a needle exchange in the midst of an epidemic. The needle exchange is on Hemlock Alley between Van Ness and Polk for two hours 7-9pm on Thursdays. The needle exchange is there because that’s where the shooters were, and they go where there’s a population in need for the supplies.
If you have questions or concerns about needle exchanging, just ask, but don’t slam a successfully run public health policy in action, out of ignorance.
DBI knows about this building.
My issue with needle exchanges, methadone clinics, and just about everything else in regards to the treatment of illicit narcotic in this country is that it’s all approached in a bandaid model wherein the core of the problem is not addressed (ie a path to treatment).
I would be thoroughly happy to have a needle exchange, soup kitchen, or just about any other outreach program in the first floor of my apartment building if the goal was to actually solve the real problem and not just keep it in a state where it’s tolerable to voters, liberal and conservative alike.
humin nails it.
I would also be more tolerant of needle exchanges and the like if they were to service folks from San Francisco or folks who lived productively in San Francisco for some period of time before succumbing to drug addiction.
I am not so into having San Francisco deal with every other town’s drug problem. Junkies from Tulsa and Topeka need to be taken care of by Tulsa and Topeka.
I live diagonally across the street and have always loved this building as well. fingers crossed that someone snags it and decides to restore it to it’s original glory and do the office/cafe thing. it sure would brighten up this block.
I would love to make it an office too.
I heard it used to be an Indian Restaurant at some point way back when.
In 2005 – the owner hired KOTAS PANTALEONI Architects to add 6 stories / 6 residential units with commercial space at ground floor.
I can’t imagine that they would have done justice to this building – since their m.o. is to turn everything into loony tunes caricatures of buildings in general.
Obviously – the Planning Dept. said NO.
I have a hard time believing the square footage they’re quoting for the real estate listing (3636 s.f.).
The lot is only 36′ x 34′& the building is only 2 stories – so it can’t be more than 2448 s.f.
I hope something it becomes a cafe on the ground floor. it would be nice to have some vigilance on that corner.
david overdorf strikes again! someone said they were ready to put a bar in here and this guy told them he would fight it so they gave up.