The “It” buildings in each of The Real Deal’s markets are condo developments that typify the moment in their regions, according to brokers, insiders and our reporters’ carefully honed instincts. You can read the full series here.
JS Sullivan’s Steve Const knew pretty quickly that the San Francisco-based developer had a hit on its hands with Maison Pacific, a six-story 53-unit condo project in Russian Hill that came to market in the fall of 2023 and sold out in a year.
“There’s always some early testing that we’ll do and response was strong out of the gate,” he said. “It was off to the races as soon as we released some units.”
Maison Pacific sold at least four times faster than most other condo projects in San Francisco, according to Polaris Pacific data — more than four units per month, on average.
“I wish we had 100 Maison Pacifics in our future, and 100 locations that are as unique and desirable as Russian Hill,” Const said.
In fact, the three San Francisco condo buildings that sold out in 2024 — Maison Pacific, TRI Pointe Home’s Lofton at Portola and Prado Group’s 2238 Market — were all outside of downtown, according to Polaris Pacific. District 9, which includes downtown neighborhoods like SoMa, South Beach and the East Cut, has the majority of new construction moving forward in the city but has suffered from the impacts of remote work and negative perceptions surrounding street conditions and safety.
“They’re really different marketplaces,” Const said. “The way neighborhoods function outside of the downtown core it really feels pre-Covid, normal and bustling.”
Yet of the 273 condo units under construction in the city, almost all are downtown, according to Polaris Pacific.
In addition to the premier location, Const said the combination of quality design at an accessible price point with low HOA fees were key to the building’s success.
“We typically don’t have a glamorous exercise room or other bells and whistles, and that results in some access points that are really attractive,” he said.
There’s also almost no new product coming online outside of downtown in the near future, according to Polaris Pacific data. The only other project currently under construction in District 8, which includes Russian Hill, is JS Sullivan’s own 35-unit Norvoir, located across the street from Ghirardelli Square on the site of a former parking garage. Sales are set to kick off later this year and Const said there was already “a good amount of interest,” including from those who missed their shot at Maison Pacific.
“Maison Pacific was one of the better developments I’ve seen on the north side at that sort of price point in a long time,” Compass agent John Townsend said. March Capital’s luxury project, the Belvedere, a few blocks away on Van Ness, has also been attractive: Out of 28 units, 17 have sold since it came to market in January 2024, according to Polaris Pacific data.
Not being on a major corridor like Van Ness and instead on trendy Polk Street one block away was a “huge, huge benefit” to Maison Pacific, Townsend added. While the finishes “didn’t blow me out of the water,” as compared to a luxury product like the Belvedere, they are still nice, he said, and the building, including its rooftop deck, is oriented to take advantage of Russian Hill and Marina views.
Condo buyers don’t typically want to be downtown, he said, though there have been a few notable exceptions like the $11.25 million penthouse sale at Related’s the Avery in the East Cut. There’s not much he can offer his buyers that’s new outside of downtown, he said, so they mostly end up buying resales.
There are over 1,000 condo units approved on the city’s popular north side, according to Polaris Pacific, but other developers aren’t moving forward with their projects. Const said the possibility of neighborhood objections could be deterring developers who want more certainty — but that he had no easy answers.
“I think if I did, I would have the magic formula to save San Francisco,” he joked.