SF’s Clock Tower: home to lofts and those who love them…

Jenny Pisillo’s Eichler reverie brought to mind a living space design that could be considered a new-century modern cousin to the mid-century modern: the loft.  Like the Eichler, a loft space is designed to maximize light and space, showcasing an allegiance to clean, straight lines. Also like Eichelrs, lofts seem to inspire either adoration or derision, fervent emotions either way.

Lofts are decidedly urban in character. An Eichler you could find in the suburbs (cool suburbs, anyway) but a loft would be out of place without bright lights in the window, the buzz of city traffic and culture on the street outside. In some cases, again like Eichlers, lofts have been constructed for a middle-class buyer, generally as a  live/work space. But in the Bay Area, initial middle-class intentions can easily fall to the wayside when confronted by local estate values.

Of course, the Bay Area represents many different real estate micro-climates, so lofts in one part won’t be as pricey as lofts in another. San Francisco and Oakland offer two locations for illuminating comparison.

Though the more expensive of the two, in San Francisco you can (if you look hard) get a better deal than in past years on lofts, with many hitting the MLS at prices hundreds of thousands of dollars less than they were in 2007 and 2008. Here’s an example on Rausch- the unit sold for $800K in 2008, was listed in 2012 at $690K, and is now relisted at $660K. The interiors, exposed metal ceilings and cement, show as sexy and sleek to some, stark and depressingly industrial to others.

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60 Rausch loft for sale in SF

Main room. All photos via Redfin/MLS

Cement wall- love it or hate it?

Office with metal ceiling

Loft bath

Sweet shared roof deck

Going up in price, we find this loft in the Clock Tower on 2nd Street. This unit isn’t as cold as some lofts with its use of warm brick, honey-toned hard woods, and bright pops of color in kitchen and bath tiles. This one is listed at $899K, down from $949K in March of this year.

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461 2nd Street: Clock Tower Loft

Inside the main living area. Photos via Redfin/MLS

Dining area

Creative kitchen

Bed by the bricks

Sexy bath

Upstairs lounge area

Common garden space

Better deals, as per usual, are found in the East Bay. Oakland’s always converting some factory or another into arty looking lofts. This one is in the Pacific Cannery loft complex. We like it for its simple, clean layout that makes it feel much bigger than its 969 square feet.

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1201 Pine St., Oakland loft

Main room in loft

Loft kitchen

Stairs to upper-level

Loft bath

Loft closet, something these kinds of homes generally excel in

In the old Rossi Cigar Company building, here’s an  Oakland example we love, but again, the preponderance of unorganized open space might overwhelm some buyers who prefer a more structured layout. Price is now $299K, down from an original list of $340K.

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1411 Center St., Oakland loft for sale

Exterior (!). Photos via Redfin/MLS

Kitchen

Looking from kitchen to main room

Main room

Bedroom

The loft, unstaged– acres of space!

Clever kitchen, unstaged

So reader, post-tour, weigh in. Lofts:  modern gifts to urban living, or rectangles with delusions of grandeur?

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2012/05/08/love-them-or-hate-them-lofts-still-very-much-a-part-of-the-bay-area-market/