The vacant parcel at 325 Fremont Street has been listed for sale at $15 million in SoMa, San Francisco. The small 0.15-acre property was previously approved eight years ago for a 25-story residential tower with over a hundred units. Z&L Properties was responsible for the application and is listed as the property owner.
325 Fremont Street, image via Google Street View
Z&L Properies is a Chinese-based developer with projects in San Francisco and San Jose. The firm has been mired in serious allegations culminating in the arrest of the company founder, Zhang Li, in 2022. Li’s warrant alleges a scheme for bribing public officials and kickbacks for projects in San Francisco. The entrepreneur was arrested in London and subsequently released on bail of £15 million.
Plans for the site started 13 years ago, back in 2012, with city approval granted in 2017. The entitlements allow for a 25-story tower with 118 apartments, parking for 41 cars, storage for 106 bicycles, and common open space. Handel Architects was responsible for the design, and initially, the developer was Crescent Heights.
325 Fremont Street front view, rendering by Handel Architects
Public records show the property last sold in 2015 for $28.5 million.
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The land was bought for $28 million and for sale ten years later for $15 million? Yikes! Hopefully someone can pick up the land with the related approvals and move forward. That is a small site and would be nice to fill it in. the area is different now with the three large projects open and occupied on Folsom just north of there.
Bear in mind that the big inflation happened during that period. Adjusting for inflation, it fell from $40m to $15m.
I hope they still put a 25-story tower there. The numbers might not work out with condo prices having dropped by 30% or more in that area. They may have to scale back the project a bit, unfortunately. From what I understand, the price per square foot increases exponentially, but gradually at first, once a building reaches 10 stories high.
The key sentence was: The…property was previously approved eight years ago for a 25-story residential tower with over a hundred units.
The developer had an approved project EIGHT YEARS AGO and didn’t proceed to break ground! They could have been done with construction before the pandemic had they requested the necessary permits concurrently with their planning proposal and begun the project in due course. And now, ten years later, they are selling the entitled project. Think about that.
It wasn’t delayed due to San Francisco’s supposed arduous planning process. It wasn’t delayed due to the political power of organized incumbent homeowners coming to the dias at Planning Commission meetings, pounding the table saying “don’t build a 25-story tower in my back yard.”
It was delayed due to the developer’s own lethargy and inability to proceeed with necessary haste. This is why we have a housing crisis.