The top four floors (28, 29, 30, and 31) of San Francisco Tower are considered "penthouse" floors. The six or seven units there are subject to a much higher per-foot HOA (3x approximately) than the other floors. Consequently, several penthouse units have been abandoned to the building and are currently empty. Two units are owned by a businessman who had negotiated a life-interest reduction in his HOA during initial construction -- he is in his late 80s, however.kenrbnj wrote: ↑Mon Aug 05, 2019 8:41 am>> These HOA fees are comparable to those paid by folks in South Florida; living in high rise developments (ask how I know..) The hidden expenses of these residences are that residents are paying for commons areas, which include the elevators (big money), roof and window maintenance, parking garages, etc.beautyfromashes wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 8:55 am
I was looking at the penthouse in SF Tower a few years ago. Amazing space, huge deck overlooking DT and Liberty Memorial. Modern kitchen. Started at $1.5m and literally got down to $50k. Confused until I saw that the HOA fees were $10k/month.
I too looked at the San-Fran-Tower and had been put-off by the HOA levels.
My suspicion is that the infrastructure maintenance of Crown Center would have been diluted by more residents; had the other children of San-Fran tower materialized. There had once been an architectural model containing three total high-rise towers.
Only one other penthouse is occupied, IIRC, and current in paying the high HOA.
The trustees tried recently (like last month) to amend the building bylaws so that they might sell these abandoned units. Amendments require 80% of owners to consent -- a high hurdle. The amendment fell just short, so these units will likely remain empty. No one wants a five-figure monthly HOA.
The HOAs on the lower floors are not insane -- they are fairly standard for a doorman high-rise with full amenities (pool, parking, tennis, landscaping). If anything, Crown Center Redevelopment subsidizes the costs of SFT and Santa Fe Place -- security, some common maintenance, the private corridor to Halls, etc., etc.