Historic Lighthouse Lofts Units Hit the Market in San Francisco

,SFGATE Contributor Anna Marie Erwert

Three units in the Lighthouse Lofts at 1097 Howard St. in San Francisco, originally the 1924 Blindcraft Building, are listed for $3.2 million.

In a historic, landmarked building in San Francisco’s SoMa District, this loft property offers three separate units, each with jaw-dropping views and 13-foot ceilings. The units make up a single listing, a sprawling space owned by a San Francisco pioneer in the tech and real estate industries. After a decade of creating his unusual home, a local mogul is selling 1097 Howard St. #201, #202 and #203 for $3.2 million.

This mega-loft didn’t start out as a 3,644-square-foot residence. Its current owner and seller is Mark Choey, co-founder of indie real estate brokerage Climb Real Estate (which was acquired by Anywhere Real Estate Inc., formerly Realogy, in 2016) and founder of Highnote, an award-winning real estate tech product.

According to co-listing agent Chris Lim, who is also one of the original founders of Climb but is now with Christie’s International Real Estate, the Choey family first “purchased the corner loft — two combined units — for an undisclosed amount. As their family needs grew, they acquired the adjacent loft in 2018 to expand their living space,” with an eye for creating a modern home that would serve for both living and working. 

With concrete and epoxy floors, huge windows and industrial design, lofts 201 and 202 span a combined 2,633 square feet, “offering 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, an enclosed office, and nooks for workstations,” to quote the official listing. Meanwhile, loft 203, at 1,056 square feet, features one bedroom and one bathroom, as well as a high-end kitchen.

These spaces are true lofts, with ground-floor rooms flowing together in an open floor plan, and flexible upper-level nooks serving as offices, bedrooms and music studios. The residence also comes with three parking spaces and access to the building’s rooftop deck. The total homeowners association fee for the three units is $2,714.80, as they are considered a single home. 

This home occupies a large corner of the Lighthouse Lofts building, a historical landmark structure that was converted to lofts in 1998. The building, with its classic early 20th-century facade and Gothic-inspired terracotta entrance, has been designated a Category III contributory landmark.

San Francisco Planning explains that Category III buildings are “rated ‘very good’ in architectural quality” and “located outside of conservation districts.”

According to Lighthouse News, the building was originally constructed as the Blindcraft Building, the land and building a donation of the Samuel H. Cowell family. The Blindcraft Building, circa 1924, was built to serve blind Bay Area residents, as well as blind World War I veterans coming home from war and the large increase in people moving to the area. The Association for the Blind had outgrown several previous San Francisco locations and was in need of a substantial operating base. 

At 1097 Howard St., the Association for the Blind sought “to meet the employment and social needs of the hundreds of blind” and also to offer training in valuable skills. The term “Blindcraft” referred to items crafted by the blind. “In addition to making baskets, the Association fulfilled government contracts, including splicing and tying knots in rope for the use of ships at the rapidly growing ports in the Bay,” wrote Lighthouse News. 

Today, the Lighthouse Lofts serve a different purpose: housing some of the city’s most innovative illuminati. Co-listing agent Michelle Balog (founding member of Christie’s International Real Estate, formerly of Climb) told SFGATE in an email that along with Choey, “famous occupants include Michael and Xochi Birch founders of Bebo and The Battery, who owned a three-loft unit in the building, as well as acclaimed painter and sculptor, Klari Reis.”

The location and the view, as well as the colossal dimensions that allow for over-the-top entertaining, are undoubtedly a draw for these iconic San Francisco residents. Indeed, Choey told SFGATE, he hosted many parties in this loft. “We would gather to watch the costumed runners of Bay to Breakers run past on Howard Street,” Choey wrote in an email. 

As Choey’s unit is on a corner, it enjoys myriad walls of windows overlooking the city. “Part of what makes this home extraordinary is that it is a corner unit with extra-large windows, so it gets incredible sun all day long,” said co-listing agent Chris Lim of Christie’s International Real Estate in an email. “It’s a very welcoming space and visitors always remark on how open and airy it feels.”

Choey agreed that the cinematic quality of the loft has always been a favorite feature. “The first owner of the unit, when it was converted to condos, was a photographer, and he used the main space as his photography studio. The current office was his dark room,” Choey said. “He was the one who left the ficus plant, which has now grown several feet tall and is a permanent resident in the unit.”

This property hit the market in mid-November. If it sells at its current asking price, it would fetch $878 per square foot, almost $100 higher than the current median price.