The Irony Is Strong With OneEleven

Hot on the heels of The Oak’s Instagram flub just a few weeks ago, another new(ish) condominium development is getting skewered on social media. This time, it’s a Facebook post calling OneEleven “perfectly situated in the heart of SoMa, close to many beloved SF companies like Twitter!”

We know real estate agents often hire marketing help that maybe isn’t sensitive to San Francisco’s unique market dynamics and cultural values. Maybe said help isn’t even based in the country. But this post… it’s just… SO. MUCH. WRONG. (Where’s the quality control?!)

Commenters didn’t hold back on getting their pound of flesh. At the time of writing this, most of the 20+ comments have been hidden by the account admin. However, we have the receipts below showing a select few criticisms.

There’s a lot to unpack here. So, let’s get into it… 

OneEleven is situated at 588 Minna Street, at the corner of Minna Street and 7th Street. Locals know 6th Street is one of San Francisco’s rougher stretches, especially the area around Mission Street (catercorner to the condo development). On a recent drive we took along the 500 block of Minna Street, which connects 6th and 7th Streets parallel to Mission Street, the place was rife with open drug use and homeless encampments. Like, literally right in front of OneEleven. We respect that the term “perfect” is subjective, but in this case it seems like a gross overreach to us, even on a good day. It’s certainly not perfect for the unhoused people there. Which brings us to the next point…

Twitter was the first major tech company to plant itself in the Mid-Market area and is *the* symbol of everything bad about the tech boom and the pain it inflicted.

Since it moved to town in 2012, Twitter has inspired scorn from San Franciscans who lived here long enough to know what the city was like before. Mere mention of the Twitter tax break may very well induce heightened blood pressure and fits of rage. Lest we forget, we can thank the not-so-dearly departed mayor Ed Lee for gifting Twitter and other big tech companies over $70 million in tax breaks to lure and retrain them, all while locals who’ve long paid their dues got the short end of the stick.

Backlash reached fever pitch by 2014. Just one of many actions in protest of techsploitation involved San Franciscans blocking Google buses (on their way to use publicly funded MUNI stops). Ballooning no-fault evictions by greedy landlords, record homelessness and an array of quality of life issues disproportionately took from the non-tech population. Add to that: city infrastructure falling apart (remember when our streets were called the worst in the nation?), a crisis of actually beloved small businesses being forced to shutter, and the overwhelmingly offensive stench of tech-bro douchebaggery.

Yeah, it’s still too soon.

Frankly, we’d be surprised if any San Franciscan with a pulse refers to Twitter as “beloved.” Do we even need to get into Twitter’s love affair with Donald Trump who used the platform in October 2019 to bash the city?

It’s the opposite of everything San Francisco stands for. *major eye roll*

None of this is ironic at face value… just tone-deaf. But here’s where it gets interesting.

It has to do with the name OneEleven (numerically 111). 111 is a so-called angel number. In numerology, it’s an auspicious number signifying that opportunities to achieve targets, goals and success are just around the corner and should be seized; move forward confidently toward new beginnings and nullify negative thought patterns with positive thinking. And so it’s almost comical how OneEleven just can’t seem to get it right. Missteps, missed opportunities and misfortune — far from inspiring confidence— leads one to wonder: What’s going on here? Here’s what we mean…

› OneEleven began offering sneak peek private tours to prospective home buyers in November 2019. At that time, it disclosed “insider pricing” beginning at $845,000. Then, days later, it announced pricing starting at $749,000.

 

› The following month, December 2019, sales officially commenced and social marketing efforts repeatedly mentioned $749,000 as the starting price for its Phase 1 offerings. Wait a minute. Insiders got duped into paying a premium?

 

› Then came the onset of the COVID pandemic and San Francisco’s Stay At Home Order in mid-March 2020. Content on OneEleven’s official Facebook and Instagram accounts came to a screeching halt. Not one post appears on Facebook from March 1 thru August 14, and on Instagram from March 1 thru October 13. Without a doubt, the local real estate market hit a speedbump and South of Market condos were especially impacted by the techxodus… but real estate was deemed an essential business and agents were definitely still putting deals together.

 

› By December 2020, the development is offering “limited-time pricing” for 1-bed homes starting at $599,000. Ouch! Apparently those homes sold quickly, however, because a February 22, 2021 Facebook post makes mention of new limited pricing at $799,000 amid the first move-ins.

 

› Only 6 of the 39 condos for sale at OneEleven had closed escrow by the end of Q1 2021, according to Compass’ New Development Market Insights published April 26, 2021 (pictured above). Sixteen months of sales and six units sold… that’s a glacial pace… bordering on dead in the water.

Selling these homes appears to have been anything but angelic and opportune (as 111 would suggest). More like hellish, and quite possibly cursed. Not many new beginnings to speak of — at least not any that are cause for achievement. In fact, we’d bet most agents in town have forgotten OneEleven is still selling (or trying).

Fast forward to June 2021, just as this current Facebook fail is going down, three listings are dumped on the SFAR MLS. All of them had previously been on the MLS. One had appeared back in March and languished for 80+ days, and the other two had come on the market in early May. On June 2, they all were moved to Hold status (meaning temporarily off market)… then, bam! They’re back yesterday.

We’ve spotted OneEleven circulating a Facebook ad citing “1BRs from $600Ks” — which is accurate and represents the offerings on the MLS.

And so it looks like this is (yet another) restart for OneEleven.

But with all this, and now that property showings have mostly returned to pre-pandemic business as usual, maybe… just maybe… the so, so wrong Facebook post is actually the punchline that finally gets people talking and units selling.

It’s ironic, don’t you think?

Exclusive buyer representation and private tours available > 415.715.9205 / oneeleven@vulcca.com