A buyer snagged a massive lot for just $250 in one of America’s most expensive cities, but the site comes with a big catch: it’s underwater.
Hopeful investors in San Francisco, where housing costs rank among the most expensive in the country, bought multiple submerged parcels at a Tuesday auction, each selling for less than $1,000, according to ABC7.
One buyer grabbed a 5,000sq ft lot for only $250 near Candlestick Point, a striking anomaly in a city’s market that is dominated by multimillion-dollar homes.
The property, listed on Zillow as 0 Bancroft Avenue, Lot 17, consists of little more than nearly a quarter-acre of seabed.
The unusual investments have sparked confusion, with some calling the purchases impractical and others saying it is worth a gamble.
Historian Chris Carlsson, who wrote Hidden San Francisco, a book about the history of the city, said in the long run it could pay off but warned it would not be without getting through a lot of red tape.
He explained to ABC7 that parts of the city were once underwater and then filled in, however he noted that the process would be far more difficult today due to legal and environmental barriers.
‘It’s just not going to happen. I mean really everybody gave up on that a long time ago and really for good reason. We now today enjoy the shoreline. We never could stand here decades past,’ said Carlsson.
San Francisco is one of America’s most expensive cities to buy property. The latest lots at auction for as cheap as $250 have caused a stir
A buyer snagged a massive lot for just $250 near Candlestick Point (pictured) in San Francisco, but it is completely underwater
The lots were marketed as an ‘intriguing speculative investment,’ with potential for waterfront development, boat docking, environmental applications or even floating homes.
Marie Bradley, an executive administrator of Vantage Auctions that sold the lots, told SFGate there were even more options for use including ‘oil drilling.’
Sam Mitchell, a former San Francisco resident, called the idea ‘really stupid,’ according to ABC7.
‘Sea levels are rising so I don’t know why you’d buy land underwater, but you never know. Someone will figure it out,’ he said.
But Dr Koen Olthuis, CEO of Waterstudio, an architectural firm that makes floating homes, added that as long as the lot isn’t in open sea, it is ‘absolutely possible’ to build a neighborhood on the water.
He explained that you don’t necessarily need solid ground if the water is calm and protected, such as in bays, rivers, canals, lakes or flood-prone zones.
These areas offer the potential for engineers to install floating foundations that can support structures built on top of them.
Olthuis said floating homes could present an innovative housing alternative, though warned that regulatory and permitting barriers would likely stand in the way.
Another view of Candlestick Point where one of the lots is situated
Sam Mitchell, a former San Francisco resident, blasted the idea of selling the underwater lots as ‘really stupid,’ citing rising sea levels
Don Cruz Datanagan, the managing director for Serhant’s Northern California office agreed that snapping up such a lot is all part of the gamble.
‘Some buyers may view parcels like this as inexpensive long term bets on future San Francisco waterfront value,’ he told SFGate.
But he warned: ‘Ownership alone would not automatically create meaningful development rights or usable waterfront access.’
With the average home in San Francisco selling for a whopping $1,369,171 according to Zillow then the buyers could see a huge return in future if they ever eventually can build on the sites.
