No one wants to buy this $6.5 million century-old church-turned luxe townhome once owned by a tech CEO in San Francisco - take a look inside
The Light House sits on the edge of Dolores Park, a sprawling space in San Francisco's Mission District frequented by a large majority of the city's young workforce on the weekends.
The building was built in 1915 and later housed a Christian Science church.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle and Zillow
It fell into disrepair over the course of the 20th century, and the historic structure was officially condemned in 2006 with demolition planned.
Source: SF Curbed
But then Siamak Akhavan, a local seismic engineer, saved it and bought it in 2011, spending the next four years renovating the century-old building into a collection of ultra-modern, luxe townhomes. The building was rebranded as The Light House.
Source: SF Curbed
Akhavan resides in the penthouse in the upper part of the former church. "He lives in the dome," Zimmermann said.
But there are three other condos carved out of the historic structure, each with an initial price tag of $6.5 million.
Source: SF Curbed
The 5,525-square-foot unit at 651 Dolores St. has 30-foot ceilings, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a two-car parking garage, and a washer and dryer across three levels.
Source: McGuire Real Estate
The space is stunning, with its historic brickwork, intact glass window panes, and modern finishes.
So in a cash-bloated city of tech millionaires, you'd think it wouldn't struggle to sell — but it did.
Back in 2016, Ryan Allis — the CEO of the networking community Hive Global — shelled out the asking price of $6.5 million for 651 Dolores St. in The Light House.
Source: SF Curbed
Allis planned on using his unit as a community center of sorts for Hive, where members could live, work, and host events that would charge for admission, which would help with the monthly $15,000 mortgages.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
But the church wasn't zoned for commercial use, only residential. So the city told him that charging for events in the space wasn't allowed, and Allis began to run out of money.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
He listed the three-bedroom unit on the market in August 2017 for $6.8 million, which he expected to sell within two to three months "as most properties do in San Francisco," he wrote in an August 2019 Facebook post.
Source: Ryan Allis Facebook
But no one wanted it. "It's 24 months later and the home STILL hasn't sold — in San Francisco — during the best economic times in 20 years and with a wave of SF tech IPOs like Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, Slack, and Pinterest," Allis wrote.
Source: Ryan Allis Facebook
The condo got a few bites from interested parties and a series of price cuts as it sat on the market. It was listed for $5.2 million in August 2019, according to public records.
Source: Zillow
Allis penned the Facebook post in July as a desperate plea for a buyer to swoop in and buy the unit from him, to no avail. He was forced to give the property back to the developer, Akhavan, with a $2 million loss.
Source: Ryan Allis Facebook
Zimmermann said November and December are some of the slowest months for buying, so it made more sense to rent it out — for $22,000 a month with a 1-year lease.
Source: McGuire Real Estate
Zimmermann said Allis' struggle to sell the unit at 651 Dolores might have something to do with the nature of the property being a conversion project. She's been involved with multiple restoration projects like this across town.
"Conversion properties are very popular to a niche market," Zimmermann said.
Allis said something similar in his Facebook post, writing that wanting to live inside a 105-year-old former church takes a "very special buyer."
Source: Ryan Allis Facebook
With The Light House unit, Zimmermann said they've had lots of interest with people wanting to make it into a live/work space, but the residential zoning status of the property can be a deterrence.
"I get a lot of requests [like] 'I want to lease it and make a nightclub out of it,' but we can't do that — it's not zoned for that," Zimmermann said.
!["I get a lot of requests [like]](https://staticbiassets.in/thumb/msid-71867993,width-700,height-525,imgsize-1032313/i-get-a-lot-of-requests-like-i-want-to-lease-it-and-make-a-nightclub-out-of-it-but-we-cant-do-that-its-not-zoned-for-that-zimmermann-said-.jpg)
But Zimmermann said they are about to close on a lease, meaning the property could finally be getting a much-needed dose of good luck.
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