"Dolores Park, Whole Foods... everything's around here," says real estate Broker Bill Harkins as he introduces possible tenants to 283 Dolores Street in a video tour of the space. But what's going on at this address, which Harkins's ad on Craigslist pitches as a potential "Tech Incubator" or "Airbnb Cash Cow?"
The 9-bedroom, 3,600-square-foot building between 15th and 16th Streets is listed as for lease at $18,000 a month. But just a year ago it was on the market for $19,000 a month. In fact Harkins recorded the video for the space back then, noting that it was "LEASED" in its title. Presumably it was't working for one tenant (or 20) who left after a year, thoughaccording to Zillow the space was rented out in under two weeks in the first place.
Ads like this, that directly encourage people to dedicate living space to those passing through San Francisco — whether tech incubees or Airbnb guests — rather than people really hoping to live and work here long-term, tend to infuriate a lot of longer term residents. It would be hard to turn the space completely into a hotel, but it does seem possible. As Airbnb's website explains: "In effect... your ability to share your space while you are present is unlimited, and you may rent out your entire space while you are absent for up to 90 days per year." So, yeah, you could live in one room or something and play hotelier, though that sounds like a royal pain not to mention a lot of furniture to purchase. There are more stopgaps in place, too: Since the building is technically rent controlled, that "limits the amount you may collect each month from guests," Airbnb says.
What's encouraging this Airbnb approach? Well, 283 Dolores doesn't have a high assessed value on Zillow, so, maybe the case is that owners have fixed it up just enough to rent it out at this price, but don't yet have enough money to subdivide it as TICs or to fix it up further, at least not without earning some more money off of it this way in the meantime, and didn't want to Airbnb it themselves. Who knows! The place does have a nice bed and breakfast look though, doesn't it.