Ritz-Carlton Club Units Selling Quickly

From today's San Francisco Business Times,

The thirst for ritzy downtown condos in San Francisco appears to be insatiable.

Coming on the heels of the quickly sold-out St. Regis project, buyers are chomping at the bit for units in the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences project at 690 Market St., a joint venture between the Ritz-Carlton and Alameda-based developer Jim Hunter.

In the first five days since the developers started accepting reservations for the 101 units in the old Chronicle Building, would-be Ritz-Carlton clubbers have plunked down 60 reservation deposits for a piece of the 1890 building, according to Robert van Dijk, the project's director of sales and marketing. Of the 60, 18 are for condos, and 42 are for monthly slots at the project's fractional ownership units. Owners of fractional units pay $200,000 to $300,000 for a one-twelfth, deeded interest.

All potential owners who have put money down on a private residence, have also reserved a fractional share, said van Dijk.

"They are looking at the fractional shares and saying, 'this will be my guest house.'" said van Dijk. "These are individuals used to having a guest house."

Built in 1890, the 16-story building was the first skyscraper in the West and home to the Daily Dramatic Chronicle newspaper.