$9M Condo Comes With Burger: Big Spender
SAN FRANCISCO (
) -- When venture capitalist Tom Perkins closed on his $9.35 million purchase of a 60th floor penthouse in the Millennium Tower recently, he got more than 4,806 square feet of unfinished living space and spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay. He also gained access to the most exclusive cheeseburger in town.
Millennium Tower is home to RN74, a restaurant led by celebrity chef Michael Mina, whose dishes have earned him two Michelin stars. "It is the hottest restaurant in the city of San Francisco, period," says Rich Baumert, managing director of
Millennium Partners
, which owns the building.
The Millennium Tower offers a resident-only lounge. |
Visitors at RN74 can dine on applewood-smoked sturgeon sandwiches, grilled Monterey Bay sardines with pickled green tomatoes, and sauteed Maine scallops. But if they want a burger, they're out of luck -- unless they buy a condo in the building.
Millennium Tower features a dining room and lounge exclusively for residents, along with an owners-only menu at RN74 that sports a grilled Angus burger, crafted from the ground trimmings of rib-eye steaks and brisket.
"That's how we use up the scraps," says Mina. "That grind is great together because you get a good marbling. And we make a beautiful brioche that we toast to make a buttery, light bun." The burger comes with farmhouse cheddar, Burgundian mustard and herb fries. It costs $19, plus the cost of a condo.
The owners lounge includes its own bartender, Nick Varacalli, whose "Ambassador Pepper" drink last month won the
Skyy Spirits'
"Skyy's the Limit" cocktail competition. The drink -- a mixture of Wild Turkey Rare Breed bourbon, lemon juice, orange Curacao, Falernum, maraschino cherry juice, orange bitters, and muddled red pepper -- is only available in the owners lounge.
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Mina himself owns a condo on the 33rd floor, and he and his family hang out in the owners lounge. "I take my boys there all the time instead of bringing them into the restaurant," he says.
Perkins, a founder of
Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers
, has yet to move in. He bought the $9.35 million space completely unfinished, with concrete floors, open ceilings and no walls. "Typically, an owner who can purchase a space like that is looking for a blank canvas," Baumert says.
Perkins' was the most expensive purchase in the building to date, though there's a larger space on the 59th floor that's still on the market. Units in the tower sell for $2 million, on average. Millennium Partners lowered prices on all the condos in the building by 15% in January because of the economic downturn, even extending the discount to properties already under contract.
"That's kind of how we roll," Baumert says, adding that the building will have closed about $140 million in sales between May and September.
"Sales have been good," he says. "I'm pleased with the pace now that summer is over."
-- Reported by Carmen Nobel in Boston
.
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