The century-old building that has been home to San Francisco seafood icon Swan Oyster Depot (opens in new tab) since 1912 has been sold for the first time in decades.
Located at the corner of Polk and California Street, the mixed-use property includes five retail units and 29 apartments. According to listing brokers Angelo Baglieri and Clinton Textor of Marcus & Millichap, the building sold for nearly $8 million.
“The building has so much history, and it was an incredible transaction to complete,” Baglieri said.
The name recognition of Swan Oyster Depot helped draw prospective buyers, he added. The legendary seafood bar, which opened in 1912 at 1517 Polk St., typically has a line stretching down the block and has drawn famous fans like Anthony Bourdain (opens in new tab) and Francis Ford Coppola (opens in new tab).
The Sancimino family has owned the business since 1946. While the company didn’t respond to a request for comment, Baglieri said he expects the building’s new owners to want Swan to remain as a tenant. Other tenants include Japanese restaurant Nara, Italian restaurant Ti Piacera Ristorante, and Ora wine bar.
Since listing the building earlier this year, Textor said his firm fielded multiple offers from across the country, despite concerns about deferred maintenance and the age of the building.
Ultimately, the seller — the estate of the late John Jenkel— went with a local buyer “with an excellent track record and the specific competence required to return this building to its former glory,” he added. The listing sold for nearly $1 million under its original $8.9 million asking price.
The apartment building still has its original quirks, like a mechanical elevator and rooms furnished with Murphy beds, which were invented in San Francisco in the early 1900s. The basement, meanwhile, has hallways that lead to dead ends, which Baglieri suspects could have roots in the Prohibition era.