A San Francisco penthouse that was once owned by the heirs to the Levi Strauss fortune and is fresh off a gut renovation has hit the market for $18.5 million.
It’s the second-most expensive home for sale in the California city, bested by another co-op in the same neighborhood—the tony Pacific Heights—that was listed at the beginning of the year for $25.5 million.
Walter Haas, a billionaire businessman who was the president and CEO, and later chairman, of Levi Strauss & Co., and his wife, Elise—whose father was Levi Strauss’s nephew—owned the penthouse from 1949 until the late ’80s, according to information from Sotheby’s International Realty, which began marketing the listing on Monday.
The seller is tech entrepreneur and investor Sreekanth Ravi, who bought the penthouse in 2021 for $6 million, records show.
At the time, Ravi knew the penthouse needed some serious work, as it hadn’t been renovated in years. He had hoped to spend about $4 million on the remodel, but some unforeseen issues—including one million pounds of debris inside the walls that needed removal and uneven concrete floors—led to a renovation “far exceeding” that budget, he said. The project was finished last December after about three years of work
“The upside of all the work is I got exactly what I wanted,” Ravi said, adding that he hadn’t planned to flip it, but some circumstances have changed and forced him to change his plans.
The penthouse is just one of two units in the building that spans an entire floor, and its perch on the 10th story gives it far-reaching views in every direction.
“The views are spectacular—everything from the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz, the Salesforce Tower and the Transamerica building to the Bay Bridge and out to the ocean to the west,” Ravi said. “You can see the East Bay to the east, and the view to the south just goes on forever.”
Because the apartment is on the top floor of the building, which dates to 1926, Ravi was able to raise the ceilings, pushing them up to a height of 11 feet. Design details include herringbone oak floors and walnut paneling, which adds a warm backdrop to Ravi’s modern art collection.
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There are three bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, with a primary suite that “came out perfectly,” Ravi said. It features a window seat, a dressing room, and a bathroom with heated marble floors and two water closets.
Other features include a kitchen with a breakfast nook, a home office and a gym.
Stacey Caen and Joseph Lucier of Sotheby’s International Realty hold the listing.