Crescent Heights’ Newest Rental Project Plans to Reset Standards in Rincon Hill

THEREGISTRYSF.COM COMMUNICATIONS
JUNE 8, 2015
Crescent Heights’ Newest Rental Project Plans to Reset Standards in Rincon Hill
By Jack Stubbs
Jasper, a 40-story residential community developed by Miami-based Crescent Heights, will open to the public in the fall of 2015, but the leasing office is expected to open sometime within the next two weeks as interest for its 320 units is very strong. On Wednesday of last week, Roman Speron, regional manager at Crescent Heights, led a media tour of the Stanley Saitowitz-desgined Jasper (San Francisco-based Build Group was the general contractor), giving an insider’s view of the 400-foot high-rise on 45 Lansing Street in San Francisco and providing a vision of how the development plans to transform the surrounding neighborhood of Rincon Hill in the coming months.
Crescent Heights feels that Rincon Hill is the ideal neighborhood in which to locate a new rental community. “This is more of an established neighborhood…at the turn of the century, this was the place to live…there’s been a resurgence in Rincon Hill…and it’s still evolving,” Speron said. More importantly, the company sees an advantage in being earlier to the marker than some other properties that are coming on line shortly. “We are the first ones to open up to lease in Rincon Hill…the other buildings are probably 6 to 9 months behind us…we’ve been lucky to meet our expectations as far as our time of construction.”
Jasper’s modern amenities are suited to fulfill various needs of all its future occupants. The building’s emphasis on technology—the app-based resident management portal, secure keyless entry doors, high-speed gigabit wireless Internet and digital touchscreen message boards, to name a few—provides an interactive, personalized environment for the tenants, creating, what the developer hopes, is a
differentiation from other residential buildings in the area. “Our involvement is aimed at making this a place of service and attention to detail for all of our residents…on an individual basis…we’re using technology to continue our involvement with customer service,” Speron said. “I don’t think there’s pressure [to implement the technology]…but no other apartment building in San Francisco has the technology that Jasper does…I think it’s a difference-maker.”
Jasper will provide additional amenities for its residents, including a fitness center, an indoor/outdoor pool, an on-site movie theater and a full-service business center, among others. However, a highlight feature of Jasper is what it calls the Room of All Trades, which will be available in about 150 of the studio apartments. Residents can configure this room for any purpose, as a yoga den, personalized library or office space. “The ability of someone to be able to customize their room, that is completely unique,” Speron said. This highly customizable feature means that residents will be able to tailor their experience at Jasper to be anything they so desire.
The developer was ready to share information on prices, as well. “Generally, the rents will start a bit lower [than they did at NEMA]…they’ll be about 5 percent lower, initially,” Speron said. A studio apartment (506 sq. ft. – 543 sq. ft.) will cost anywhere from $3,080 to $3,575 per month, while a three-bedroom unit (1,451 sq. ft. – 1,506 sq. ft.) will cost somewhere between $6,079 and $7,637.
Jasper is already showing great interest from potential renters. “We have 1,000 people on our waitlist for 320 units…so there’s as much interest, if not more, than there was at NEMA,” according to Speron.
Although Speron acknowledged that the anticipation surrounding Jasper’s opening is partly due to NEMA’s success in the past, he also expressed hope that Jasper will be perceived as a stand-alone development. “The hope is that Jasper will have a different identity…we hope that Jasper will be unique and maybe won’t pull from the same crowd [as before]…we don’t want Jasper to just be NEMA number 2,” Speron noted. Elle Blinova, marketing coordinator at Crescent Heights, added, “We really want to have a specific brand associated with Jasper…to establish its character.”