The situation at San Francisco's sinking skyscraper is so dire that the most expensive condo has sold for $1 million under the asking price

millennium tower san francisco

Residents at Millennium Tower, San Francisco's leaning, sinking skyscraper, are scrambling to sell their multimillion-dollar condos.
Apartment 401, the most expensive condo for sale at Millennium Tower in 2017, has sold for over $1 million under its asking price.
Millennium Tower is safe to occupy, though residents are still leaving.

The most expensive condo for sale at San Francisco's leaning, sinking skyscraper, has sold — and the new owners should get a blue ribbon for their negotiation tactics.

Apartment 401 was the priciest listing at Millennium Tower when it hit the market with an asking price of $5.99 million in March 2017. Since then, the sellers lowered the price, removed the listing, shaved the price down to $4.99 million, and re-listed the unit in February 2018.

Real-estate site SocketSite is reporting that the four-bedroom unit has now closed escrow with a price of $4.66 million, more than $1 million under its highest asking price.

The home last sold for $2.65 million in 2014, according to public records.

Millennium Tower is a luxury residential high-rise that has sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches since it was completed in 2008. Though an inspection by the city showed it's safe to occupy, the situation has motivated some people to bail out. Residents say they're selling their homes short of what they paid for them, with about 100 condos falling $320,000 in value on average.

Not all homeowners have sold their condos for less. A penthouse at Millennium Tower sold for $13 million in 2016, up from its $9.4 million sale price in 2009. The seller, late venture capitalist Tom Perkins, spent $9 million on renovations, which should have increased its value even higher than the sale price.

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Apartment 401 is made up of two adjacent units that were combined in 2014. The home covers 3,814 square feet and contains four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two "flex rooms," which could be used as an office or a playroom, according to the listing. Windows cover the walls.

Homeowners at Millennium Tower received some good news in January: A fix for the building's leaning and sinking is in the works.

In January, construction crews began drilling near Millennium Tower to see if a planned fix for the structure will work, NBC Bay Area reported. Engineers want to drill up to 150 new piles (a type of foundation shaped like a pillar) 200 feet down to bedrock from the building's basement, in order to stabilize the tower and prop it back upright. The project could cost $150 million.

But the situation at Millennium Tower is likely to get worse before it gets better. Engineers have estimated the building will continue to sink at a rate of about one-inch per year.

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