Another $70,000,000 Penthouse Hits the Market

A new insanely (and probably unrealistically) priced property has hit the market with a fat $70,000,000 asking price. But children, this time it's not in New York, Palm Beach or Los Angeles, but in Your Mama's old San Francisco stomping grounds.

According the good folks at the San Francisco Chronicle, real estate tycoon Victor MacFarlane has decided to sell his massive and unfinished penthouse located atop the super swank St. Regis Residences San Francisco. The condo-tel project towers over the corner of 3rd and Mission Street right next door to the magnificent Museum of Modern Art and di-rectly across the street from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts where our good pal Falsetta Knockers sometimes dances and prances for all the well heeled performance art lovers living in Quake City.

Moneybags MacFarlane famously scooped up all three of the (unfinished) pricey penthouse units at the St. Regis back in late 2005 for a reported $30,000,000, which at the time was the highest price ever paid for a condominium in San Francisco. And like so many rich and/or famous types, he's changed his real estate mind just three years later.

Seventy million San Francisco clams with buy some filthy rich biznessman (or woman) a behemoth building topper that sprawls across (approx.) 20,000 square feet, includes four terraces, and features 360 degree views through the aluminum framed windows including the 22-foot high glass openings in the corner living room. If a deep pocketed buyer acts quickly they will be in the advantageous position of being able to choose finishes and day-core.

According to the SF Chronicle, the penthouse is currently scheduled to include an entrance foyer with a winding stair case and a 2-story waterfall (which sounds like a bad idea to Your Mama), six bedrooms, 7 full and 4 power rooms for a total of 11 terlits that we imagine will require at least one full time gurl to keep pristine, four fireplaces, 2 offices, a 13-seat movie thee-ay-ter and home gym with sauna and steam room because no one spending this kind of money for a penthouse wants to pump iron with hotel guests or view a film with all the common people at the AMC Metreon located just a block away.

Although Mister MacFarlane's company, the eponymous MacFarlane Partners, reportedly received a default on a one billion dollar debt and recently laid off 15 employees, his publicist told the S.F. Chron that Mister MacFarlane's decision to unload the penthouse was for lifestyle reasons and not business related. Uh-huh. Okay.

Anyhoo, Your Mama sits slant eyed with cynicism about this whole thing and we thinks we smell a man who might be looking for a little real estate publicity. Given that highest amount of money ever known to be paid for a residence in San Francisco (single family or condo) is $32,000,000, we think Mister MacFarlane's price is a little, well, bloated. But then again, what do we know? Perhaps some Asian potentate or high-tech titan will come along looking for all the free publicity and billionaire back slapping that will come along with purchasing a penthouse for an amount of money equal to the G.D.P. of some small countries.

Photo: Darryl Bush for the San Francisco Chronicle