An SF condo building has sat empty for years. It may finally become rentals.

A San Francisco condo building that has sat vacant for three years may no longer be available to potential homeowners. 

Investor Steven Hong, who has taken ownership of the loan for 1554 Market St. through an LLC, has submitted an application to the SF Planning Commission to transform the two 12-story conjoined towers into rentals, putting 109 apartments up for lease if approved. 

Dubbed “The Oak,” the buildings were completed in 2020 after nearly four years of construction. Just three blocks from the Civic Center BART station, the structures also share a courtyard between them and include street-level retail space. 

According to the planning application, the building has 10 studios, 78 one-bedrooms, 20 two-bedrooms and one three-bedroom unit. Thirteen of the units were previously designated to be affordable, and the application shows that the same number of units will also be designated affordable for qualified renters. The property has 28 parking spaces and 136 bicycle parking spots.

The complex is one of several buildings caught up in the corruption scandal involving San Francisco’s former Public Works chief Mohammed Nuru. It was built by Z&L Properties, a Chinese real estate development firm led by Zhang Li, who admitted to bribing Nuru in exchange for help with his housing projects. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.) After Z&L Properties’ unsuccessful attempt to sell the individual condos, the company put the whole property up for sale as an apartment building.

Hong purchased the project’s $76.7 million construction loan in November and is now planning on foreclosing on that loan, as reported by the San Francisco Business Times.

Dan Sider, chief of staff for the Planning Commission, told SFGATE the commission is “really concerned” about this project, especially for the “people that were left high and dry” after attempting to purchase one of the condos. He said the entire history of the building will be considered when the proposal goes up for a vote, likely early next year. 

Sider couldn’t recall any other case quite like this in San Francisco, where a building was ready for occupancy and left to languish for years and later there was a request for a use change. “It’s unique and troublesome,” he said. 

“It’s a meaningful drain on Market [Street] and Oak [Street], and that’s hugely problematic,” Sider said. 

Hong did not respond to SFGATE’s request for comment as of publication.