SF New Developments

There”s a slowdown in the condo market? Somebody forgot to tell Michael Kriozere. The developer of One Rincon Hill, the sleek 55-story tower beginning to rise on the skyline, wasn”t scheduled even to launch the project”s sales office until June 16. But after a 48-hour whirlwind of broker fetes and lavish receptions for real estate”s high and mighty at the $2.5 million sales earlier in the week, 130 of the condominums were spoken for before it officially opened its doors. Buyers had to put down a non-refundable a 3 percent, and even Kriozere was somewhat taken aback by the frenzy. At one point, 50 people were lined up to talk to the marketing agents for One Rincon “We had to throw them out at 2 a.m. last night, and they were waiting outside the next morning,” said Kriozere. This is Kriozere”s first project in San Francisco, but he”s an old hand in Chicago and San Diego and has been around long enough to know that “broad market trends” don”t translate into a local slowdown everywhere. He said he sees appreciation slowing down from the double digits of recent years to “3, 4, and 5 percent.” It”s that level of appreciation that is scaring other developers, who are seeing construction costs increasing at 20 percent or more. That”s not an issue for Kriozere, who bought all his construction materials more than a year ago. “This building is bought already,” he said.