SPUR Cruise 2009: What to see when there are no new towers on the skyline?

San Francisco real estate developers (or at least those who can still call themselves developers) poured onto the San Francisco Belle as part of this year's SPUR Cruise. However, with no new towers on the skyline in the past year, what's a cruise to see? How about a bridge, instead?

So instead of steaming south along the bay to look at structuring rises in Rincon Hill and Mission Bay, last night’s SPUR cruise chugged out into the bay to examine the Bay Bridge $5.7 billion self-anchored suspension span.

How the times have changed.

And in response to this point from JK Dineen:

The San Francisco Belle that year was abuzz with chatter about lines of investors snaking through the sales office of Mike Kriozere’s One Rincon Hill while drinking One Gincon signature cocktails at a week long series of presales soirees...

Brokers were signing contracts into the wee hours.

Kriozere scored 250 deposits in four days of pre-sales. Three years later, from the middle deck of the Belle, this is what the building looks like next to its cousins at Tishman Speyer’s Infinity.

More accurately, three years later, One Rincon has still only sold about 250 homes, for a net of almost ZERO new contracts in 3 years. Ouch.

SOURCE: BIZ JOURNAL