In October 2022, San Francisco raised eyebrows when the city budgeted $1.7 million for a single-stall public restroom in the city’s Noe Valley neighborhood. The high price tag, according to city officials, was due to the steep price of construction in San Francisco, as well as remaining supply chain issues.

But the state stepped in shortly after, scrapping the planned bathroom after outrage spread over its high cost to taxpayers. Fifteen months later, the public plaza where the restroom was originally planned still doesn’t have a place to pee—and it doesn’t look like it will get one any time soon.

“Why isn’t there a toilet here? I just don’t get it. Nobody does,” one resident told The New York Times last week. “It’s yet another example of the city that can’t.”

San Francisco has the most expensive construction costs in the world—and it’s hardly surprising. In order to build a public bathroom in Noe Valley, at a location that already had the necessary plumbing to add a restroom, builders would have to pass a dizzying number of regulatory stops. These include seeking approval from the Arts Commission’s Civic Design Review committee, passing review under the California Environmental Quality Act, and getting the go-ahead from the city’s Rec and Park Commission and San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors. If that isn’t enough, the project would also be subject to a period of “community feedback.”

Even after gaining approval, the city wouldn’t be free to simply find the cheapest acceptable bathroom—likely a pre-fabricated option—and connect it to city plumbing. According to a 2022 San Francisco Chronicle article, pre-fabricated bathrooms violate the city’s Public Labor Agreement. Adding to costs, the city would also be required to use union labor to construct the bathroom.

While the $1.7 million price tag was rightfully criticized, should the project have been allowed to go forward, the budget might not have been an overestimate. San Francisco’s regulatory burden on new construction—even something as simple as a single-stall bathroom—is just that high. 

Even San Francisco’s own government has conceded that the Noe Valley bathroom fiasco was a sign that the city has too much regulation. “It’s worth changing the laws that are in place around construction projects like the restroom that slow things down,” a spokesperson for Mayor London Breed told the Times. 

But this is far from the first time that local governments have earmarked absurdly large sums of money to pay for public bathrooms. In 2017, New York City spent $2 million on a public park bathroom. And last year, Philadelphia caused controversy when it announced that it would spend $1.8 million on six modular Portland Loo bathrooms over the next five years—a model that cities across the country have spent millions on in recent years.

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Yet, unlike nearly all other city builders, the negativity that permeates so many aspects of city life these days hasn’t stopped Sullivan from developing his signature brand of modern boutique condo buildings in historic neighborhoods around San Francisco. 

Since the pandemic began in 2020, Sullivan’s company, JS Sullivan Development, has completed seven projects throughout the city, all boutique condo buildings with between seven and 53 units. There are projects in the Mission, the Marina, Lower Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, the Tenderloin and SoMa.

The building at 1580 Pacific St. is among the housing developments completed by JS Sullivan during the pandemic.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Now, the company is opening one of only a handful of condo buildings to be completed in all of 2023: Maison Pacific, a 53-unit complex at the corner of Polk Street and Pacific Avenue.

For Sullivan, the project is especially significant because in the early 2000s he used to live across the street in one of the first buildings he constructed. This was back in his early 20s when he was starting out by putting up duplexes and small apartment buildings. From his bedroom, at the time, he looked across the street at the paint store and Blockbuster video shop, where Maison Pacific now stands. 

“I was a big fan of Blockbuster — except for the late fees,” he joked about the virtually extinct video rental chain. 

The new property at 1580 Pacific St. sits on a block that is unusual in that it feels untouched by the city’s post-pandemic decline. There are no vacancies on the block, which has a smoothie spot, a wine bar, a vintage clothing boutique, a nail spa, a florist, a residential hotel and on the corner sits the historic bar Shanghai Kelly’s. Longtime businesses like Cheese Plus, Bell Tower and Tai Chi have also survived nearby.

The Jug Shop, the legacy wine store which previously occupied the ground floor of the 1580 Pacific site, will be moving back into a 2,700-square-foot space in Maison Pacific next year.

The central space in a two-bedroom unit is at 1580 Pacific St., a new project by JS Sullivan in San Francisco.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

“Some of the small businesses have changed hands but the fabric of this neighborhood has not,” said Sullivan. “The vibrancy feels very much the same.”

Sullivan is reluctant to delve into the details of how he is able to keep building when so many others are not, but he said the vertical integration of his company requires that there always be projects lined up. Sullivan is a builder as well as developer, so all the trades work — concrete, electrical, plumbing, carpentry — are done by his crews. 

JS Sullivan has in-house marketing, its own sales team and staff interior designer Alan Tse. Even the stagers filling the model units with furniture ahead of the grand opening last week were Sullivan employees. 

“We are a local developer,” he said. “We are not an opportunistic investor. We are committed to building infill housing with our projects and that strategy continues.”

Having a self-sufficient operation saves money, but it also adds pressure to keep everyone busy. Sullivan’s goal is to complete two projects a year and break ground on two new ones. And while it doesn’t always work out, he tries to plan to have one concrete building and one wood-frame structure going simultaneously.

The clean and modern desings of JS Sullivan’s apartments and condos have become popular with young homeowners.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

In addition to Maison Pacific, since the pandemic began, Sullivan has completed the 55-unit Elevant at 555 Golden Gate, the 28-unit Maison a Soma at 230 Seventh St., the 43-unit Maison Au Pont at 2448 Lombard, the 29-unit 198 Valencia, the 40-unit 1433 Bush St. and the seven-unit Noir at 1525 Franklin. 

When the pandemic struck, Sullivan had just opened 42 condos at 719 Larkin.

Currently, he has two projects under construction: 90 units at 988 Harrison in SoMa and 35 units near Ghirardelli Square. Both will open next year. Sullivan also has about a dozen projects in the pipeline, including 120 units at 819 Ellis and 100 condos at 530 Turk.

Sullivan, still in his mid-40s, is as low-key and self-effacing a developer as you could find — he is uncomfortable posing for photos or talking about his accomplishments. He is of Korean descent, but learned the business from his stepfather, Irish-born builder John Sullivan, who built a business putting up flats and single-family homes around the city.

Sullivan caters to first time home-buyers. While the Russian Hill project features bigger units and higher price tags than most of Sullivan’s projects — one bedrooms will start around $850,000 and two bedrooms about $1.4 million — he said he tries to keep his prices as low as possible. 

The rooftop deck for residents at 1580 Pacific St. offers views of San Francisco’s skyline.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

His buildings tend not to have the full line of amenities that are common — no swimming pools or yoga rooms. That means lower homeowner association fees — at Maison Pacific the HOAs will be about $600 to $700 a month.

“Sean Sullivan is a beast,” said developer and broker Chris Foley, who has been in the development industry for three decades. “He gets up early and works and works late into the night. He is so focused on doing the right thing. I respect him so much.”

“Nobody else is building — even the RBA Irish guys aren’t building,” Foley added, referring to a group of immigrant builders from Ireland who are affiliated with the Residential Builders Association. “I think everyone else is trying to hold on through 2024 and build in 2025.”

Sotheby’s broker Alex Hachiya, who has represented clients who have bought in several Sullivan buildings, said the developer’s focus on clean, modern design appeals to younger buyers who currently dominate the market.

“It seems like with every project his finishes and designs get sharper and more attractive,” said Hachiya. “I think he is at the point where he has the formula down, he’s found a sweet spot, not super high end but modern and clean.”

The view from a large picture frame window in a penthouse three-bedroom unit at 1580 Pacific St. displays a typical San Francisco scene.

Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

While Sullivan is not a political person, he does feel the city is not in great shape and the open-air drug dealing and homeless encampments have adversely impacted his projects in SoMa, the Tenderloin, and lower Polk.

But he doesn’t plan to stop building.

“I’ve been a resident here in the city since elementary school and I’m here to stay,” he said “What else am I going to do? I don’t know how to do anything else.”

Reach J.K. Dineen: jdineen@sfchronicle.com

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