The Metropolitan Condo

I came visit this building a couple of times, including visiting friends and checking out the units. The layout/​design of the units/​buildings remind me of HK (80s).
Pros: location/​close to downtown/​great amenities/​staff has been very professional and friendly/​price is much lower (or should be lower) than rincon
Cons: views are blocked by rincon tower :(bad traffic flow.
But overall, it’s a great building. It seems lots of my friends (that are older) prefer metropolitan to rincon.

I have lived here for a year in 2012 in the North tower, high up.
— The frontdesk staff and the management (Titan Management) is superb. You work like consierge in 4 star hotel. We also had an emergency requiring police and paramedics once, and the staff handled it all very professionally and discretely. They made a difficult situation much easier for us, and I can’t say enough about them. The superb building manager Jensen since moved on to Nema which is also getting high marks.
— Indoor spa is great. I used to be in ORH with outdoor one, and indoor one is definitely better in SF.
— The location leaves something to be desired. 1^st leading to I80 is a mess in the evening, and public trans is not near by. Won’t matter much though if you have a car like I did.
— The price is too high now, though I got a good deal back in 2012.
— The building is now getting its views blocked. ORH tower 2 went up while we were there, and now Jasper, 399 Fremont and 350 Fremont going up left and right. More buildings going up on that hill, so make sure to ask your agent about it.

I don’t understand why this place has such high ratings. Front desk staff is nice, but that’s pretty much it. Noisy neighbors and people smoking although it’s non smoking building… Of course, there’s construction from 7am (or earlier sometimes) almost every day, even some Sundays! I can’t wait for my lease to expire and move into a new construction.

They must have done some customer service training as the front desk staff, mostly men (I’ve only ever met/​seen) have become much more courteous and polite.
They also try (now) to help out as quick as possible and delegate tasks in an orderly fashion.
yay!

Wow… called to inquire about renting an apartment there and the person hung up on me as soon as I stated why I was calling. I called back and they didn’t pick up. Unbelievable!

Since the beginning of 2005, I have enjoyed living in 3 different residences at The Met. I started in a one-​bedroom, and have been in a two-​bedroom floor plan since 2007. Needless to say, I love this building, the location, and the downtown lifestyle.
The 2-​bedroom units are the largest in the building, with the high floor «02» stack units being about 1,650 square feet. All of these units are privately owned condominiums, and the building was completed in 2004. There are two towers (north and south). The north tower has a few studio units, and was built first. The south tower has only one and two-​bedroom units all the way up to the 28^th floor. There are subtle differences, but they are both great. There is a small tower between the north and south that houses the common facilities.
The amenities are one of the biggest perks at the Metropolitan. Concierge service, 24 hour lobby attendant, business center, conference room, movie theater, rooftop grill and deck, indoor swimming pool, hot tub, his and her’s saunas, a lovely gym, and an event space for throwing private parties. Deeded underground parking and other conveniences add up as well.
The staff is very friendly, and has been consistent in all of the years I have been living here part-​time. This is the perfect place to live if you travel and want to be able to lock and leave. Drop your dry cleaning at the front desk, line up the maids at the same time, and even get your pets taken care of… all within the confines of the building. Get pizza from Local across the street, or have one of the hundreds of delivery restaurants bring your meal to your door.
The units are stunning with floor to ceiling glass windows, spacious balconies, and modern creature comforts like in-​suite laundry, dual dishwashers, Viking appliances, showers with separate soaking tubs, etc etc. The views can be amazing. Some units (like the 02 stack) look at the Bay Bridge. Others have city views.
If you compare this building to others in the area, it stands out. Valet parking only at Rincon Tower makes it less than desireable, in my opinion. Infinity doesn’t have a hot tub, and has underground amenities. Millennium Tower, the St. Regis, and the Four Seasons definitely have a lot to offer, but at 2X-​3X the price, it is hard to say if it is worth it. I have stayed for all of these years because I love it, and I highly recommend it to others looking in the area.

The Metropolitan is a wonderful place to live. The location is perfect, walking distance to downtown, the waterfront, the ballpark and the financial district. The staff is always friendly and helpful. The manager and board of directors is always looking for ways to improve the lifestyle at The Met. The amenities make living in the building so easy; great gym, an indoor pool center with a lap pool, hot tub and saunas, great media room with a big screen, business center, gorgeous party room and conference room. The Met’s finishes are exquisite and upscale. I have lived at The Met since 2005 and know The Met just keeps getting better.

Great spot. More inviting than the Infinity (wait, there is actually a design palette here instead of hospital white and pale pastels? amazing!) and much less noise than what One Rincon Hill up the street is exposed to.
Building amenities are top notch. Common area upstairs is not as good as ORH, but overall fantastic building.
You could definitely do worse.

I’d say what makes The Met a great to live is the location, the wonderful staff and quality of the building. Although the building is a bit older than some of the other top tier buildings in South Beach (built in 2004), the building has nice finishes that are still on par with the more recent developments. The building, it offers great amenities and the gym equipment gets nice upgrades every year or two. Now that the scaffolding fiasco is over, the building looks great!
The staff (Titan Management) has always been very friendly. We have only had one building manager change since I moved in (2005) and the service quality has been great! The front desk staff has has very low attrition and always stay on top of their duties. Not only do they admirably perform their duties for the building, I have seen, on numerous occasion, that the staff will respond to distress on the street. I would like to think that The Met brings a nice addition to the SOMA/​South Beach neighborhood. Someone give me a prize already.

Great secure place. The doormen are wonderful, friendly and very helpful, shout out to John, Luis and Mike!!!
If you are looking for a modern place that is affordable, come here
Beautiful indoor pool area, gym, activity room, theater. Always clean, friendly, quiet neighbors, wonderful location. My roommate and I are very happy here :)

I have lived here for a month and the amenities and service are excellent. the entry way is quite weird with a maze of elevators that are difficult for guests. you have to walk a couple of blocks to get to anything interesting so that can get old. pool, hot tub, gym are amazing. have not used the other amenities yet.

i use to live there and it is fab.
the gym is awesome
and the pool is very nice also.
esp. love how safe it was, and the elevators are very fast!

Location is good as long as it’s not during rush hour. Those bozo’s going to the Bay Bridge block the intersection as if you are going to cut them off. So instead, I go around them and give them the finger and make sure they see it because last I checked, it’s still not legal to block an intersection. It’s not a complaint to the Met staff persay but it’s a complaint to the location.
HOA fees are very expensive as others have stated. The housekeeping crew is good but the outsourced maintenance people they hire (i.e. painters) have no respect as one of them was singing loudly as he was working on the balcony and I asked him nicely to be quiet since I was studying even though all windows were closed. He flat out told me no and pretended as if he didn’t speak english. I spoke with management about this and the Mexican Idol is no longer singing. Also, the scaffolding around the building has been up for like a year. When is this eye sore going to be taken away?
Facilities are very good EXCEPT that the theater and other things that you can reserve for use are all taken up a year in advance by inconsiderate people who don’t even use it and don’t cancel. They just book it all because they can. There should be a policy so that all residents can only book 5 events a year and can petition for more if they’d like. If anything, make it pay per use and reduce the HOA fees b/​c most residents are being ripped off since they can’t use these facilities because someone else booked them.
The place is nice but it’s like living in a dorm b/​c of all the rules you have to follow, yet not everyone follows them. For example, you can’t «move» anything large in w/​o an appointment so they can pad up the elevator for you. However, I see people all the time moving in and out w/​o an appointment. Then again, the definition of «large» is vague and subject to interpretation.
Also, people park in the passenger load zone spots all day as if it’s a free parking space. When that happens, the FedEx guy, the Safeway guy and the pizza delivery guy has nowhere to park and has to double park. It’s a danger to residents who are entering the building by car b/​c they have to go around these legitimate delivery vehicles into lanes of traffic to the bay bridge.
The swimming pool and the fitness center is nice and most people don’t put it to use even though both are well maintained.
Also, I don’t know what’s next door. It could be Batman’s secret cave but it’s a PG&E owned building covered in concrete with no windows. I don’t know what goes on in there but just hope it’s safe and won’t blow up one day. Gotta keep this in mind if you are going to live here for a long time.

«The Met»…oh the convenience that you provide is utterly invaluable.
The location alone makes this place worthwhile to live at. I love coming here and crashing when I need to spend a few days up in the city. It’s just a ten minute walk from the ballpark or to union square. You can even get to the Ferry Building and Embarcadero in just 15 – 20 minutes. And you don’t need a car or public transportation. In addition to that, you’re surrounded by fabulous restaurants and night life.
The facilities themselves are great, from a small theater you can reserve along w/​a meeting room for parties as well. The gym is one of the nicer ones in any living complex I’ve been too. The indoor lap pool is nice along w/​the hot tub and saunas.
The condos themselves are well done. Pretty spacious albeit quite expensive. All are fairly up to date w/​new appliances. However the HOA fees here are horrendous and they don’t provide you w/​much. However security wise, it’s one of the better places around.

home sweet home! this building is the bestestest! love it all– the gym is amazing, the theatre room is the coolest, the business center is nice, the pool is warm, the spa is warmer, the sauna is sweaty and the atmosphere is modern yet warm! People are friendly, not many kids and it’s in the best location– not far from AT&T park, not far from Market, close to the Embarc– what more could one ask for?!

UPDATE: i no longer live here… but it was a great ride. the only thing i would complain about is one of the concierges, «mario». possibly the worst concierge in the history of the world. no, i dont miss him at all.
ORIGINAL REVIEW: affectionately known by its residents as «The Met». i live in this luxury SOMA hi-​rise and i really love it. excellent management team. pricey place to live but worth it! we have a huge indoor pool, spas, saunas, a movie theatre, social lounge, fitness center, 24-​hour concierge, computer center, roof deck everything.