View from the pool

“Glamorous architectural mastery embodies this stunning penthouse,” promise marketing materials for unit 2501 at downtown’s Meridian building at 700 Front Street. The property’s website boasts that it’s both “Downtown’s first residential high rise” and “the most luxurious condo building in San Diego.”

Unit 2501, the listing continues, features “sensuously sculpted ceilings” that “offset numerous rich architectural details as caramel coated walls guide the eye over seamless forms.” The home’s “bespoke craftsmanship exudes regal luxury from every detail,” including the “custom Neff kitchen,” designed with modern stone and a floating glass breakfast bar and baths featuring vessel sinks and extensive use of bare-metal, including the cabinetry in the master and the toilet in the guest bath.

The residence includes three bedrooms (one currently used as a den/study), three full baths, and nearly 3400 square feet of living space. “Views of the city, bay and ocean from the far reaches of Mexico to Point Loma and beyond” abound from nearly every room of the 25th-floor condo situated just west of Horton Plaza and a few blocks from San Diego Bay.

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700 Front Street #2501, San Diego, 92101

Living in this “landmark, award-winning residential community, deliberately conceived and impeccably crafted” offers more perks than just the luxury of the unit.

“Incomparable services are offered by an attentive, friendly staff,” including 24-hour parking attendants to guide your vehicles to two reserved spaces that come with the unit, with additional access to guest parking. “A doorperson will welcome you into the elegant main lobby, where a concierge and capable staff await to attend to the details of your Meridian experience, offering convenient assistance with packages, groceries, luggage and more.”

The building features “a completely separate porter/service entry with a dedicated loading dock and oversized elevator” that’s “staffed with porters to accept packages, deliveries, and tradespeople” to minimize their presence in the owners’ common area. “For your convenience, groceries, packages, flowers, dry cleaning and much more can be delivered to your door.”

Other amenities covered by the $1794 monthly homeowners’ association fees include “lovely formal gardens, a grove of citrus trees, an outdoor spa and adjoining fire pit that complement the inviting pool and a 2/3-acre outdoor plaza” on the building’s rooftop. “Newly-installed cabanas offer semi-private lounge areas” by the pool, and the complex also offers residents access to three barbecue areas, a 24-hour private fitness club, and “the Meridian Room, designed with a catering kitchen, bar, cloakroom, and a recently-installed audio/visual system” that “offers an elegant entertaining environment.”

The property features a curated private art gallery on the fourth floor, as well as five guest suites for visitors requiring their own living spaces and full access to the building’s amenities.

Title to the penthouse condo is currently held by Front Street Holding LLC, a shell company with a Scottsdale, Arizona, mailing address that acquired title in 2009 from Mitchell A. Saltz via a “bargain & sale deed,” an uncommon method of transferring title in California that conveys no guarantee as to the seller’s actual ownership. Saltz is the former chief executive of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson.

The unit last sold on the open market for $2.1 million in 2003 to a Patrick Kilkenny, who collected a cool profit by selling it to Saltz in 2005 for a reported $4.1 million. No sale price was reported in the transfer to the holding company (of which Saltz may be a stakeholder), but the property hit the open market for the first time in over ten years on March 5, this time carrying an asking price of $5,750,000.