SAN FRANCISCO-Lender UBS has named Alain Pinel Investment Group to market a two-building, 122-unit apartment portfolio composed of a 74-unit complex and a 48-unit building where the majority of the units at both buildings are being rented as short-term corporate suites. Managing director Stephen Pugh of Alain Pinel, who is marketing the portfolio along with senior director Mark Bonn, described them as trophy properties and tells GlobeSt.com that UBS would prefer to sell the properties as a portfolio but is willing to consider selling them individually, depending on the offers.

The 48-unit complex is at 512 Van Ness Ave. and is also known as Corinthian Court. The 46,500 square foot property also includes 8,223 square feet of ground floor retail space at the corner of Van Ness Avenue and McAllister Street, across the street from San Francisco’s City Hall in the Civic Center. The 74-unit complex is a 10-story, concrete-and-steel building at 1890 Clay St., also known as Clay Park Tower, where 49 of the 74 units have been completely renovated with what Pugh and Bonn describe as top-of-the line finishes and appliances. The 512 Van Ness building is priced at $15 million and 1890 Clay at $24 million.

Pugh and Bonn point out that prospective buyers have the flexibility to operate the buildings either as they are currently run or return them to conventional apartment buildings with long-term leases over time. Pugh tells GlobeSt.com that Corinthian Court is a rarity in that its original architectural elements have been maintained in the same condition as they were when the building was built in 1915, the year that San Francisco hosted the World Fair. Much of the architectural detail and construction material, including the exterior columns, were originally part of the World Fair exhibitions.

“If you tried to replace a building like this today, you just couldn’t do it,” Pugh says. Besides being prohibitively expensive, finding the materials and craftsmen to create such a building would be extremely difficult if not impossible, he says.

The 1890 Clay St. building was built in 1962 and sits atop the hills in Pacific Heights near Lafayette Park and amenities including boutiques, cafes and restaurants as well as access to Downtown, the Financial District and public transportation. Pugh says that he and Bonn plan a call for offers about the middle of July and received substantial interest in the properties even before completing the marketing materials for the portfolio.