When OpenAI launched in 2015, its founders didn’t have an office. Instead, they worked out of Greg Brockman’s apartment in the Mission (opens in new tab). It was in the co-founder and former Stripe CTO’s living room that ChatGPT was born. 

Now, that very property is for sale. If you act fast, a little piece of tech history could be yours for less than $2 million.

Brockman was the first tenant at the 21st Street apartment, located inside a  three-unit Victorian, after it was renovated by the building’s owner in 2015, according to listing agent Shane Ray of Compass. The 1880s-era facade was maintained, while the interior was gutted and the attic floor removed to create a three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,800-square-foot apartment with a primary suite on the newly created upper floor and a lofted, skylit ceiling over the now-famous living room. 

The apartment is available as a tenancy in common, asking $1.545 million, or the entire building can be bought for nearly $2 million. A buyer who ends up going the TIC route would essentially co-own the building alongside the seller, who would retain the two occupied ground-floor units — one residential and one commercial. But most buyers have been interested in the entire building, given that the income potential from the ground floor would likely more than make up for the higher price tag, Ray said.

The commercial unit is rented to an architecture firm, and the one-bedroom, one-bath, lower-level apartment has had the same renter for about a decade. In the upper unit, renters have come and gone since Brockman lived in the home for about a year. The most recent tenant paid $7,000 a month; when they vacated recently, the owner decided to put it on the market rather than find a new tenant since he no longer lives in the city and has decided to sell some of his properties. 

Actors Andrew Garfield and Ike Barinholtz were spotted filming a scene for the upcoming Luca Guadagnino film “Artificial” outside the home last year, Ray said. The movie, which stars Garfield as Sam Altman and Barinholtz as Elon Musk, is about Altman’s 2023 removal from and return to the company he founded. Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, plays Brockman. 

Open houses for the apartment started last weekend, and Ray said about half of those who attended had no idea that ChatGPT was formed in its living room. They were instead drawn to the appealing mix of a modern interior with a classic San Francisco exterior. Some serious shoppers were drawn in by the OpenAi connection as well. Ray noted that some people touring were clearly not interested in buying but just wanted to check out the home. He can understand why.

“To know right here in this space, 11 years ago, something pretty pivotal was happening, is intriguing to people,” Ray said. 

The home has been so popular that Ray may not host another open house this weekend and could take offers this week. The agent said the attention the home has received because of its history has been a boon, and no buyer so far has expressed any animosity to the property’s AI connections. He insisted that the unit would be a hit with buyers on its own, especially given the AI money fueling the city’s real estate boom. 

“Unintentionally, it has that startup feel,” he said, citing the exposed ceiling beams, lofty primary suite, and converted industrial vibes. “There’s still Victorian details, but it has a modern aesthetic. People are responding to that, for sure.”