TikToker mocks ‘triggering’ $520,000 California apartment that was converted from unused office space

‘I think living here would be just as soul-crushing, if not more soul-crushing, as working here,’ she claims

A TikTok user has mocked a pricey apartment in California that used to be an office space, claiming that the home would be “soul-crushing” to live in.

On TikTok, the woman, who goes by the username @zillowtastrophes, frequently shares videos with her candid thoughts on different Zillow listings. In a recent clip, she reviewed a home that’s based in San Rafael, California that is currently up for sale for $520,000.

According to the listing, this apartment is “a recently converted live/work unit [that] has a new kitchen, laundry, bathroom, freshly painted in an amazingly convenient location”. The apartment, which is located in a commercial space called the Grand Landing, is also right above a Starbucks store.

In her video, @zillowtastrophes claimed that she’d never seen an apartment before that was so “lazily” converted from an office space. She proceeded to show the inside of the apartment, starting off with the living room and kitchen, which had all white walls.

Along with white cabinets and the usual silver appliances in the kitchen, the two rooms had grey carpeting in them. One of the pictures also showed that, while the bedroom has all glass walls, it doesn’t have a door.

However, according to the TikTok user, she claimed that the space looked too similar to an office.

“I think living here would be just as soul-crushing, if not more soul-crushing, as working here,” she said. “They just plopped a kitchen on this wall, the carpet still looks commercial grade. And they didn’t even bother closing the glass panels.”

The TikTok user noted that while a “roof over your head is better than nothing,” the apartment still cost “half a million dollars”. She continued to show a photo of the seemingly small bathroom, which included a shower, toilet, and hooks on the wall to hang things up. There was also a small sink in one corner, and two cabinets in another corner.

She went on to mock the bathroom, as she joked: “At this point, just put the toilet in the shower. Who needs a bathroom countertop to put your toothbrush on? It’s not like you have a lot of products anyways.”

The woman shared a picture of the bedroom, which she referred to as “your boss’ office”. She also quipped that the room had “external curtains,” since all the walls are glass. As she showcased the seemingly narrow space’s grey carpet and white curtains, she also questioned how someone could “fit a bed” in this room.

After she described the space as “living in the DMV,” she pointed out that there appeared to be “stains” on the ceiling. The all-glass windows and doors also led to the balcony, which had a white table on it, and appeared to have many dirt stains.

“There’s also this luxurious outdoor living space. Would you believe it’s actually waterfront?” she quipped, while indicating that the building was located next to San Rafael Creek.

She concluded the video by sharing photos of what the apartment used to look like when it was an office, which included different cubicles in the now-living room, and one big meeting room in the now-bedroom.

“As you can tell, the carpeting and everything else is exactly the same,” she said, while looking at the before pictures of the space. “Super authentic for your next office-themed party.”

As of 14 July, the video has more than 566,00 views, with people making jokes about living in an apartment that looks like an office space. Others claimed that they were familiar with this office, before it was converted.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa….you’re telling me that for only half a million dollars…I can LIVE in my break room at work????” one joked.

“It’s the fluorescent light drop ceiling for me,” a second quipped, while a third added: “Oh my god haha. I used to work near here. This is triggering me.”

Some people poked fun at how living in this space could impact someone who works from home, while also joking about the benefits of living in the apartment.

“We just got used to working from home, now we have to home from work!” one wrote.

“I’ve always wanted the experience of an aeroplane bathroom in my own home!” another added.

Others criticised the price of the apartment, with one writing: “Its cool, but surely not $500,000 cool.”

The Independent has contacted @zillowtastrophes for comment.

Throughout the last year, multiple real estate companies have announced plans to convert offices in the US to apartments. In April, Joey Chilelli, managing director of real estate firm Vanbarton Group, revealed that an office building in downtown Manhattan was being converted to 588 market-rate rental apartments that will house about 1,000 people.

“We’re taking a vacant building and pouring life not only into this building, but this entire neighborhood,” he said, at the time.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Downtown Conversion Program is planning “to stimulate the economic recovery of Downtown Pittsburgh by creating new affordable housing development via the conversion of fallow and underutilised office buildings into housing”. In October, the mayor of Boston, Michelle Wu, also released a report about revitalising downtown, with a push for more housing, some of which would come from office conversions.