Penthouse comes with free Tesla

Penthouse comes with free Tesla

If you can afford the $8 million penthouse on the 41st floor of downtown’s Harbor Club, you can probably buy your own Tesla.

But the person who snags the top-floor unit at one of San Diego’s iconic skyscrapers will get a custom ordered Tesla Model S P85D for free. That’s the version that goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.1 seconds and has a base sticker price of $105,000.

Property owner Mark Weinzierl, a technology entrepreneur from Texas, said he hopes the offer helps set the penthouse apart as he competes for buyers around the world.

“There’s a lot of interest in other cities, New York, Vancouver, Miami, L.A. and we don’t necessarily think that San Diego has a lot of buyers coming in to look at the property,” he said. “It was just our thought to potentially entice some buyers to look at San Diego.”

Home sellers tend to step up with perks in slow periods. While San Diego’s real estate market is currently a sellers’ market, that doesn’t apply for ultra high-end units, said Greg Neuman, the property’s listing agent with Berkshire Hathaway. There aren’t enough local buyers and the ones that can afford those units look around the world, he said.

“It may take an international buyer,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of high end sales in condominiums.”

Incentives for buyers also popped up just before the Great Recession, after home prices peaked. They included decorating and landscaping allowances, and a free car. For instance, condo converter Del Mar Heritage offered a $20,000 Nissan for its buyers. Sellers have also offered resort stays or airfare.

A spokeswoman for Tesla said Wednesday that its cars have been used more recently as deal sweeteners. In 2013, a $1.3 million home for sale in San Jose came with a three-year prepaid lease for a Model S, valued at $40,000.