Potrero Hill, San Francisco

The former Esprit building at 900 Minnesota is in the process of being deconstructed to make way for new condos, and the Chronicle reports that the sought-after structural lumber is being set aside for future use.

New timbers of similar size and quality are largely unavailable because there are no commercial tracts of virgin Douglas fir forest left in the country. If you want gargantuan beams, you have to salvage them — or pay somebody to do it for you.

The market for old, big-dimensional lumber has thus skyrocketed in recent years, driven by millionaires who covet the wood for vacation homes and corporations that use it in resort lodges.

The sheer size of the timber coming out of the Esprit building — vacant since the company closed it in 2001 — is impressive. Many of the beams are 18 by 14 inches in width and breadth, and 40 feet long. In today’s market, such timbers could fetch about $6,400 each.

Eli Krainock, a general contractor working on the Esprit project, said the lumber coming out of the site could sell for a total of $1 million.

Chronicle photo by Lea Suzuki

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