Pix to come, I’m sure. but holy cow, $1.775M for a Folsom street Victorian, now?
Yes it’s large. Yes there is four car parking. But we are talking about the very center of the Mission.
Hello out there, theFrontStep Readers! You may (or just as likely, may not) know my name from my blogs for Redfin. I’ve kindly been invited to write also for theFrontSteps, so here I am, on the steps, with my first blog.
So here’s the setting: last night, 2:00am, sultry night, people walking up from the bars, falling down, giggling. That noise doesn’t bother me much. I’d have to be a hypocrite if I tried to pretend I’ve never, after closing time, made too much noise under someone’s window as I staggered home. But another noise does bother me: some a-hole flooring his car and slamming on the breaks as he reaches the stop sign in front of my house. Then, from fully stationary, he floods the car again, tyring to go from zero to sixty instantaneously. Then he screeches off, circles the block, and comes back to do it again.
But we all live in a city. We can’t really expect quiet, can we? We can hope for it, and maybe in some areas, get it most of the time. But in the end, we’re sharing with a lot of people, some of them loud and possibly crazy. That’s why this new law aiming to curb SF noise interests me. (more…)
Tags: legislation, neighborhood news, noise pollution, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, sound ordinance
2448 Folsom went on the market on August 1st. It got an offer within 11 days, went pending a week later, and sold on 9/22 for $1.509M. That was 34K above its asking price of $1.475M.
This is Folsom street between 20th and 21st. Those of us familiar with the area were very surprised by this to say the least. The reasons for that are many, not the least of which is the fact that this is the very center of the Mission. With all that has happened, wouldn’t you think such a result unlikely?
If you’ve been wondering what all of this Government takeover of Fannie and Freddie means, you’re hardly alone, so we just went ahead and copied what we just read to give you some different perspectives of what is being said in the real estate world. We take zero credit for this, it all came from the San Francisco Association of Realtors Advantage Online:
[Update: And we just discovered more info on Trulia].
“NAR: What the Government Takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Means to Housing Industry
In short-term, home sales should improve as mortgage rates fall (more…)
Tags: Economy, real estate, san francisco, theFrontSteps
If you want to be flat out, straight, f**king cool, then live in (or at least go to) the Mission. We have been in every nook and cranny of this city and checked out just about every type of property you can imagine, seen every type of living quarters, seen just about every type of person and their living environments, and experienced all the areas this city can throw out. The Mission district in San Francisco is by far the absolute downright coolest, most hip, happening place in the city, and a recent trip around the Mission reminded us just how cool it is. Forget Union St. forget Fillmore or Hayes Valley, forget Union Square, forget the Embarcadero, (which are all really cool) forget it all….the Mission is the sh*t. It just has that vibe.
Not sure where it is? Walk outside your door, ask the first person you see, “How do I get to the Mission District,” make your way there, and experience everything else along the way. If you still can’t find it, use this map and look for where district 9c (Inner Mission) meets 5m (Mission Dolores), and you’ll be close.
Since this is a San Francisco real estate blog you’re probably wondering what the market is like there, so here are the comps for the past year. Enjoy and go check it out.
[Update: Since we're getting a fair bit of link traffic coming in for this post, you should all know we've had a few Battle Royales in the past and this one is quickly becoming one itself, so we've tagged it to go along with the others.]
Tags: Battle Royale, real estate, san francisco, San Francisco Real Estate, theFrontSteps
From “AMinSF”:
Two weekends ago I visited an open house tic unit at 1298 Treat Street in the Mission. It’s a very contentious situation. The developer is trying to Ellis Act several elderly tenants, and some family members and tenant groups were peacefully protesting outside the open house.
I drove by the building this morning on my way to a meeting, and I saw that the building was scorched! It certainly looked suspiciously like arson, and the report [here] suggests the same.
I think that this is an unfortunate situation that we sometimes have in SF. On one hand the developer wants to maximize his property’s value by converting to tic’s. But on the other hand, evicting seniors in their 80′s or 90′s is morally reprehensible. I’m totally for property rights, as I own several buildings in the city, and am actively involved in their development, but i must say that I had sympathy for the tenants in this situation, and spent time talking to them and the tenant activists who were there that day.
I just don’t know what led to this case of possible arson. I highly doubt any of the people I met that day were involved. Could it be some silent angry activist, who wants to use destruction as a way to get back at ‘the system?’ I remember a similar case last year on 23rd street, between Treat and Folsom (across the park), where there was some violence. These immature and illegal acts certainly do not help the people adversely affected by the evictions. It is so asinine to act as a spoiler with these types of destruction. And it certainly fans the flame (no pun intended) of animosity between property owners/developers and tenants.
It’s too bad this city cannot collectively get it’s act together and find ways to mitigate the housing problems that we have. What’s next, drive by shootings at open houses? [We hope not!]
-Arson suspected in San Francisco Fire [KTVU]
-1298 Treat Street [sfnewsletter listing detail page]
Tags: san francisco, theFrontSteps
We’ll get a nice photo for you when we have time, but for now, we wanted to point you to RinconHillSF.org for the dirt on the Transbay Terminal.
Some quotes:
Construction set to begin in November 2008
Open for business in August 2009 for Phase 1, close the existing Transbay Terminal (note that Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans will still use the Mission Street semi-circle driveway off Mission)
Phase 2 completion in October 2009 will move Golden Gate Transit and SamTrans over to the temporary terminal area following the removal of the eastern Transbay Terminal ramp from the Beale/Howard corner of the site
New Transbay Transit Center building is scheduled for completion and the temporary terminal is scheduled to be closed in January 2014
The Redevelopment Agency will develop mixed use retail/housing (most likely affordable, BMR rentals from what I’ve heard) on the Temporary Transbay Terminal land along with a park (yeah!!! We must make sure the park comes to fruition by staying engaged in this process as a neighborhood!). The mixed use development will tentatively happen along Howard Street and along Folsom Street with the park in the middle of the two strips of buildings.
-Transbay Terminal [theFrontSteps]
-Temporary Transbay Terminal Meeting Notes [Rinconhillsf.org]
Tags: theFrontSteps
There is a new company in town you should be very interested in, particularly if you are catering to a high profile buyer. The company is DRIV, and the mission is simple:
Take your automotive fantasies, render them in metal and leather, and hand you the keys to a stable [read: large choice] of exquisitely prepared high performance luxury cars to enjoy at your leisure. From the inimitable refinement of an Aston Martin to the visceral driving experience of a Lamborghini; from the unrivaled heritage of a Porsche to the rarefied status of a Ferrari…
DRIV relieves you of the burdens of outright ownership.
And we say it is a phenomenal concept for luxury high rise living, and a great concept in general. Why wouldn’t a new development jump all over this? Parking is limited, many owners are only in town once or twice a year, and it could very well be something that puts a buyer over the top when deciding between two buildings. Why bother buying a new Porsche for your new pad, when a company like this can get you there cheaper and easier?
Bets on how long before One Rincon, Millenium, Infinity, St. Regis, or any of the others wise up to this idea?
Our bet: too long.
[Update: Trumped already. {Removed per request} has already purchased 20 memberships from this very club. (More on the Trump thing later.)]
-Millennium Tower, Going Up [theFrontSteps]
-DRIV [website]
p.s. For the record, we know the idea of a “luxury car club” is hardly new, but San Francisco has yet to adopt this in new developments. Sydney, Vancouver, and other cities have. Please, correct us if we are wrong. And no, City Car Share, free Vespas, and ZipCar don’t count.
Tags: Announcements, Millennium Tower, san francisco, theFrontSteps
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again. If you want to be totally up to date on what’s going on in big development news, you should subscribe to The San Francisco Business Times. Nobody has their finger on the pulse like them, particularly J.K. Dineen. (Some of our readers can certainly second this emotion.) With that said, Mr. Dineen again breaks the news that this guy (Angelo Sangiacomo pictured below) has a big ass shovel and he’s about to start digging.
“After a six-year entitlement battle, the Mid-Market apartment owner is gearing up to break ground on phase one of what will eventually be a 1,900-apartment complex on a windswept stretch of Market Street…
Trinity has hired Cannon Construction to build the massive San Francisco project, which was designed by the Miami-based Arquitectonica, the firm behind Tishman Speyer’s Infinity complex on Rincon Hill.
The complex was approved on April 10, after years of negotiations between Trinity developer Angelo Sangiacomo, rent control advocates, current Trinity tenants, and District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly.
The first phase of construction, some 440 units on the Mission Street side of the property, includes 360 “replacement” studios to house the rent-control tenants now living in the Trinity rental complex. The remaining 80 units will feature one-bedrooms: 68 market-rate and 12 below-market rate. The address of the first building will be 1188 Mission St.
… shoring and excavation will begin shortly and take the project into 2008 when the “pile and foundation program” will start. Trinity officials estimate that it will take two years to finish the first phase and move existing tenants over.
In all, the project will include four phases. After 1188 Mission St. is completed, the next building will be 545 units on Market Street, which will include 21,000 square feet of retail space and a large public plaza allowing pedestrians to pass through from Mission to Market Street.
The final building phase will add 915 units and include a building along Eighth Street and another west of the 1188 Mission St. structure.”
How is all this Bay Area development going to impact our housing market? With so much gloom in the headlines, you’d have to think these guys are nuts. We beg to differ.
-Massive Excavation to Begin at Trinity Plaza [San Francisco Business Times, J.K. Dineen]
-Trinity Deal Hits a Snag [sfgate...source of building photo]
Tags: Announcements, Architecture, san francisco, theFrontSteps
If you haven’t already noticed, we real appreciate our readers and will publish most, if not all, of your contributions. This time AMITinSF sends us his/her thoughts:
The first article, is a totally regressive neo-socialist diatribe (predictably, from the sf bay guardian) on, get this, how Google’s shuttle bus is bad for the Mission district!
The second article, from the sf weekly blogs, is a roundabout response, from leading urban historian Joel Kotkin, who has interesting insights.
I think these two articles make for an interesting juxtaposition on how SF is changing. Clearly the writer for the guardian article is bitter, and in my opinion, hypocritical. He claims to have moved to SF 8 years ago, excuse me? That’s like 1999, the height of the dot com boom!?! Also, the endless whiners from some circles of SF’s loony-left need to understand that ‘cool, hip’ artists that came to the mission in the early 90′s were merely a precursor for gentrification.
These artists are partly responsible for displacing working class Latin Americans, who previously displaced Irish families, who… it’s so counterproductive to blame different ethnic and demographic groups for how you don’t like the changes. Get over it! No place stays the same; no one is entitled with permanence to live forever in the mission or anywhere else for that matter. But, will they ever learn?
p.s. Be sure to read the comments at the end of the sfbg article- they rightly ream this guy a new a$$hole. But of course, sfbg will not have the balls to reprint any of these critical responses in the next ‘pulp’ issue.
God, am i the only one who reads the crap-guardian during lunch breaks to get my weekly laughs (as god only knows, sfbg takes its preposterous self so seriously.)
Very interesting take on the matter, and thanks for sending it in.
If you’ve got something to share, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Your opinions, contributions, tips, secrets, and lies are valuable and appreciated.
Tags: san francisco, theFrontSteps
by Tiffany Elston:
In the spirit of keeping tabs on San Francisco’s green housing inventory, it seems only logical to draw attention to a green 2 unit TIC in the Mission: 1303 Alabama. The main unit is being retained by the owners. The second unit is a 1,200 SqFt home. The project is the result of a collaboration between Sunset Magazine and Meridian Builders and Developers Inc. and was designed to “take the magazine’s Idea House Program into a dense urban area for the first time, and demonstrate how to maximize construction on a compact site.” Interesting.
I got to preview the 2 bedroom 2.5 bath two Sundays ago during the Build It Green San Francisco Home Tour.
In terms of green building features, the house gets a high score: solar PV, recycled glass tiles, reclaimed wood floors, double insulated windows, dual flush toilets, rooftop garden, and the first residential windmill in the city (On a 1-year variance to see how the birdies fair with spinning blades.)
The unit is on the market for $1,089,000.
How long will it be before someone swoops in on this green baby? Wagers, anyone?
[Editor's notes: It'd be fun to see what "A" and "M" think it will sell for. I know "A" is reading, but what about "M". And WTF is up with the MLS photos of this place! You'd think better quality would be demanded of the agent.]
-Info on the Sunset Idea House
-1303 Alabama [MLS]
Tags: Architecture, san francisco, Sunset
by Greg Angilly
In every market there are properties that can be obtained for below market value – many that have a strong upside. Here are two we’ve been watching for a few weeks. Our sense is these are available at or below asking and are both strong investment opportunities.
3479 Sacramento St – List Price – $1,075,000
2 bed / 1.25 bath + bonus room down. Parking and outdoor space and on the market for 90 days. Good location – slightly busier than the typical Presidio Heights location – but surrounded by boutique shops and cafés. Well under the average price per sqft in Presidio Ht’s. I imagine there is a willingness to negotiate the price if other terms of the offer are strong. The unit doesn’t show well at all. It’s dark and could use some upgrades. That said, nothing needs to be done so you can owner occupy while you renovate. New kitchen and bath / upgrade lighting / repaint the façade / research the inclusion of bonus room via interior stairs. With basic upgrades this unit should sell for $1.15+ – if you can include the downstairs rooms you are looking at $1.35+.
2080 3rd St # 8 – List Price – $649,000
Property has seen several price reductions from original price of $689,000. Top floor unit with walk out deck with expansive views in smaller building. If purchased for 635K the loft becomes a great investment. Can serve as a nice rental / income property – approximate rental rate is $2500/ month. There are several new projects going in on 3rd St which will bring additional owners and businesses. The Mission Bay campus continues to grow and several new businesses have recently opened along the 3rd St corridor. This area will continue to mature and a deeded top floor deck with views will be a commodity people are willing to pay money to obtain.
I will be tracking these properties for our readers, and I am open for any discussions regarding the two, and/or my opinion on their investment value.
This is kindly brought to us by a reader with [our comments] thrown in.
“Check this out.
56B Woodward, which is on the boundary between western SoMa and the Mission is all of about 280 square feet and they want $245k. The studio apt looks to me like a cruise ship cabin, being on the bottom floor, with views looking up to street level through the smallish front window. The floors are faux wood overlay (there’s a name for this that begins with a p, but I can’t think of it [we gotcha...Parquet...pergo]). Otherwise, it is an entirely unremarkable redo [would have to agree with you here]. It has been reduced once since being listed in January [originally $279,000].
I know this is San Francisco, but to me this property is absurdly priced with no parking and no extra storage [both are leased nearby, but where to put your shoes is the real question], and being a mere 7 feet wide and roughly 35 feet long. That’s over $800 a square foot. I would love to meet the chump [we're rolling with this word, but prefer a kinder approach] who finally buys this place and interview him. The first question would be what he does for a living, and the second question would be whether he ever thought at his salary/career level he would be living in a closet.
D.W.”
We’d have to agree this is quite the place. Of course, if this doesn’t work for you, you could buy any of the other 6 TICs in the building…scratch that, 56 just went into contract and 54A is pending. So apparently this new price is creating some interest.
-56B Woodward [mls]
-6 TICs on Woodward [mls]
Tags: san francisco, theFrontSteps
Thanks to “Boom”, who commented on one of our posts, and provided us with this link to the latest Bay Area Home Sale Activity for April 2007, which we copied below to show you just how San Francisco stacked up to the same month last year. [source: Data Quick]
Our problem with relying on zip code data for median prices and market trends in San Francisco is the fact that the zip code doesn’t necessarily jive with the neighborhood and common type of property being purchased in those areas. Examples: 94115 is Pacific Heights, but it also includes Lower Pacific Heights and the Western Addition; 94110 is the Mission, but also Bernal Heights; 94121 is Central and Outer Richmond, but also Sea Cliff. See where we’re going with this?
Regardless, here are some cool “real time” graphs you might find interesting as well. (Graphs are only for Single Family Residences.)
Innner Richmond, Laurel/Presidio Heights
Central/Outer Richmond, Sea Cliff
Marina/Cow Hollow
Parkside
Pacific Heights, Lower Pacific Heights, Western Addition
Mission, Bernal Heights,
Noe Valley, Corona Heights, Duboce Triangle
Mission Bay/Potrero Hill/SOMA, South Beach
South Beach, SOMA, Financial District
If you’d like your zip charted, contact us.
-Your chance at fame…or missed fortune [sfn BLOG]
-More Stats & Numbers [sfn BLOG]
[image sources: Data Quick; and Altos Research]
Tags: Bernal Heights, Parkside, Potrero Hill, san francisco
“Can I ask what your opinion is about buying an investment property
down at the mission bay area now? You know, the ones like on King or
Berry street. Do you think those prices are coming down and do you
think they will come down? I saw on your last “sold” list, they were
all under asking. I would think of an investment property for 5-10
years down the line.”
D.C.-San Francisco
_________________
As answered by Mary Fenton, of Sotheby’s International Realty www.marylaughlinfenton.com
If you want to buy and hold, I think that is a great area as it is going
to be the hub of great scientific activity. The area attracts young and
older buyers who are downsizing and moving into the city, and commuters
who want to be close to the freeways. Mission Bay should be a great
thriving area within the next 5-10 years.
Mary
Tags: san francisco
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