Gregory San Francisco Real Estate Blog

That’s Rather Hideous: San Jose Marbleopolis Edition

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:02:35 -0600

That's Rather Hideous: San Jose Marbleopolis Edition

November 3rd, 2009

Burbed has already burned this $1,688,000 5-bedroom "Mediterranean Villa" in San Jose pretty hard, so we'll let the pictures speak for themselves. Suffice to say that someone took very seriously some advice from a certain SNL sketch: "Put marble columns in your house, that place is gonna look like a mansion!" Oooh. La. La.
· 6456 Guadalupe Mines Rd, San Jose [Redfin, via Burbed]

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The Trick-or-Treat List: Winner of Zillow's best neighborhood in...

November 3rd, 2009

Winner of Zillow's best neighborhood in which to go trick-or-treating this Saturday: Presidio Heights, based on some complex alchemy involving sexy things like Walk Score, population density, and crime data. Among other things, Zillow says, the neighborhood "tops our Index because of high home values (read: better, bigger candy)." These guys have their priorities in the right place. The next four neighborhoods: Noe Valley, the Richmond, Haight-Ashbury, and the Sunset. [Zillow]

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ConstructionWatch: Zen Rentals Next to LGBT Center Get Going

November 3rd, 2009

Hard to believe, but the very large, very vacant site at 1844 Market St, next to the LGBT Center, has actually been stirring for a few months now: dirt movers, a crane, the works! This, after snail's pace progress on the empty lot finally halted at one point and went toward a strange "ramshackle cabana" installment, as we reported in July of last year. A quick refresher: developer BayRock Residential and Christiani Johnson Architects are bringing an eight-story, 113-rental-unit building to the site, complete with ground-floor retail and "Zen Garden, roof deck with city views and lush courtyards." This past spring, the SF Business Times reported that BayRock was eager as hell to unload their failed Trader Joe's condo project on Van Ness and Sutter- having chopped their asking price for the site from $18 million to a paltry $8 million.
· Construction Watch: Condos to Cabanas at 1844 Market Street [Curbed SF]
· Coming Soon: Monastic Condos on Upper Market [Curbed SF]

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Listing Inflation: Alcove Makes a Junior One-Bedroom

November 3rd, 2009

Catch another fine specimen of Listing Inflation? To the Curbed Inbox with you!

It's a pretty cushy Nob Hill location. It's got $805 a month homeowners dues, but it's also got a 24-hour doorman, a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and all that. So what gives? For $420,000, buyer gets a "JR1BR with a lrg alcove," as seen above. Just to clarify: a make-out nook passes for the bedroom part of a junior one-bedroom at 1177 California. Duly noted.
· 1177 California St #230 [Redfin, via Curbed Inbox]

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Solar Tree: Given the flap over a solar...

November 3rd, 2009

Given the flap over a solar panel installation on an Upper Haight couple's home, it makes total sense that an entrepreneur would want to get into the business of solar panels that are more aesthetically pleasing- and less, say, "embarrassing." That's why photovoltaics engineer and industrial designer real estate agent Greg Strang of Burlingame invented the "Electrisitree," a small tree that converts sunlight hitting its plastic-looking leaves into usable energy. Did he succeed? We'll leave the verdict on this one to the wise, invisible hands of the free market. [SF Examiner, previously]

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CitiApartments Boss Wrote Bad Checks in Vegas Too

November 3rd, 2009

Will there ever be an end to the sordid tales of CitiApartments First Apartments? It seems the managing director of parent company Lembi Group, Walter Lembi, has been allegedly passing bad checks. Oh, about $298,500 worth. Gambling in Las Vegas. The sort of thing one might not expect from a company that's returning tenuous deposit checks to its tenants, or withholding them altogether. (That deposit money's got to go somewhere, and what other place should it go than the gambling fancies of its boss!) Anyway, the county attorney's office is on the case with Lembi's attorney, and Lembi has until Sunday to comply - after which a nationwide warrant would be issued for the man. Dreams of white bronco chases: go.
· Real estate leader's name on bad-check warrant [SFGate]

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Wednesday PM Linkage

November 3rd, 2009

["Cause for Concern," via Curbed SF Flickr photog Troy Holden, aka the artist formerly known as Plug1]

· 69% would live with ghosts for cheaper rent! [Consumerist]
· The Bay Bridge is closed! Why it's the "right move" [Bloomberg]
· And now BART might even run overnight [SF Appeal]
· Arnold's letter: 1 in 8 billion chance it was accidental [Eye on Blogs]
· Aerial San Francisco: shots from a Cessna "Skylane" [Laughing Squid]
· P. Hill murder/suicide house sells [SF Schtuff]

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PriceChopper: Frankenstein in Forest Hill

November 3rd, 2009

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Then: $2,199,000
Now: $1,979,000
You Save: $220,000

The casual observer should probably be forgiven if, say, he or she stumbles on a house like 21 Castenada Ave. in Forest Hill (built this very year!) and mistakes it for an exurban McMansion destined to meet an untimely end in foreclosure. Those balcony railings. The baby pedement pediment. The mustard yellow paint job. What to say! But then said observer walks in and finds a South Beach loft. In need of an intervention? Perhaps. Deeply confusing? Definitely. (The "green roof" is an interesting twist, though.)
· 21 Castenada Ave [Redfin]

Thursday PM Linkage

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:01:20 -0600

Thursday PM Linkage

November 3rd, 2009

["333 Market," via Curbed SF Flickr photog Jeremy Brooks]

· City bused 4,000 homeless back to hometowns [SF Examiner]
· Halloween report: the Richmond is spooky [SF Appeal]
· BART chronicles: people sitting on floor [IBA]
· That Koolhaas hotel fire in China: repairs are under way [AP]
· Hyatt Regency Embarcadero: love/hate for 13 [SF Citizen]

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Gavin: Yes on Signs: It's not quite the 11th hour,...

November 3rd, 2009

It's not quite the 11th hour, but the previously silent Gavin has come out in favor of Mid-Market's Prop D, the measure to allow signage on Market Street between 5th and 7th. The mayor's support, however, may not make much difference come Tuesday. As City Insider notes: "He has notoriously short coattails and has trouble seeing his picks gain favor among voters." Oh, but he's so suave, that Gavin. [City Insider, previously]

The California Connection(s) To Tishman Speyer’s Manhattan Flop

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:59:44 -0600

The California Connection(s) To Tishman Speyer's Manhattan Flop

October 25th, 2009

As a plugged-in reader notes, Tishman Speyer's led 2006 investment of $5.4 billion in Manhattan's Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village continues to head south with all equity investors likely being wiped out. Amongst those equity investors, the California Public...

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Mayor Newsom Double Dips For SF General Hospital Addition

October 25th, 2009

Mayor Newsom double dipped on the ground breaking circuit this week, first for the SFPUC building on Wednesday, and yesterday for the 448,000 square foot San Francisco General Hospital addition which is scheduled to open in 2015. ∙ 525...

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Former Thirteen Million Dollar Mansions And New Comps To The South

October 25th, 2009

While a plugged-in reader reports that 200 Manzanita down in Woodside "that sold for $13.8mm back in 2000 just sold for $8mm (after trying to get more than they paid and following the market down for three years)," according to...

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One Word: Target. Okay, Four: Target At The Metreon?

October 25th, 2009

While Tavern on the Green's bankruptcy likely killed an outpost in San Francisco's Metreon Center, the San Francisco Business Times reports the center's makeover might not be the only big thing in the works: Metreon owners Westfield and Forest...

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<strike>Dark</strike> Light Passage At 1360 Montgomery: Outside And Atop

October 25th, 2009

Designed by Irvin Goldstine and built in 1937, the Art Moderne Malloch building at 1360 Montgomery played a role in Dark Passage starring Bogart and Bacall. Originally twelve apartments, the building was subsequently converted to condominiums. And while the...

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430 Main/429 Beale Development Delayed

October 25th, 2009

Approved by Planning with a 6-1 vote in May, according to a plugged-in reader the Board of Supervisors voted 10-2 10-0 in favor of an appeal of the 430 Main/429 Beale project. As such, the proposed six-story and 113-unit...

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A Potentially Bitter Apple In Lower Pacific Heights: 3016 Pine Returns

October 25th, 2009

As a reader notes, 3016 Pine Street is back on the market and is now listed for $2,350,000. On the market six months ago asking $2,595,000 before being withdrawn, purchased in July 2006 for $2,725,000. As another plugged-in reader...

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CitiApartments Is No More! Well, Sort Of...

October 25th, 2009

A plugged-in tipster reports: Just finishing up escrow on our first condo purchase and trying to get out of...CitiApartments. This morning called them and a receptionist answered "First Apartments how can I assist you?" First Apartments? I asked her, is...

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Actual San Francisco Foreclosures Up 31.6% QOQ (Down 6.8% YOY)

October 25th, 2009

Bay Area Notices of Default (NODs) in the third quarter of 2009 rose 25.2% on a year-over-year basis, up 72.0% in San Francisco proper (from 353 to 607). NOD activity in San Francisco increased 3.1% from the second to...

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Take Two To Stimulate New-Home Purchases In California

October 25th, 2009

"Last week, the California Senate passed a bill 35-1 that would provide $30 million in tax credits to about 4,000 additional new-home purchases [up to $10,000 a piece]. The bill now moves to the Assembly floor, which could take it...

Coming to the Mission: Pimp My Auto Body Shop

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:58:34 -0600

Coming to the Mission: Pimp My Auto Body Shop

November 3rd, 2009

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

This nine-unit adaptive reuse project was approved last week for 3135 24th St in the Mission, a former auto body shop. Planning commissioners dug Y.A. Studio's "innovative" design, which - beyond simply tacking two more floors on top of the existing two-story structure - allows for flats, two-story units, and three-story units. (One commissioner even suggested the project be used as a "prototype" for similar ones around the city.) Also, according to the project sponsor, computer modeling shows that the "roof line is invisible" to the average-height person, set back from the street frontage as it is- the kind of thing that tends to set preservation-minded heads nodding in approval. The neighborhood appears to be pretty stoked about the ground floor, which is set for what's being called the Mission Independent Retail Collective, a sort of small business incubator modeled after ActivSpace at 18th and Treat. Fun fact! The previous owner of the project (and auto shop) was known to locals as the Mad Russian, and he could apparently fix up a mean body. Construction's planned for January, to be finished within a year.
· From Auto Repair Shop to New Housing [Mission Loc@l]

City’s Homebuyer Loan Program Is Running Out of Dough

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:57:39 -0600

City's Homebuyer Loan Program Is Running Out of Dough

November 3rd, 2009

The Mayor's Office of Housing has joined the banks in tightening its purse strings, or putting its plastic in the freezer, as it were. As a result, potential homebuyers who would otherwise be eligible for the city's loan program are getting frozen out. The downpayment assistance loan program, which offers loans for first-time homebuyers who are within a certain range of the city's median income, is "running low" on funds- and is "therefore restricting limited funds to stabilize those communities with the greatest need." One prospective buyer was caught off guard recently: "My husband and I were in contract for 26 days when we were floored by the Mayor's Office of Housing's announcement that it will no longer be offering downpayment assistance to individuals who make between 100 and 120% of area median income. We had to back out of our contract and are no longer going to be able to afford a home in San Francisco."
· Downpayment Assistance Loan Program (DALP) [MOH]

Comment of the Day: "Newsom has a tendency to express…

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:56:07 -0600

Comment of the Day: "Newsom has a tendency to express...

November 3rd, 2009

"Newsom has a tendency to express ‘ideas' before thinking them through. This is typical. I can understand the removal of cars and diverting some of MUNI's bus service, but the removal of the ‘F' line is idiotic. I've seen streetcars in major arteries (without cars) work very successfully. In fact, the F Line should be free to encourage people to explore Market Street." -bennyinsf [Market Street: Car-Free AND Muni-Free?]

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Tuesday PM Linkage

November 3rd, 2009

["blue," via Curbed SF Flickr photog eb78]

· Meet Architizer, the Facebook for architects [Website]
· Habitat for Humanity's latest project: a home in Novato [Bay Area]
· An interview with CCA's director of architecture [Arch Daily]
· Free Wi-Fi for Treasure Island [SF Examiner]
· Real estate agents: armed and dangerous [CBS 5]
· Home prices still heading up [CNN]

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Rumblings & Bumblings: Hibernia Bank's "Scaffolding" Fakeout

November 3rd, 2009

TENDERLOIN: A reader alerted us this morning to scaffolding going up around Hibernia Bank. Is something afoot? Actually, it looks like more of "your tax dollars at work," a Jones Street sidewalk renovation that's due to finish in December. Too bad, a nip/tuck would so suit the dilapidated building, which was bought for $3.95 million last fall. Alas, will Hibernia ever awaken from her soot-encrusted slumber?
· Hibernia Freshens Up a Bit [Curbed SF]
· Hibernia Bank Buyer REVEALED [Curbed SF]

Rendering Reveal: More Affordable Housing for Mission St.

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:55:16 -0600

Rendering Reveal: More Affordable Housing for Mission St.

November 3rd, 2009

Tenderloin Neighborhood Development's planning another development outside of its hood with a 13-story, 100-unit building in SoMa that'll fill in an empty parking lot and house the low-incomers. About 20 percent of the units will be allocated for the homeless, while the rest is for very low-income families. The building at 1036 Mission is designed by Solomon E.T.C., who's also doing the large, market-rate Central Freeway project at 401 Grove St. Clearly, the economic downturn has spiked a good number of market-rate projects, but the nonprofit developments continue unabated- there's another TNDC development in the works just down the street at 1400 Mission, while the family housing project at 1390 Mission has just about wrapped up. Oh, let's not forget the "affordable upscale" going in at 1415 Mission, too.

Dear Tom: Boy is this making the rounds…

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:54:24 -0600

Dear Tom: Boy is this making the rounds...

November 3rd, 2009

Boy is this making the rounds today. Last week the SF Examiner noted that Governor Arnold vetoed a bill that would have allowed San Francisco to issue bonds for the rebuild of crumbly Pier 70 into offices and retail. At the time, the paper noted that the governor's letter to Assemblyman Tom Ammiano - the guy who catcalled the guv with "kiss my gay ass" some days earlier - said "major issues are overlooked while many unnecessary bills come to me for consideration." Today, the Chron took a closer look at the actual letter and noticed that, in classic spy style, the leftmost letters spell out "Fuck You" vertically. Hilarity has, naturally, ensued, though Schwarzenegger's office says it's only a "weird coincidence." As if the governor's that clever, right? [SFGate, previously]

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Artist Maya Lin: Doneski?: Artist/architect Maya Lin, who designed the...

November 3rd, 2009

Artist/architect Maya Lin, who designed the California Academy of Science's wireframe thing of San Francisco's hills, might have created her last art piece memorial!, ever. That would be "What is Missing?", a big cone thing also at the Academy that is a tribute to extinct animal species. Lin rocketed to design fame when she won a blind competition at the age of 21 to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in D.C., and now her office is saying that she's done for good. [Arch Paper, previously]

Dark Days Redux: Home prices among over a dozen…

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:53:35 -0600

Dark Days Redux: Home prices among over a dozen...

November 3rd, 2009

Home prices among over a dozen metropolitan areas have risen for the third consecutive month, but that can be attributed to a last-minute rush to get in on an expiring homebuyer tax credit, plus low interest rates. Both things are about to go gentle into that good night, meaning declines in home prices are probably headed our way, and that there's "plenty of pain yet to come." The NYT: "Millions of people have lost so much equity that they are locked into their homes for years, a modern variation of the Victorian debtor's prison that is freezing a large swath of the market." [NYT]

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That’s Rather Lovely: "Potrero Hill Gem" Gets a Price Chop

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:52:52 -0600

That's Rather Lovely: "Potrero Hill Gem" Gets a Price Chop

November 3rd, 2009

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Was: $1,350,000
Then: $1,275,000
Now: $1,198,000
You Save: $152,000

The "Potrero Hill gem" at 870 Kansas St looks, quite true its word, "extensively remodeled" and given a contemporary treatment of space and light. The 4-bed, 2-bath place makes for a pretty spacious abode with 2,459 square feet. Pretty sweet: those fold-away doors to the patio.
· 870 Kansas St [Redfin]

Rent Check: 2-Bedroom Lofts at Bluxome and 6th

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:47:58 -0500

Rent Check: 2-Bedroom Lofts at Bluxome and 6th

October 25th, 2009

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

It's not a full dress rehearsal yet, but the homes we caught at Bluxome and 6th back in August of last year seem to be ready for showtime now. The 2-bedroom lofts at 178 Bluxome St are setting up for November move-ins- in the meantime, there'll be open houses both days this weekend from 1 to 4 p.m. The "roommate-friendly" units start at $2,500 and appear to go up to $3,100.
· OPEN SATURDAY! ROOMMATE FRIENDLY! BRAND NEW LOFT CONDOS! [Craigslist]
· Ask Curbed SF: More Condos for Bluxome Street? [Curbed SF]

Gregory San Francisco Real Estate Blog

That’s Rather Hideous: San Jose Marbleopolis Edition

Thursday PM Linkage

The California Connection(s) To Tishman Speyer’s Manhattan Flop

Coming to the Mission: Pimp My Auto Body Shop

City’s Homebuyer Loan Program Is Running Out of Dough

Comment of the Day: "Newsom has a tendency to express…

Rendering Reveal: More Affordable Housing for Mission St.

Dear Tom: Boy is this making the rounds…

Dark Days Redux: Home prices among over a dozen…

That’s Rather Lovely: "Potrero Hill Gem" Gets a Price Chop

Rent Check: 2-Bedroom Lofts at Bluxome and 6th

Comment of the Day: "The new Target business model is…

Friday PM Linkage

SF Market’s on the Mend: Condo sales, price chops, and "attractive…

Curbed Guide: Central Freeway Developments

On the Market For Real: Pac Heights’ "Party of Five" House

Friday PM Linkage

City Slapped With a Lawsuit Over General Advertising Ban

Bike Parking Brainstorm: Put ‘Em in the Streets, and Beater Bikes Everywhere!

ConstructionWatch: Octavia Court, First of the Freeway Lots

On the Market: The Hayes’ First Resale, A Year and a Half In

That’s Rather White: Squinting Necessary at IronWorks Pad

Reader Versus Realtor: Did 2151 Green Street Just Sell At Auction?

How Many Listings Go Pending Within 30 Days?

Foreclosure Program Could Be a Bit Bigger Faster Stronger