51 San Francisco condo residents are going to live in the unwrapped version of this south Financial District project. The architects at Heller Manus have created wonderful multi-level spaces in this classic brick warehouse building between 1st and 2nd Streets on Stevenson and Ecker Place. The project is in the heart of the financial district and downtown and is easy walking distance to everything from AT&T Park to the waterfront and BART and Chinatown. 

The building is reinforced brick masonry and celebrates the high ceilings and building elements that can be found in classic architecture from the early days of the 20th century. Brick is a rare material that requires they seismic rehabilitation that was done on this building in the 1970's. 

Current plans call for the following units:

• 27 Studios ranging from 476-843 sf
• 12 1BR’s ranging from 612-1000 sf
• 12 2BR’s ranging from 987-1270 sf

Occupation is scheduled for May of this year. Please contact me at 415.630.0204 if you are interested in getting on the list for this building.

The San Francisco Business Times reported on a land boom in the Mission Street area between sixth and ninth. This SOMA area has long been run-down and neglected and the opening of the SOMA Grand has been a welcome shot in the arm to the local economy. New businesses and restaurants are driving up land values and creating a welcome change to the past decades of decay.

SOMA Grand is well positioned in the center of the San Francisco’s Mid-Market Redevelopment Area and should quickly benefit from the increased population brought to the area by such draws as the new Westfield Shopping Center (Bloomingdales), Mint Paza, adjacent Federal Building, and the eventual redevelopment of Trinity Plaza on the west side of the SOMA Grand. This increase in daily visitors and residents should continue to drive the redevelopment of the area and attract even more services. Already confirmed is a restaurant concept at SOMA Grand by San Francisco’s Slanted Door restaurateur Charles Phan.

SOMA Grand availability and sales figures.

• 22 story tower, top floor includes penthouses.
• 246 total units
• 35% sold
• 1 bedroom priced: $530k - high $700s
• 2 bedrooms priced: $750k - $1.2M
• 3 bedrooms priced: $900k - $1.1M
• 3 bedroom penthouses priced: $1.8M -$1.9M

There are still some 301 Mission St condos left in the D stack of the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. That's the south east corner of the tower which is located in the Transbay Terminal redevelopment area. That corner of the building has great views, particularly above the 26th floor and up to the very high floors. 

The Millennium Tower is 60 stores, 645 feet tall and will be the fourth tallest building in San Francisco. There are a total of 440 units of which 320 will be sold as residences. The balance of the units will be managed as an extended stay property.   

You can see more details and read regular high rise condo updates at my blog, SFNewDevelopments.com.

Act now if you want a San Francisco condo in the first tower of One Rincon Hill. This beautiful high rise sitting on Rincon Hill will be the second tallest residential structure west of the Mississippi and there are only eight units remaining as of December 20, 2007. Among the choice San Francisco view condos remaining is a fantastic 3 bedroom penthouse looking out at Twin Peaks, San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The crews working on Rincon Hill are making progress on construction with concrete driveways being poured, construction cranes coming down, and scaffolding going up for the facades of the town homes. Closings are scheduled to begin on this tower within six weeks.

We have already formed an interest list for the second tower at One Rincon Hill. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2008 and sales will begin in the first half of the year. In 2008 construction activity will continue on multiple projects on Rincon Hill and the early adopters will have a better chance to grab the units they want.

picture via “Downtown Dave” at skyscraperpage.com

767 Bryant in the SOMA district of San Francisco is back on the market with Vanguard Properties in charge of the sales effort. These lofts are priced in the mid $500 per square foot range; an aggessive price anywhere for South of Market residential property. The SOMA area in San Francisco is still a very active market with half a dozen listings popping up on Craigslist nearly every day.

These residences offer a variety of floor plans ranging from 908 sq. ft. to a very spacious 3,496 sq. ft (asking somewhere in the mid 1.5M range).

Some sample unit prices

• #206 2BD/3BA 1588sf - $819,000 (about $514 psf)
• #201 2BD/3BA 1708sf - $865,000 (about $506 psf)
• #210 2BD/3BA 2041sf - $1,039,000 (about $509 psf)

BayRock Residential continues with their plans for a proposed 110+- unit high rise condominium project that includes more than 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail space. The retail is rumored to be occupied by a high end grocery store to serve the neighborhood. The premium site with great Nob Hill and Union Square views will feature larger than usual units with upgraded cabinets, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, high speed elevators and a subterranean garage. The building will have excellent frontage along Van Ness Avenue, with additional vehicle access on Sutter Street and Hemlock Street.

The 13 story project is being designed by Christiani Johnson Architects. Current plans have the tower set back from Van Ness and stepping down to a lower segment, following the slope of Sutter to the east.

These images from the Sutter Van Ness Community web site show the exciting design that will bring vitality and freshness to the Van Ness corridor.

The SOMA or borderline South Financial District project known as BLU (or “BLŪ”) has just been topped off. The 21 story tower on 2nd and Folsom in San Francisco is scheduled for move-in / completion in June of 2008.

The building has mainly two bedroom units ranging from 950 to 1200 square feet on the first 19 floors. The top of the building features six two level penthouses, each with three bedrooms. The penthouse units range from 2000 to 2700 square feet.

The best interior images to date are from my friends at The Front Steps who got some renderings from Zum.

As always, please contact me if you want to be placed on the interest list for this property.

2007 has been an active year for new developments in San Francisco. I will be writing a series of posts about the different neighborhoods where development is most active. I wanted to start with Rincon Hill since The Infinity and One Rincon Hill projects are both actively selling.

Rincon Hill in San Francisco is a twelve-block area close to downtown. Rincon Hill is south of the Financial District and Transbay District, and north of the South Beach neighborhood. It is bounded generally by Folsom Street, the Embarcadero, Bryant Street, Beale Street, the Bay Bridge approach and Essex Street. The area is defi ned by Rincon hill itself, which crests near First and Harrison Streets; the Bay Bridge, near the southern edge of the district between Harrison and Bryant Streets; and the waterfront, which curves around the base of the hill.

This area is highly visible because it forms a gateway to the city as seen from the Bay Bridge and is prominently located adjacent to downtown and the waterfront. The district currently houses many parking lots, older industrial lots, as well as a few recently built residential buildings. The Rincon Hill Plan aims to transform Rincon Hill into a mixed-use downtown neighborhood with a signifi cant housing presence, while providing the full range of services and amenities that support urban living. This plan will set the stage for Rincon Hill to become home to as many as 10,000 new residents. The need for new housing in San Francisco is great. Rincon Hill is a high-priority housing site for the following reasons:

1. The area contains a number of large vacant or underutilized parcels that could accommodate a large number of housing units in mid-rise and high-rise development. Few locations in the city represent such a major opportunity.

2. The land is presently underused. Thus, introduction of major new housing development will not cause many disruptive dislocations or harm the physical quality of an existing neighborhood.

3. Rincon Hill is a five-minute walk from the financial district. It has easy access to public transit, has benefited from the Rincon Point-South Beach redevelopment project on the southeastern waterfront, particularly the construction of the Waterfront Promenade along the Embarcadero, and will benefit from the Transbay redevelopment project to the north of Folsom Street.

4. With the removal of the Embarcadero Freeway and the proposal for a new Transbay Terminal, there is an opportunity to plan comprehensively for the Transbay district and Rincon Hill together as one neighborhood centered on Folsom Street.

Fillmore Heritage condos are over 70% sold. As of early December, 2007 there there are still 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units available in this high rise in San Franciso's historic Fillmore district. The Devrouax & Purnell designed Fillmore Heritage Center includes not just the residential condos, but Yoshi's Jazz Club, and Japanese restaurant as two of the anchor tenants.

Jazz is going to be back at full swing in the Fillmore with Yoshi's bringing in acts like Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, and others. Yoshi's just had their grand opening a few days ago and it looks great as you can see in the picture below.

The amenities in this project include:

• 24 hour lobby attendant
• private parking for each unit
• 10,000 square foot courtyard
• State of the art building security
• Exterior Art

Of the Available Units:

• 1 Bedrooms range from mid-700 sq. ft to mid-800 sq. ft. and start in the upper $600’s
• 2 Bedrooms range from approx. 1115 sq. ft up to about 1407 sq. ft and start in the upper $700’s
• 3 Bedrooms are about 1500 sq. ft. and start in the mid $900’s

You can see more details at my San Francisco New Developments blog.

Yoshi's dining area and stage

Sales Report: Radiance after a torrid first release - they have anywhere from 43-49 in reservation/contract (they are quoting a very rough "50%"). They have taken a mini-breather on their marketing (they haven't posted a Chron ad for several months now) as they are waiting for their models to be finished which they hope to be in January of 2008. Sales of the much larger Radiance II (316 condo units and two taller towers) will commence sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

Current Availability:

• 1BR's (847-1159sf) $649k-$957k
• 2BR's (1081-1391sf) $898k-$1.584M
• 2BR+Den (1339-1802sf) $1.166M-$1.878M
• 2BR+Den Townhomes (1683-1832sf) $1.354M-$2.231M

www.SFnewdevelopments.com for more info.

Contact top agent Mark Choey (415.630.0204) for sales availability and for early access to Radiance II