May 16, 2012
Julius & Julia On The Wall
Julia Morgan designed in 1908 overlooking the Presidio (and Julius Kahn playground today), the six bedroom home at 3377 Pacific Avenue has returned to the market listed for $11,500,000 having last traded for $4,750,000 in 1998 and remodeled in-between.
The Presidio Heights property now features a six burner Thermador range in the kitchen; a five car garage; four full bathrooms; a legitimate three (thousand) bottle wine cellar; two powder rooms; and one rather fine backyard (both literally and figuratively speaking).
∙ Listing: 3377 Pacific Avenue (6/5) - $11,500,000 [smithtaylorsf.com]
Readers' Comments (10) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Design & Architecture, Listings (for sale)
North Beach Pagoda Theater Set To Be Sold To New Yorkers Today?
According to a tipster, Joel Campos who purchased the long shuttered North Beach Pagoda Theater in 2004 and waged a long battle to secure approvals to develop the blighted building is in contract to sell the shell to a New York based developer today.
While we haven’t been able to confirm the details, we’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.
And once again, as the approved conversion of the Pagoda Theater into 18 condos over ground floor commercial and 27 parking spaces was last rendered:
∙ North Beach Pagoda Theater Plans Approved By Planning, But... [SocketSite]
∙ Inside The “Landmark” Pagoda Theater (And Tussle) In North Beach [SocketSite]
∙ Pagoda Theater Preview (And Signs Of Progress All Around) [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (13) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Bay Buildings, Commercial, Neighborhoods, RandomRumors, SocketSite Readers Report
555 Mission In Contract At $800 Per Foot, Highest Price Since 2007
Having leased the 14,718 square foot penthouse atop 555 Mission Street for seven years at a rate of $84 per square foot in 2008, in 2009 Sequoia Capital subleased the penthouse to Novak Druce Quigg for the remainder of their lease at a 40 percent discount ($50 per square foot) without escalation.
As plugged-in people know, Sequoia had "intended to use this space for creating a new public securities investment fund, not for making SF-based VC investments."
With 555 Mission now 88 percent occupied, Union Investment is in contract to buy the building for $445 million, or $800 a square foot, "the highest price paid for a downtown San Francisco building since Morgan Stanley Real Estate bought One Market Plaza for $925 a square foot...in 2007."
∙ 555 Mission: Sequoia’s Penthouse Sublease At 40 Percent Off [SocketSite]
∙ Tishman to sell 555 Mission for $445M [Business Times]
Readers' Comments (3) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Bay Buildings, Commercial
May 15, 2012
8 Washington Watch: Development Approved!
In just under an hour at 4pm, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hear the appeals and either uphold or overturn the Planning Commission’s approvals for the 8 Washington Street development. Feel free to plug in and comment during the hearings.
Bonus points for breaking the Board's news as well as best quotes.
UPDATE: A plugged-in Steven Aiello reports at 12:58AM:
[Environmental Impact Report approval] upheld 8-3
[Conditional Use Authorization approval] upheld 8-3
The 8 Washington Street development has been approved by the Board of Supervisors.
∙ 8 Washington Could Be Approved, Financial Deal And All, Next Week [SocketSite]
∙ Planning Approves 8 Washington Street Development As Proposed [SocketSite]
∙ Tennis Anyone? No Longer At 8 Washington As Now Proposed... [SocketSite]
∙ Protest Alert: Rally Against 8 Washington [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (23) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: As Proposed, Breaking News, Neighborhoods, SocketSite Readers Report
Bay Area NIMBY’s Take Note (Golden Gate Bridge Edition)
As John King and a reader note: "Critics depicted the [Golden Gate Bridge] as financially unsound, legally dubious, an aesthetic blight and an engineering hazard in the decade before the start of construction in 1933."
∙ Golden Gate Bridge construction - and indignation [SFGate]
Readers' Comments (17) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Bay Buildings, Design & Architecture
The 380 14th Street (AKA 299 Valencia) Sales Scoop
A plugged-in tipster reports with respect to 299 Valencia:
My friend just opened escrow on a unit there. The models aren’t even open to the public yet, elevator isn’t installed, lobby still under construction...just agents bringing clients in through a back staircase. Yet the building is almost 60% sold, according to the agent. The 4 BMRs aren’t even priced yet. They’re projecting the first closings for mid/late June.
Also noted by our tipster, "the building is called '299 Valencia' but the address on deeds will actually be 380 14th Street. It’s going to be up to the Post Office if they’ll honor mail addressed to 299 Valencia."
∙ 299 Valencia Unwrapped [SocketSite]
∙ 299 Valencia Scheduled To Start Selling To Hipsters Next Month [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (17) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: New Developments, SocketSite Readers Report
Is A Lack Of Density Cooking San Francisco's Golden Tech Goose?
As we first wrote back in 2007:
Going green might be trendy (and we’re all for it), but as far as we’re concerned it’s a focus on density (and infill) that will define the next era in San Francisco’s development, neighborhoods, and lifestyle.
As San Francisco startups scramble to secure increasingly expensive talent and space in which to house them, are local planning policies, regulations and NIMBY’s to blame? And are we at risk of slow cooking our golden technology goose?
∙ The Next Era In San Francisco’s Development: It’s All About Density [SocketSite]
∙ Why The Bay Area Should Have 11 Million Residents Today [forbes.com]
Readers' Comments (38) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Real Estate Economics
The Vision (And Financing) For SF’s Wholesale Produce Market
With a vision for reinventing the San Francisco Wholesale Produce Market that's been on the boards, the city of San Francisco is preparing to back the $96 million initiative.
Under legislation that Lee and Supervisor Malia Cohen will introduce Tuesday, the nonprofit San Francisco Market Corp. will sign a new 60-year lease that calls for rent revenue from merchants to be used in a three-phase effort to redevelop and expand the market to an adjacent city-owned parcel at 901 Rankin St., currently a parking lot and storage site.
The nonprofit San Francisco Market Corp. is expected to borrow to cover up-front construction costs and pay it off with rent revenue. Once the upgrades and expansion are paid for, remaining rent revenue would go to the city's general fund, its main spending account.
As proposed, the two blocks of Jerrold Avenue that currently bisect the market will be closed and the market will expand from 300,000 to 500,000 square feet.
∙ SFWPM Past and Future [sfproduce.org]
∙ S.F. produce market to get $100 million upgrade [SFGate]
Readers' Comments (6) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: As Proposed, Commercial, Neighborhoods
May 14, 2012
55 Laguna: The Latest Rehabilitation Plans And Progress
Having purchased the former UC Berekely Extension campus at 55 Laguna last year, the new owners have filed an application to rehabilitate Richardson and Woods halls.
The proposal is to rehabilitate Richardson Hall for use as senior services, senior housing (40 dwelling units), and retail and/or office space in new excavated space created behind the Hermann/Laguna Street retaining wall; to rehabilitate Woods Hall for use as housing (21 dwelling units); and, to rehabilitate Woods Hall Annex for use as a community center.
At the exterior, the work at all three buildings will generally include creating several new wall openings, selective window replacement and/or modification, seismic upgrades, maintenance and repair work, and in‐kind roof repair and/or replacement.
The redevelopment and building of 413 housing units on the six acre Hayes Valley campus was first approved by Planning in 2008 and subsequently entitled.
With respect to the latest designs for the buildings and open space to be built in the middle of the campus, which includes 109 apartments sponsored by Openhouse for low-income LGBT seniors, we’ll keep you plugged-in.
∙ 55 Laguna Back In Play [SocketSite]
∙ 55 Laguna: Approved On Appeal And In Front Of San Francisco’s BOS [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (8) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Bay Buildings, Design & Architecture, Neighborhoods, New Developments
