Waylaid Hotel Redesigned And Ready To Break Ground
July 16, 2015

Highgate Hotels has purchased the parking lot at 72 Ellis Street and intends to break ground for an upscale 11-story hotel with 156 guest rooms “as soon as possible.”

The site was first approved for development in 2001 but the project was waylaid by the dotcom collapse and decline in tourism following September 11th and then by “the collapse of the housing market and overall poor economic conditions” in San Francisco (which have since improved).

With the third extension of the original approval for the project set to expire on August 15 of this year, Highgate has engaged Handel Architects to refine and update the proposed design:

The updated project remains an 11-story building with 156 tourist guest rooms. The project would concentrate commercial retail use on the bottom two stories of the building, with a hotel entrance located in the far right bay of the façade.

The hotel is planned with a lobby and fitness area on the second floor.  Floors 3—11 would contain hotel rooms with a rooftop viewing terrace above…[and] the project does not include any off-street parking.

As a condition of the project’s original approval, the hotel’s final design was subject to review.  And according to Planning, “the final design of the updated project is appropriate for and consistent” with the Kearny‐Market-Mason‐Sutter Conservation District in which it is to be built and should soon rise.

When the project was approved in 2001, the annual hotel occupancy rate in San Francisco was 61.5%.   The hotel occupancy rate in San Francisco was 84.1% last year.

Articles and photos sourced from www.socketsite.com

San Francisco’s Downtown Plan And Monitoring Report
July 10, 2015

A core tenet of San Francisco’s Downtown Plan states, “without sufficient and appropriate housing to serve new commercial development, local housing costs [will] increase, thereby compromising the vitality of downtown.”

Or from the lead paragraph from the latest monitoring report for the Plan with respect to Housing:

“The Downtown Plan recognizes the effects that adding thousands of new jobs and millions of square feet of commercial space has on the demand for housing in the city. In addition to discouraging the loss of existing residential units in neighborhoods surrounding downtown to encroaching commercial uses, the Plan calls for increased housing production in and around downtown San Francisco, and suggests measures for new commercial development to cover some of the costs associated with producing new affordable housing.”
There are currently 5,366 units of housing in the pipeline for San Francisco’s downtown, which is roughly 10 percent of the 50,000 units in San Francisco’s housing pipeline overall.

At the same time, the number of households demanding housing in downtown San Francisco is projected to increase by 32,000, or 31 percent, over the next 25 years, including an additional 4,700 households in the Transbay District alone. And they won’t be residing on Transbay Block 5.

Articles and photos sourced from www.socketsite.com

Opposition Organizing To Squash Two ‘Waterfront’ Towers
June 12, 2015
100 Folsom Street Rendering

Opposition to the proposed twisty tower to rise up to 400-feet at the corner of Folsom and Spear, and the proposed 240-foot tower to rise at 75 Howard, is organizing. And next week, former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos is slated to rally residents and neighbors of the Infinity to join the cause against another “wall on the waterfront.”

From an email to “Save Rincon Park” which is quietly making the rounds:

Like the 8 Washington waterfront high-rise that San Francisco voters overwhelmingly rejected, the proposed 400 foot luxury condo towers at 160 Folsom Street and the proposed 240 foot luxury condo towers at 75 Howard Street on the Embarcadero would create the overwhelming effect of a wall on the waterfront. If approved, these two projects would overwhelm the waterfront and diminish the pedestrian experience, just as the old double-decker Embarcadero Freeway previously did for decades until it was finally removed.

The San Francisco Planning Department’s draft environmental review of 75 Howard found that it would have a significant detrimental impact on users of Rincon Park on the waterfront by increasing the shadows cast on Rincon Park and significantly eliminating sunlight on Rincon Park on most days throughout the year. The proposed 100 foot height limit increase to build a 400 foot luxury condo tower at 160 Folsom would also cast significant new shadows on Rincon Park on the waterfront.

San Francisco’s Sunlight Ordinance – Prop. K – was approved by voters in 1984 to protect city parks from falling into darkness from excessive shadowing by new high-rise developments. However, a loophole in the law exempts from protection waterfront parks under the jurisdiction of the Port – such as Rincon Park and the Embarcadero Promenade.

Since the proposed 160 Folsom project would be built primarily on public land dedicated for redevelopment it is required to have 35% of the units designated as affordable – whether it is built within the existing height limit or at the higher 400 foot height to allow for more luxury penthouses. The proposed 75 Howard project would have no on-site affordable housing.

The proposed developers of both 160 Folsom and 75 Howard have announced their intention to seek approval of their height limit increases and project proposals from the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors this summer. They have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on powerful lobbying firms to grease the wheels for their proposals to slide through City Hall. It will not be easy to defeat them – now is the time to stand up.
The Infinity, at which next week’s meeting will be held, includes two ‘waterfront’ towers which rise up to 400-feet across the street from the proposed tower at 100/160 Folsom.

Articles and photos sourced from : www.socketsite.com

The Richmond's 4-Star Theater Goes Up for Sale, Teases Condo Potential
Tuesday, June 2, 2015, by Tracy Elsen

The 4-Star Theater in the Richmond may not have the old-school charm of other independent theaters around town, but it has been running for more than 100 years. Now, however, the Clement Street spot is up for sale for $2.8 million, and it's targeting developers, not theater operators, as buyers, reports Richmond SF. The property is zoned for mixed-use development up to 40 feet, and the brokerbabble on the property's sale flier proclaims that there is "huge development potential for mixed use with condos."

The Lee family, who also operate the Presidio and Marina theaters, are the current proprietors of the 4-Star but rent the property from its owner, as Richmond SF notes. Unlike many of the other theaters that have gone up for sale in the past few years, the interiors of the 4-Star are in fairly good condition. They don't, however, have the grandeur of other old spots, like the Metro in Cow Hollow that is now an Equinox or the blighted Alexandria, which is slated to become residential housing. Of course, if developers do snap up the property, it won't matter what the interiors look like, anyway.

Articles and photos sourced from: www.sfcurbed.com 

Real Estate Roundup: San Francisco Luxury Condo Buyers Are the West’s Most Educated
June 1, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Weekly Real Estate News Roundups   

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious.
stanford_campus

The Stanford University campus in Palo Alto.

BAY AREA LUXURY BUYERS ARE A HIGHLY EDUCATED BUNCH
Do you hope to eventually become the proud owner of a high-end, high-rise unit in San Francisco? If one recent study is any indication, your chances get a whole lot better if you obtain an advanced degree.

Citing a survey of more than 12,000 luxury condo owners in six Western U.S. cities, The Wall Street Journal reports that 97 percent of buyers in San Francisco hold a bachelor’s degree or higher — tied with Seattle for the highest percentage of college-educated owners. The survey says that 60 percent of San Francisco luxury condo owners have graduate degrees, the most of the six cities by a sizable margin. Across the bay in Emeryville, 92 percent of luxury buyers have bachelor’s degrees or higher and 33 percent have earned advanced degrees.

According to the article, the Bay Area likely has brainier residents than other places due to its concentration of tech and biotech companies, which have many positions that require highly educated workers. Another reason is the region’s top-notch colleges, with one San Francisco real estate professional citing the city’s proximity to Stanford University as a factor.

NEW GRADS NEED SIX-FIGURE SALARIES TO MAKE RENT IN SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco’s plentiful, high-paying jobs are drawing recent college graduates from around the globe. However, these new workers may find it sobering to learn that they will need to earn three times more than the median income in order to afford San Francisco’s astronomical rents.

A recent Trulia study says that the median annual income for recent college graduates in San Francisco is $41,244, the most in the nation. But with a median monthly rent of $3,500 for a two-bedroom unit as of May, grads would actually need to pull in a yearly salary of $137,272 – also the most in the country — in order to afford to live comfortably. According to the company, 3.9 percent of rental properties in San Francisco are affordable to new grads, who need to take on an average of 2.3 housemates to meet the monthly payments.

Oakland also ranked among the top 10 markets where new grads require the largest yearly incomes: $76,971 to afford the $1,963 monthly rent. A recent Oakland grad can expect to earn $27,841 per year after earning his or her degree. Trulia says that just 0.8 percent of Oakland units are affordable for new grads, who would need to find 1.7 housemates.

Trulia concludes that “The lesson here for recent grads is that although it may be tempting to seek out metros with the highest wages, doing so may not necessarily lead to a better quality of life because these metros also have high rents.”

BAY AREA RESIDENTS CAN SAVE BIG BUCKS BY BUYING A HOME NOW
Bay Area residents who are tired of paying the aforementioned high rents and are considering buying might be surprised to learn how much money they can save by acting now while interest rates remain low.

Citing data from Realtor.com, a Bloomberg article estimates that San Jose buyers who can get in the market today will save almost $62,000 more than they would if they waited another year to purchase a home. The publication projects that San Francisco residents will save nearly $300,000 over the course of 30 years by purchasing a property instead of renting one.

Realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke told Bloomberg that it was no surprise that high-priced markets such as the Bay Area offered the greatest long-term financial reward, but he noted that a median-income household in San Jose could currently afford less than 10 percent of homes for sale.

U.S. PENDING HOME SALES HIGHEST SINCE 2006
Demand for real estate across the country remained strong during the traditionally busy spring buying season this year, with U.S. pending home sales reaching their highest level in nearly a decade.

The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index increased to 112.4 in April, up 3.4 percent from March and 14 percent from one year ago. April marked the fourth consecutive month of pending home sales gains, and the index is now at its highest point since May 2006, when it was at 112.5.

The PHSI in the West was 103.8 in April, a month-over-month increase of 0.1 percent, up 16.4 percent from one year earlier.

(Photo: Flickr/Don McCullough)

Major Mission District Development Racing To Beat A Moratorium
May 29, 2015

In a race against the adoption of either a legislative or ballot driven housing moratorium, plans to raze the majority of the Mission District block bounded by Bryant, 18th, Florida and 19th Streets and build nearly 300 units of housing across on the site could be approved by San Francisco’s Planning Commission in three weeks time.

As we first reported about the proposed 2000-2070 Bryant Street project last year, the development would level the existing 2000-2070 Bryant Street buildings, including the former CELLSpace turned Inner Mission, along with the buildings at 2815 18th and 611 Florida, clearing the way for a six-story development with two distinct architectural styles; 274 apartments; 5,100 square feet of ground floor retail space; and parking for 160 cars and 274 bikes.

While the proposed development would add roughly 244,000 square feet of residential space to the neighborhood, it would also result in the loss of roughly 47,000 square feet of Production, Distribution and Repair (hence the wording of the proposed legislative moratorium).

And as proposed, 16 percent of the project’s dwelling units (which rounds up to 44) would be designated as below market rate (BMR) rentals and located within the development rather than offsite.

The Planning Commission hearing for the development is currently scheduled for June 18 at noon.

All articles and photos sourced from : www.socketsite.com

Real Estate Roundup: San Francisco Is World’s Fastest-Appreciating Luxury Market

May 26, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Weekly Real Estate News Roundups
Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious.

Homes in Sea Cliff, one of San Francisco’s high-end neighborhoods.

SAN FRANCISCO LEADS WORLD FOR ANNUAL LUXURY HOME PRICE GAINS
Demand for high-end homes in San Francisco is driving up prices, so much so that they grew more than in any other luxury market around the globe.

Citing data from the most recent Knight Frank Prime Global Cities Index, CNN reports that high-end home prices in San Francisco grew by 14.3 percent over the past year, edging out Bangalore, India, for largest annual increase in the world. San Francisco was one of three U.S. regions to crack the top 10 for appreciation, along with Miami, where prices increased by 12.2 percent, and Los Angeles, where they grew by 8 percent.

The index echoes findings from Christie’s International Real Estate’s 2015 Luxury Defined report, which ranked San Francisco as the second hottest luxury real estate market in the world.

DISTRESSED SALES IN SINGLE DIGITS IN ALL NINE BAY AREA COUNTIES
Distressed sales hovered in the single-digit range across the Bay Area in April, with two local counties claiming the lowest rates in the Golden State.

According to the California Association of Realtors’ April pending home sales and Market Pulse Survey, distressed sales accounted for 1 percent of single-family home transactions in San Mateo County last month, the fewest in the state. San Francisco County tied Santa Cruz County for the second fewest distressed sales at 2 percent. Across the rest of the Bay Area, distressed-sales rates ranged from 3 percent in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, and Santa Clara counties to 9 percent in Solano County.

CAR says that while pending home sales in the Bay Area slipped by 6.8 percent from March, activity increased by 12 percent on an annual basis. Across the state, pending home sales fell by 0.6 percent month over month and rose 13.6 percent from April 2014.

U.S. 2015 HOUSING FORECAST IMPROVES
Freddie Mac upped its expectations for U.S. home price gains last week, though the company is not as optimistic as it was about the economy.

In its May 2015 U.S. Economic and Housing Outlook, Freddie Mac forecasts home prices to grow by 4.5 percent this year, revised from 4.0 percent in April. Having previously predicted the U.S. economy to expand by 2.6 percent in 2015, weak first-quarter data has prompted the company to instead project 2.3 percent growth. Still, Fannie Mae notes that the economy has added 5 million jobs over the past two years, and that the U.S. unemployment rate is substantially lower than it was in 2013.

In a statement accompanying the report, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Len Kiefer said that low interest rates kept affordability high in the first quarter even as income growth remained sluggish.

CALIFORNIA FAVORITE STATE FOR CHINESE INVESTORS
Chinese investors have pumped more money into California than any other state over the past 15 years, while China-based companies have contributed a significant number of jobs to the economy.

CNBC reports that Chinese investors have funneled $5.9 billion into California since 2000, the most of any U.S. state. China-based companies employ 8,300 California workers, mostly in the Bay Area and Los Angeles.

The article says that 370 Chinese companies have a presence in California, including Baidu, Huawei, and Alibaba.com.

(Photo: Flickr/Joe Ross)

Owners: Don’t Underestimate Your Home’s Value

May 15, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Homeowner Tips
house_money331Bay Area homeowners: How much is your home worth in today’s real estate market?

Probably more thank you think.

A new report from Quicken Loans revealed that Bay Area homeowners tend to underestimate the value of their own homes by more than 5 percent when compared with estimates by professional appraisers.

In the San Francisco metro area, appraisers’ home values in April averaged 5.47 percent higher than those of homeowners, according to Quicken Loans’ latest Home Price Perception Index. The difference in perceived value was even greater in the San Jose metro area: 6.73 percent.

The gap in perceived Bay Area home values has grown wider over the past year — up from 5.19 percent in April 2014 in San Francisco, and from 4.71 percent in San Jose.

Curiously, with only a few exceptions, the Quicken Loans index showed that appraisers topped homeowners’ perceived values only in Western metro areas — perhaps a  reflection of rapidly rising values in popular Western markets such as the Bay Area.

San Jose and San Francisco ranked No. 1 and No. 2 for biggest gap in values, followed by Denver; Dallas; Houston; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Boston; and Sacramento.

Overall, appraiser values were 0.08 percent higher than homeowner estimates in the West. Appraiser value trailed homeowner values in the Northeast (-0.58 percent), the South (-0.7 percent), and the Midwest (-1.23 percent). Nationwide, the index shows appraiser estimates 0.69 percent below homeowner estimates, on average.

The Quicken Loans report serves as a reminder for owners to check with experts in the field as they prepare to put their homes on the market. Real estate professionals are familiar with local communities and can help homeowners compare their homes with similar properties.

(Illustration: Flickr/Mark Moz)

California Median Home Price Reaches Highest Level Since 2007

May 19, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Home Price Conditions
The median Golden State home price hit its highest point in more than seven years in April, while sales volume rose for the third consecutive month. The Bay Area also enjoyed healthy home sales gains in April, with volume rising by more than 20 percent from the previous month.dollar1231

In its most recent home sales and price report, the California Association of Realtors says the median price for a single-family home in the state was $481,760 in April, up 2.8 percent from March and 7.4 percent from a year ago. CAR says that April’s median sales price was the highest recorded since November 2007.

Across the state, there were 427,620 home sales in April, the most since August 2013. In a statement accompanying the report, CAR President Chris Kutzkey noted that the uptick in sales is a promising sign that home sales will remain strong through the remainder of the traditionally busy spring season.

“We are finally seeing some of the pent-up housing demand that we talked about in the past turning into actual sales, thanks to solid job growth, record-low interest rates, and looser lending requirements,” Kutzkey said.

Here in the Bay Area, April was also an active month for real estate, with sales volume increasing 23 percent from March across the nine-county region. Eight counties posted double-digit sales increases from the previous month, ranging from 34.4 percent in Sonoma County to 14.4 percent in Alameda. Napa was the only local county where home sales slipped month over month, falling by 6.7 percent.

The median sales price for a Bay Area single-family home was $844,810 in April, up 4.4 percent from March and 9.4 percent from April 2014. Prices rose from March in every county but San Mateo and Solano, where they decreased 1.5 percent and 2.1 percent respectively but were up across the board year over year. San Francisco overtook San Mateo as the state’s most expensive county, with a median sales price of $1,348,480. San Francisco also had the largest price per square foot in California: $793.

Despite the sales gains, housing-stock constraints remain an issue locally and statewide, with the months’ supply of inventory (MSI) decreasing on both a monthly and yearly basis. California’s MSI fell to 3.5 in April while dropping to 2.2 in the Bay Area, meaning that both markets strongly favor sellers. In a statement accompanying the report, CAR Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young said that current supply conditions are concerning since they drive up prices and lessen affordability, which could lower homeownership rates in the long term.

CAR says that a lack of homes on the market caused Bay Area homes to sell for an average of 7.1 percent more than original price in April, up from the 5.2 percent premiums recorded a year earlier. The Bay Area remains the only region in California where the average seller can expect to pocket more than asking price.

(Photo: Flickr/Jeremy Brooks)

Articles and photos sourced from :www. pacunion.com 

Flashy Bernal Showstopper Sells for $3.15M, Sets New Neighborhood Record


The big, modern house at 3407 Folsom Street in Bernal Heights has been an attention-grabber ever since it was first built back in 2011. It was designed by architect Gary Gee and sits just below the north entrance to the park on Bernal Hill with views that basically look right onto the hill itself. It was featured on the 2012 AIA home tour shortly after it finished construction. The home's original owners bought the house for $1.65 million, and now they have just sold it off-market for $3.15 million, making it a new record for the neighborhood. The previous record-setter was a $3 million house that sold just a few months ago.

3407 Folsom has four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms, but the home's outdoor features are what really make it stand out. A spiral staircase leads up to a very sweet roof deck, and there is a huge pool—yes, a pool—in the backyard. It even has a lone little palm tree standing over it. With its glass walls and modern, geometric angles, the entire place undoubtedly feels more Southern California than San Francisco, but obviously its new owners didn't think that was such a bad thing.

Articles and photos sourced from: www.sf.curbed.com
http://sf.curbed.com/archives/2015/05/13/flashy_bernal_showstopper_sells_for_315m_sets_new_neighborhood_record.php#more

San Francisco Area Sees Largest Monthly Home Price Gain in the U.S.

May 5, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Home Price Conditions
Home prices in the San Francisco metro area recently jumped month over month, according to the latest numbers from a prominent real estate index. And on an annual basis, the region saw the second-largest price gains in the country.perk_up

According to the most recent S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, single-family home prices in the San Francisco metro area grew by 2.0 percent on a nonseasonally adjusted basis from January to February, the largest monthly increase of the 20 U.S. regions included in the report. Month-over-month price growth was four times higher than the index’s 20-city composite of 0.5 percent and 20 times the national average of 0.1 percent.

On an annual basis, San Francisco home prices were up by 9.8 percent in February, second only to Denver. San Francisco topped the S&P Case-Shiller index for annual home price appreciation in November and December before dropping to No. 4 in January. Across the 20-city-composte, home prices grew by 5.0 percent year over year while increasing 4.2 percent nationwide.

U.S. home prices have grown on an annual basis for 34 consecutive months, and all 20 cities have seen year-over-year gains since the end of 2012. In a statement accompanying the report, David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said that home prices are outstripping both inflation and wage growth and that construction of single-family homes remains slow.

Despite the price gains, only two U.S. metro areas – Dallas and Denver – have eclipsed their housing boom price peaks as measured by the index. “If a complete recovery means new highs all around,” Blitzer said “we’re not there yet.

“A better sense of where home prices are can be seen by starting in January 2000, before the housing boom accelerated, and looking at real or inflation-adjusted numbers. Based on the S&P/Case Shiller National Home Price Index, prices rose 66.8% before adjusting for inflation from January 2000 to February 2015; adjusted for inflation, this is 27.9 percent or a 1.7 percent annual rate.”

(Image: Flickr/Ryan Heaney)

Articles and photos sourced by: www.pacificunion.com

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area a Hotbed of Hefty Down Payments

May 11, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Weekly Real Estate News Roundups
Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious.

AFFLUENT BAY AREA BUYERS DROPPING SIZABLE DOWN PAYMENTS
Even with sky-high home prices, Bay Area buyers are making some of the largest down payments in the U.S., with five of our local markets landing in the top 15.Hundred-dollar bills

According to data from RealtyTrac, the average San Francisco homebuyer put down 30 percent — $305,467 – of the purchase price in 2014, the second most of any county in the nation. San Mateo County ranked No. 3, with an average down payment of 28.5 percent, followed by Marin County at No. 5 (27.8 percent), Santa Clara County at No. 7 (25.5 percent), and Sonoma County at No. 13 (22.6 percent).

RealtyTrac says that markets where buyers can afford to make large down payments are those with the strongest economies – certainly the case in the Bay Area, where eight of nine counties were at full employment in March.

BAY AREA HOUSING MARKETS MOVING AT BREAKNECK SPEED
If you’re shopping for a home in the Bay Area this spring, you’d do well to make haste, as properties aren’t sticking around for long, especially in parts of Silicon Valley and the East Bay.

Citing MLS data, the San Jose Mercury News reports that single-family homes in two Redwood City neighborhoods have sold in an average of 10 days over the past six months, down from 14 days one year ago. Buyers in Palo Alto were also snapping up homes in 10 days, six days faster than last year. In the Oakland metro area, the average home sold in 12 days, down from 13.

While attractive homes are selling fast across the region regardless of financing method, buyers who can pay all cash move particularly quick, the publication says. All-cash buyers accounted for about 25 percent of all transactions in March in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and about 20 percent in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

SAN FRANCISCO RENT PRICES HIT NEW HIGH
The news isn’t getting any better for renters in the City by the Bay, with prices recently climbing to an all-time high.

According to a blog post at SFGate, San Francisco rents averaged $3,458 in the first quarter of 2015, up 13 percent from the first quarter of 2014. However, it’s important to consider that that figure only includes 50-plus unit buildings, which tend to be newer and more expensive.

Rents were also rising across the rest of the Bay Area, SFGate says, averaging $2,370, a gain of 14 percent from the first quarter of 2014. Renters pushed out of the San Francisco market are helping to drive up prices in Alameda County, where rents grew by 14.6 percent year over year, the largest increase in the Bay Area.

SAN JOSE ECONOMY, HOUSING MARKET BACK ABOVE NORMAL
The U.S. housing market continued its recovery in the first quarter but has still not returned to a state of normalcy. In the San Jose metro area, housing and economic activity have surpassed their typical levels, thanks to the exceptionally strong Silicon Valley job market.

The National Association of Home Builders’ latest Leading Market Index gives the U.S. housing market a score of .91, meaning that the country’s economic and housing activity is at 91 percent of normal levels based on permit activity, prices, and employment. According to the LMI, 68 of 350 metro areas nationwide have either returned to or surpassed their last normal activity levels.

San Jose is one of those markets and ranks sixth in the U.S. among major metro areas for highest LMI scores, though the report does not disclose an exact number. NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said that job growth is driving the return to normalcy across the U.S., while permit activity saw only a modest improvement.

(Photo: Flickr/ 401(K) 2012)

Articles and photos sourced from: www.pacificunion.com 

All Stars Donuts’ Days Are Numbered, Big Plans For SoMa Site

Plans to raze the All Stars Donuts shop at 5th and Harrison, and the adjacent building which Fitmob occupies at 5th and Clara, have been submitted to San Francisco’s Planning Department for review.

And as proposed, a nine-story building with 89 condos (18 studios, 24 one-bedrooms, and 47 two-bedrooms) will rise across the 365-399 5^th Street site, with a little commercial space on the northeast corner of 5th and Harrison and an underground garage for 22 cars.

The studios have been designed to average 430 square feet apiece, the one-bedrooms 676 square feet, and the two-bedrooms average 945 square feet.  Ten of the units are slated to be Below Market Rate.

And while the Central SoMa site is currently only zoned for building up to 55-feet in height, the “Harrison/5th” development team is counting on an up-zoning of the site to 85-feet as envisioned in the City’s Central SoMa Plan in order to develop the site as proposed.

 Articles and Photos sourced from : www.socketsite.com

Dogpatch Development Ready For Hearing And Dogfight

Facing a bit of opposition from a fellow architect and neighbors who reside in the Dogpatch building to the north at 755 Tennessee, a building which was designed by Sternberg Benjamin as well, the proposed five-story building to rise on the northeast corner of 19^th and Tennessee is slated to be approved by San Francisco’s Planning Commission next week.

The development of 777 Tennessee, which was originally designed to rise up to six-stories, would replace the low-slung Western Printing Ink Corp warehouse on the parcel with 59 condos (one studi0, 34 one-bedrooms, 19 two-bedrooms, and 5 threes) over 50 parking spaces and a storage room for 59 bikes.

From the opposing architect, concerned about the loss of direct sunlight to a number of the neighboring building’s ground floor units and surprised by 777’s “fully loaded” design:

“And as architect for 755 Tennessee, you knew exactly what you were doing! This is shameful.

I also pity the new residents, double loaded corridors like a cheap hotel and no cross ventilation. Was not Roger Sherwood’s Modern Housing Prototypes on the reading list of your architecture school?

This design seriously impedes both the quality of light and the quality of life for 755 Tennessee St.”

San Francisco’s Planning Department and the Dogpatch Neighborhood Association support the project as proposed.  The public hearing for the development is scheduled for Thursday, with the neighboring architect vowing “vehement and justified opposition.”

"Articles and Photos sourced from www.socketsite.com"

$600K Under Asking For Remodeled Ashbury Heights Home

$600K Under Asking For Remodeled Ashbury Heights Home

Listed for $3.995 million in February, the asking price for the fully-remodeled Ashbury Heights home at 908 Ashbury was reduced to $3.595 million after three weeks on the market and the sale has now closed escrow with a reported contract price of $3.4 million.

Purchased for $2.75 million in 2010, following the remodeling of the home’s master bath and its top floor which now includes a family/media room that plugged-in people might recognize, the apples-to-apples re-sale represent average annual appreciation of 4.6 percent for the home since August 2010, or total appreciation of 24 percent over the same period of time.

 Articles and photos sourced from :www.socketsite.com

Bay Area Homes Selling Fast This Spring

Real Estate Roundup: Bay Area Homes Selling Fast This Spring

April 13, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Weekly Real Estate News Roundups

Here’s a look at recent news of interest to homebuyers, home sellers, and the home-curious.

THREE BAY AREA MARKETS LEAD U.S. FOR QUICKEST SALES TIME
For-sale signs are coming down just as quickly as they go up across the Bay Area this spring, with homes in three local metro areas selling at the fastest clip in the U.S.

Data from the National Association of Realtors shows that homes in San Jose stayed on the market a median 22 days in March, making it the fastest-moving market in the country. Homes in San Francisco sold in 26 days, second speediest in the U.S., followed by Santa Rosa, where properties left the market in 32 days. Across the U.S., homes sold in 89 days, 13 percent faster than one year ago.

According to NAR Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke, buyers in coveted housing markets like the Bay Area “should expect substantial competition,” especially for homes that are fairly priced.

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SAN FRANCISCO HOME PRICES UP MORE THAN 100 PERCENT SINCE TROUGH
Home prices in the San Francisco metro area have cooled substantially on an annual basis but are up big since the bottom of the market, a recent RealtyTrac report says.

Home prices in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont region increased by 10 percent year over year in February compared with the 30 percent annual appreciation recorded one year ago, according to the company. Still, prices in the region have grown by 115 percent since the market’s trough, the third largest such gains in the U.S.

Residential real estate prices in San Jose have also made big strides, increasing 90 percent since the bottom of the market. RealtyTrac says that San Jose was one of 17 U.S. metro areas where the median home sales price peaked in 2014, reaching $714,750.

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CALIFORNIA DROUGHT COULD STALL HOUSING CONSTRUCTION
California’s four-year drought is forcing residents to cut back on water consumption, but it may also cause housing construction activity in inventory-starved areas of the state to slacken.

In early April, Governor Jerry Brown ordered all Golden State residents to reduce water usage by 25 percent, the first time that California has ever imposed such a restriction. Richard White, a history professor at Stanford University, told The New York Times that he believes the lack of precipitation could impede construction in the state’s major urban centers.

“It’s going to be harder and harder to build new housing without an adequate water supply,” White told the publication. “How many developments can you afford if you don’t have water?”

Still, the drought shouldn’t impact the state’s booming economy, said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who pointed out that desert cities such as Phoenix and Las Vegas have thrived despite their perpetually dry climates. Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, agreed.

“The rest of the economy is managing it, learning how to deal with it,” he said.

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2015 HOME SALES WILL BE THE BEST IN 8 YEARS, PREDICTS FREDDIE MAC
A bone-chilling winter and sluggish economic activity have prompted economists at Freddie Mac to downgrade their 2015 forecast, though the company still predicts that the year will see the most homes sales since 2007.

In its April 2015 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook, Freddie Mac says that the U.S. economy should grow by 2.6 percent this year, revised from a previously projected 2.8 percent. The cold winter in much of the country caused housing starts to slow a bit, though it didn’t change Freddie Mac’s forecast of 5.6 million home sales in 2015.

Despite the weather and the economic slowdown, Freddie Mac Chief Economist Len Kiefer said the company remains upbeat about the housing market, thanks to low mortgage rates and a rise in purchase applications and pending home sales.

(Image: Flickr/Carlos Newsome)

"Articles and photos sourced from : http://blog.pacunion.com/real-estate-roundup-bay-area-homes-selling-fast-this-spring/ "

Expensive Homes, High Wages Define Bay Area Real Estate Markets

April 1, 2015 by Pacific Union • Posted in Market Conditions

Two reports released last week by the research firm RealtyTrac neatly explain some of the unique characteristics of the Bay Area’s real estate markets.

One of the reports found that the median home price in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro areaspiked 38.6 percent over the past two years, while average wages rose 7.1 percent. That helps explain why many Bay Area residents, especially first-time buyers, may feel they’re being priced out of some of our regional markets.

But a separate report puts those numbers in perspective, revealing that the San Jose-Sunnyvale and San Francisco-Oakland metro areasrank first and third in the United States, respectively, for highest weekly wages. That helps make pricey homes more affordable in the Bay Area than just about anywhere else.

The reports concluded that the Bay Area is hardly alone in facing sticker shock. Overall, home price appreciation outpaced wage growth in 76 percent of U.S. housing markets over the past two years, with average weekly wages rising 1.3 percent and home prices climbing 17.3 percent.

San Francisco-Oakland’s 38.6 percent growth in home prices was second highest among the nation’s 10 largest metro areas, following Detroit, which shot up 57.1 percent. San Jose-Sunnyvale placed 13th among all U.S. metro areas, with home prices up 33.3 percent.

When looking at wages, the Bay Area is clearly the place to be. Our unrivaled mix of tech industries help make San Jose-Sunnyvale home to the highest wages in the United States — $1,868 per week, on average, or $97,136 a year, a gain of 8.3 percent over the past two years, according to data obtained from a RealtyTrac press representative.

Wages in San Francisco-Oakland are the nation’s third highest: $1,394 per week, or $72,488 per year, up 7.1 percent. In between, at No. 2, is Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., with wages averaging $1,455 per week, or $75,660 per year, up 2.2 percent over the last two years.

“Home prices in many housing markets across the country found a floor in 2012 and since then have rapidly appreciated, particularly in markets attracting institutional investors, international buyers or some other flavor of cash buyer not constrained by income as much as traditional buyers,” Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac vice president, said in a statement accompanying the home prices and wages report. “Eventually, however, those traditional buyers will need to play a bigger role in the housing market for the recovery to maintain its momentum.

“Those markets with the biggest disconnect between price growth and wage growth during the last two years are most likely to see plateauing home prices in 2015 until wages catch up,” Blomquist said.

(Photo: Flickr/Thomas Hawk)

Articles and photos sourced from : http://bit.ly/1IQs6mC