May 17, 2013
Cottage Charm In The City Listed For Under Four Hundred Grand
Set back from the street behind a flowering garden, we’ll agree. What the one-bedroom Bernal cottage at 129 Ellert Street might lack in terms of space, it makes up for in charm:
(Continue reading: "Cottage Charm In The City Listed For Under Four Hundred Grand")
Readers' Comments (0) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Design & Architecture, Fixtures & Furnishings, Listings (for sale)
How A Noe Valley Trophy House And Neighborhood Median Grow
Having sold for $1,252,000 in April of 2007, the 992 square foot pre-war Noe Valley home at 739 27th Street resold to a contractor for $1,150,000 this past August.
With approved plans to officially "remodel and expand" the Westlake modern style home (moving the garage, adding a story, and building into the rear yard), according to a plugged-in tipster, the demolition commences today.
Also according to our tipster, the plan for 739 27th Street includes new view suites, an elevator, a wine cellar, and a three car garage with the developer shooting for a sale price of over $4 million when the "trophy house with a view" is finished.
And that's exactly how a median price can grow despite an apples-to-apples decline.
∙ San Francisco Home Sales Well Above Average In April [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (12) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Neighborhoods, Remodeling and Renovation, SocketSite Readers Report
Nearly 50,000 More Employed In San Francisco Since 2010
Having ticked down to 6.0 percent in March, the lowest rate since November of 2008, the unemployment rate in San Francisco fell another 0.6 points to 5.4% in April as the unemployment rates in San Mateo and Marin and fell to 5.1% and 4.6% respectively.
The unemployment rate in San Francisco peaked at 10.1 percent in January of 2010 when 48,200 fewer San Francisco residents were employed than today.
On the heels of a drop of 1,000 in March, the number of employed San Francisco residents increased by 3,800 in April to 455,900, the number of unemployed fell by 3,100 to 25,800.
Employment in San Francisco is currently up by 20,900 workers on a year-over-year basis versus 19,500 the month before but remains 9,600 workers below a December 2000 dot-com peak (at which point the unemployment rate measured 3 percent).
The unadjusted unemployment rate in California fell to 8.5% in April as employment fell by 20,900 and the number of unemployed fell by 161,500.
∙ SF Unemployment Rate Drops To 6.0% For First Time Since 2008 [SocketSite]
∙ San Francisco Employment Trends And Dot-Com Context [SocketSite]
∙ Monthly Labor Force Data for Counties: April 2013 (Preliminary) [EDD]
Readers' Comments (3) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Real Estate Economics, Trends
May 16, 2013
Apple's Plan For A Flagship Store On Union Square
With Levi’s moving its flagship store to Market Street this summer, Apple has submitted plans to San Francisco’s Planning Department with designs to takeover Levi’s Union Square location at 300 Post Street and remodel the space into an iconic Apple store which would be 45 percent larger than Apple’s current space a few blocks away at Stockton and Ellis.
Readers' Comments (19) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: As Proposed, Commercial, Design & Architecture, Neighborhoods
San Francisco's Dying Palms Problem Could Have Been Avoided
As a plugged-in reader first reported two years ago:
The [Embarcadero] palms won't be there much longer. The city has fired all their educated arborists. Those who are left trim them to that odd pineapple shape while the fronds are still green and alive. A fusarium-type wilt then infects the palm and it slowly dies. At least 3 have died since the last trimming - that's what killed the dead palms around Justin Herman Plaza.
With twenty-six of the $35,000 trees now infected, the palms have, in fact, been dying in droves ever since our reader's report warned. But according to the Chronicle's report today, the Department of Public Works crew doesn't know how the trees were infected.
An educated arborist is a terrible, and rather expensive, thing to waste.
∙ For The Love (And Hate) Of Palm Trees In San Francisco [SocketSite]
∙ Chronicle Watch: Palms dying in droves [sfgate.com]
Readers' Comments (9) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Being Green, Seemingly Random, SocketSite Readers Report
Castro Street Makeover Plan Revealed And Rendered
As plugged-in people knew to expect, the Planning Department’s Castro Street Makeover plan does indeed include a reconfiguring of the crosswalk at Castro and Market Streets to align it with Jane Warner Plaza, bulb-outs on the corners of Castro and 18th Streets, and a mini-plaza in front of the historic Harvey Milk Residence and Castro Camera Shop site.
The detailed final plan and design for Castro Street (click image above to enlarge) also includes additional intersection safety measures between Market and 19th Streets, new street trees, landscaping, and lighting; and the widening of sidewalks up to 24.5 feet:
(Continue reading: "Castro Street Makeover Plan Revealed And Rendered")
Readers' Comments (18) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: As Proposed, Commercial, Design & Architecture, Neighborhoods
Foreclosure, Flip, And Remodel: The Circle Of Life For 1164 Church
Wells Fargo foreclosed upon the two-bedroom Noe Valley home at 1164 Church Street with $1,081,123 then owed, including penalties, on a 2008 era mortgage for $910,000 with no bidders on the courthouse steps in August of 2011.
Having accepted $7,500 to voluntarily leave the property prior to eviction and not sue Wells Fargo, the former owner vacated in April of 2012 and Wells sold the property for $1,200,000 that May, a purchase which was financed with a loan for $840,000.
Having since been completely remodeled with new systems and expanded by over 1,200 square feet, and with $675,000 in additional debt, the now four-bedroom Noe Valley home is back on the market and listed for $2,550,000.
The main floor has been reconfigured and opened up into a great room.
And the nearly all new lower level now sports two new bedrooms, two and one-half new baths, and a door to a refinished two car garage:
(Continue reading: "Foreclosure, Flip, And Remodel: The Circle Of Life For 1164 Church")
Readers' Comments (17) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Listings (for sale), Neighborhoods, Real Estate Economics, Remodeling and Renovation
A Nautical Nod To Dogpatch's Past, Present, And Future
Before San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood was expanded by filling the marshes at the edge of the Bay, the corner of Third and 23rd was a waterfront location upon which the Tubbs Cordage Mill sat, manufacturing nautical ropes and the "life-saving net" for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
And in a nod to the site's history, the designs for the 1201 Tennessee project include a rope based sculpture and educational nautical knot tying station along the development's proposed mid-block passage between Third and Tennessee:
(Continue reading: "A Nautical Nod To Dogpatch's Past, Present, And Future")
Readers' Comments (3) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: As Proposed, Neighborhoods
Housing Starts Slump But Permit Activity Jumps To June 2008 Levels
The annual pace of housing starts in the U.S. fell 16.5 percent from March to April but remains up 13.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. The pace of single-family home starts slipped 2.1 percent from March to April but remains up 20.8 percent year-over-year while the pace of construction for structures with five or more units slumped 37.8 percent in April and is down 2.5 percent year-over-year.
The number of structures with five or more units on which construction commenced fell nearly 40 percent to 19,100 last month having averaged 30,100 a month since 1963, peaking at 87,200 in May of 1973 and measuring 83,900 that March. Construction on 56,900 single-family homes started last month having averaged 87,400 a month since 1959, peaking at 170,400 in May of 2005 and measuring 133,400 that March.
Total housing starts which measured 76,700 in April have averaged 122,500 a month since 1959, hitting 227,300 in early 2006 and peaking at 249,400 in early 1972.
While starts slumped in April, permit activity to start construction jumped 14.3 percent, up 35.8 percent year-over-year with applications for single-family homes up 27.5 percent, up 54.5 percent for multi-family housing. Adjusted for seasonality, permit activity hit a 1,017,000 pace, up 14.3 percent from the month before and the highest since June 2008.
In the west, starts were up 43.2 percent year-over-year, up 40.0 percent for single-family homes, while permit activity was up 38.4 percent, up 25.7 percent for single-family homes.
∙ New Residential Construction Statistics [doc.gov]
∙ Single-Family Housing Starts Slip But Multi-Family Starts Surge [SocketSite]
Readers' Comments (0) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Trends
May 15, 2013
Dogpatch Development Scoop: The Designs For 1201 Tennessee
As we first reported last June, AGI Capital was quietly testing the waters of Dogpatch with plans to raze the existing structures and surface area parking lot stretching from Third to Tennessee along 23rd Street and construct a six-story mixed-use building with 300 dwelling units over 255 parking spaces and up to 5,500 square feet of retail on the site.
And now, we have the early designs and project update (click renderings to enlarge).
The proposed 1201 Tennessee project is down to 258 units and roughly 200 parking spots with 2,500 square feet of retail and 12,500 square feet of flex space along Third Street:
(Continue reading: "Dogpatch Development Scoop: The Designs For 1201 Tennessee")
Readers' Comments (13) | Permalink | Email Story | Filed under: Breaking News, Design & Architecture, Neighborhoods
