224 Sea Cliff Avenue

Purchased by the infamous Luke Brugnara for $7 million in 2002, the seven-bedroom home at 224 Sea Cliff Avenue, to which Luke had $11 million worth of art delivered and then refused to pay, has been in and out of foreclosure since 2012 (at which point $7,983,898 was owed on a 2007-era first mortgage for $6,000,000 to which a second for $11,350,000 was added in 2008).

Listed as a “spectacular trophy home with HUGE potential!” for $19.675 million at the end of 2016, and having managed to skirt another foreclosure auction earlier this year, 224 Sea Cliff Avenue has now quietly traded hands for $18.8 million, as noted by a plugged-in reader yesterday.

Expect plans to either redevelop the home or its 8,510-square-foot oceanfront lot, à la the big plans for 178 Sea Cliff Avenue, to soon emerge. We’ll keep you posted and plugged-in.

UPDATE: The aforementioned sale of 224 Sea Cliff Avenue has been debunked, our apologies for perpetuating the false report.

18 thoughts on “The Force Is Strong in Sea Cliff: Luke’s Home Fetches $18.8 Million”
    1. I’m kind of partial to the double patched asphalt public street…

      Rhetorical question – would it kill SF-DPW to do their job and pave the streets? Sales of homes in this neighborhood generate real tax revenue – and it’s in the City’s interest to bring in the to tax money. I don’t get it…

      1. It is probably Land Slippage. 1 North 25th Avenue had a deep lot when it was built. Now the back yard is about 20 feet from the back of the house.

        Chestnut Street on Telegraph Hill has a series of thin cracks on the sidewalks, all headed North to South. That is Land Slippage.

        1. Okay. I get it. We are in earthquake country, the ground moves. But we have like a $6 billion City budget – and that asphalt looks 50+ years old. Things break – we can afford it it – we fix them…..

          Or do I not get it? Is it like the homeless? We just step over it and pretend we don’t notice the City not doing it’s job?

  1. So there will be a trilogy of major projects on that stretch of Sea Cliff.

    This sale is really unprecedented as this is effectively a tear down that is exploiting the rare commodity that is an ocean front bridge facing property in SF. There are quite a few major projects going on in that part of the city giving some challenge to the “gold coast” homes in Pac Heights.

    There are not as many grand estate type homes out there but there is clearly a demand and premium being placed on Sea Cliff right now. I think you can assume any project there is going to be pushing well north of $1500 per square foot making the total investment in these cliff side projects in the $20-30mm range.

    Will be curious how these properties fare on the resale market if they ever do come up. And the 2 homes currently remaining for sale without bridge views should help us better understand the value of a bridge view.

  2. Has anyone seen a real deed on this transaction? Were transfer taxes on 18.8mm paid?

    It’s kind of purple-belt deadbeat move to shuffle ownership around during a foreclosure process, to raise bogus “I wasn’t served” or “You can’t auction a property when you haven’t notified the owner” defenses. Ultimately meaningless, but two years tied up in a quiet title or extended unlawful detainer trial is a benefit to the defaulter. Like the seemingly highly valued Beverly Hills Danish project up the street, if the Brugnara house is worth $18.8mm with the crappy basketball hoop and broke Range Rover in front, seems like Kirk Hammett’s Metallica houses should have sold a long time ago. Shenanigans.

    That or it’s Chinese money and then hen hao!

  3. Nothing indicates a transfer as of close of business yesterday. I don’t have the time to look it up but it looks as if Cool Hand Luke was doing quite a bit of borrowing in the last couple years.

  4. Trustee sale still on for 2 pm today!

    [Editor’s Note: And it’s looking a lot more likely that we got snookered/zillowed above.]

  5. Note to Socketsite people:
    Never count your chickens till they hatch!! Is what my grandmother told me!

    Status: Postponed from 01/08/2018 to 04/09/2018 by Bankruptcy

  6. Any one can buy properties and play land baron during easy leading times. It takes special skill and knowledge to amass a well performing portfolio. The local media praised this guy like he was West Coast Trump. It was quite comical.

  7. Status: Foreclosure Sale Scheduled: 07/14/2020
    Sale Time: 2:00 PM
    Sale County: SAN FRANCISCO
    Property Address: 224 Sea Cliff Avenue

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