NNN Brokers USA – San Francisco Commercial Real Estate Brokers: "The Scoop"

["can't play today," courtesy potential past]

· Deep breaths now: Architecture and the City 2009 [Inhabitat]
· Emerging architects around the world, with renderporn [Arch Daily]
· “The bioluminescent metropolis” [WorldChanging]
· And cities that imitate biology [Harvard Mag, via Planetizen]
· Homebuyers haunted by the ghosts of foreclosures past [USA Today]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Not even 30 days into its listing and our friend, the $7 million condo at 1001 California, has received its first price chop (no doubt the first of many, if we live in a sane world). New price: a good $300,000 cheaper at $6,950,000. We’re talking about a 2-bed, 2.5-bath opulent condo-palace with 3,640 square feet and a matching $5,886 (no chop there). Mmmm…. let’s sleep on it.
· 1001 California, 3rd Floor [Redfin]
· On the Market: Prime Time Nob Hill Humble Abode [Curbed SF]

[New People photo by Flickr user DaveFayram]

New People, once known as the J-Pop Center, has hit Japantown, and the reviews are coming out now. Says an LA Times travel blog: “The trendy, jaw-dropping fashion of Tokyo’s Harajuku district finally nosed into the formerly sort-of-dull J-town.” Oh? The theme continues on Yelp: “There is also a special Harajuki section complete with a Harajuku girl!” OK, so we like Harajuku girls. Then there’s a citizens’ critique of the building on Examiner.com: “pleasant, although not architecturally great … Together with its neighbor, the renovated Hotel Tomo, it begins to lift the spirit of what was once a vibrant ethnic enclave.” Verdict: once sort of boring J-town is way sexy Harajuku style now. But what we’re really interested in: how does the finished building compare to those glowing renderings of a few months back?
· Japantown’s New People offers manga, anime and edgy fashion [LAT: Daily Travel & Deal]
· New People: new investment in SF Japantown [Examiner]
· More Renderings: Inside Japantown’s J-Pop Center [Curbed SF]
· Manga! Manga!: Japantown’s J-Pop Center [Curbed SF]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Ever the ballsy designer, local architect Stanley Saitowitz has designed a multifamily residential building in SoMa that looks like little more than a large white box, with smaller boxes punched out of it. Actually, at first glance, one rendering bears a striking similarity to the longtime logo of Life Without Buildings, a blog written by Curbed emeritus Jimmy Stamp. Royalty payments are surely on their way— but we digress. The white box follows other Saitowitz gems, like the wave-making skaters’ half-pipe Congregation Beth Sholom in the Richmond, and nearby 1234 Howard. Still, the design dates back to 2007 on Saitowitz’s website, and the actual building site, at 130 Dore St, still has businesses operating within. White box: pending…?
· 130 Dore Street in California by Stanley Saitowitz [Design Milk]
· On the Market: Own a Piece of 1234 Howard [Curbed SF]
· Rendering vs. Reality: Saitowitz’s Temple Beth Shalom [Curbed SF]
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The nation’s use of solar power is still lower than it could be— especially considering certain mandated goalposts— but utilities aren’t helping. Faced with competition from homeowners with rooftop panels, some of them are trying to tack on energy surcharges to homes and businesses using their own photovoltaics. Neighborly! Doesn’t mask this ugly fact though: “In 2008, rooftop solar added more than 10 times the amount of power to the country’s grid than utilities did.” [Newsweek]

Muni’s planning an invasion of Union Street with a fleet of monster buses, or as they are sometimes known, bendy or articulated buses. “Monster” suits Union Street businesses just fine as they mount a campaign to keep the long transit vehicles off their “village-like” street. The bigger buses, naturally, will require bigger bus terminals, but these will naturally kick some parking spaces off the curb — putting, in one instance, “the jewel-like (Union Street) Inn in jeopardy.” Maybe Muni’s just not the jewelry type of transit agency. [SF Citizen]

In the Menlo Park/Atherton case against high-speed rail, a judge has ruled that the environmental prep work for the fast train was “inadequate” because it failed to address the fact that Union Pacific doesn’t want to share their Gilroy-San Jose right of way. Translation? A possible, significant delay in the project, adding “billions more to its price tag,” while missing the window for stimulus cash. Cue cheering from Menlo Park and Atherton! This means, they say, the High Speed Rail Authority will now have to seriously consider going along the Altamont Pass, rather than through the more southerly Pacheco Pass. But confusion reigns here: attorneys for the high-speed rail people are claiming victory too, saying the ruling also says the Altamont route, across the Dumbarton bridge or along highway medians, would be way too pricey. Seems the verdict is still out, though the train people will have a little more midnight oil to burn, won’t they?
· High-speed rail line to San Jose faces delay [SJ Merc]
· Peninsula: Whoa, Back That High-Speed Train Up [Curbed SF]
· CA High Speed Rail: Pacheco Pass (Maybe) [Curbed SF]

[Pi Bar, stuck in a last-minute permit fuss. Image via Eater SF]

· Pizza wars shall continue soon with Pi Bar [Eater SF]
· Pure evil: attacking ice cream men [SJ Merc]
· Food Network chef’s moving into SFO too [Eater SF]
· Best hot dogs: they’re Mexican hybrids [NYT]
· We all know to thank Oakland for the mai tai [IBA]

Renzo Piano, the international starchitect responsible for our very own California Academy of Sciences, has envisioned a 72-story skyscraper in London that looks like a glassy big brother to the Transamerica Pyramid. (And we thought ours was tall.) “The Shard” will be a “vertical city” that paradoxically welcomes the public while maintaining an air of exclusivity and luxury, for residents, shoppers, and offices alike. Hitting London Bridge in 2012. And here we were thinking the era of lavish skyscrapers had ground to a halt! [Inhabitat]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

How much would it cost to live Painted Ladies-adjacent? On one hand, we’re talking the most famous image of San Francisco. On the other, among other downers, Bay to Breakers rumbles through this quadrant every year, leaving in its wake a trail of unmitigated destruction. That, of course, can be a plus, too. So let’s set the parameters for this week’s PriceSpotter. A 2-bed, 1-bath condo on the southeast corner of Alamo Square, built in 1979, of mysterious square footage. Common roof deck, 1-car parking, and all the Painted Ladies you can possibly stomach on a daily basis. Guess below!