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

[Henderson Group]

Design tease! Two weeks ago the Millennium folks continued their crosstown rivalry with One Rincon Hill by announcing their own high-rise designer showcase, an image of which appears above. The luxury tower will open their doors to four of their Grand Residences (the ones that rent for $18 thou a month) starting this Saturday and continuing for about a month.

The cast of designers: Alexandra Owen Interior Design, Ann Brown Interiors, Ann Getty & Associates, Applegate Tran Interiors, Art Haus, Black Mountain Construction/Development, Butler Armsden Architects, Chantal Lamberto Interior Design, Closets Van Go, De Sousa Hughes, Eden Wright Design, Henderson Design Group, Hendler Design, Hepworth & Howard, Jeff Ryan Interiors, Jurow Design Associates, Kensington & Associates, Martha Angus Inc., Martin-Richards, Michael Merrill Design Studios, Inc., Nancy Van Natta Associates, Orlando Diaz-Azcuy Design, Reba Jones, Scheiber Design Group, Shelby De Quesada Interior Design, Studio Becker, Sutro Architects, The Charles de Lisle Workshop and Wiseman & Gale

Again, 11 to 7 Saturdays, 11 to 5 Sundays, starting this weekend. Tickets are $25 in the lobby at 301 Mission St.

[Via AB Design Studio]

Earlier this year, the Planning Commission approved Main Street Lofts, though not without some grumbling about developer Portland-Pacific’s inattention to neighbors’ concerns. The eight-story, 113-unit Rincon Hill project was then appeal-bound— a resident had earlier referred to all its trunk junk as a “cow for a poodle’s lot,” saying the project was going to unfairly obstruct views from neighboring BayCrest’s courtyard-side units. According to SocketSite, the appeal has just been upheld, which means the project will now require a full environmental impact report (and thus years more for construction). What’s more, says the site’s source: “Look for a lawsuit against the city to follow.”
· 430 Main/429 Beale Development Delayed (If Not DOA) [SocketSite]
· Rincon Hill 84-Footer Approved, Light-Blockage and All [Curbed SF]
· A Cow for a Poodle’s Lot in Rincon Hill [Curbed SF]

City College wasted “potentially millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money” in construction cost overruns— money that came from two bond measures for new buildings. Among them: a $120 million arts center and a $68 million stem cell center, both at the college’s main campus by Balboa Park. About $12.5 mil and $1.2 mil have already been spent on the respective buildings, but construction’s been halted with no plans to continue— and it would take an additional $49 million just to complete the projects from the first bond alone. Scandal! [SFGate]

It’s not too often a standalone big box chain store begins construction in San Francisco, but after nine years of wrangling over a vacant Bayview lot, Lowe’s is going to start building a new location on the site of an old lumber yard. Lucky for the home improvement chain, the drawn out development fight had already been fought for it by Home Depot, which had previously planned to move into the spot but pulled out last year. That means Lowe’s inherits the development approval, along with Home Depot’s obligations to the community, including $75k for workforce training and $100k for a day labor program.
· Lowe’s coming to Bayshore [SF Examiner]
· Bigger Box? : Lowes Bids for Home Depot Site [Curbed SF]

[Ohmygoditecture in Switzerland via Dark Roasted Blend]

· Market’s arty but empty storefronts: Friday [SF Examiner]
· Architectural Digest cutting its staff [LA Observed]
· Fun with maps: “I Just Made Love” [Website, via Curbed LA]
· So everyone hates the parking meter plan [SFBG Politics]
· California sued for taking $2B in redevelopment funds [SFBT]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Tomorrow, Mission Bay’s 269-unit Arterra will celebrate the fact that it’s the city’s only LEED Silver residential high rise with a morning certification ceremony. In the meantime, Intracorp’s busy with “fabulous developer special pricing” to move a couple units. A 2-bedroom, 968 square foot unit, for example has been chopped from $888,000 to $735,000. Another 2-bedder has gone from $735,000 to $585,000— though each of these units had already been listed before at its now lower price, before going up and coming down again. “Developer special,” eh?
· 300 Berry St #1513 [Redfin]
· 300 Berry St #1605 [Redfin]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

The SF PUC eco-headquarters is set to start construction today, reports the SF Business Times. The project, which was to be decked out somewhat ebulliently with solar panels and wind turbines, was at one point nixed by the PUC director because of its outright lavishness. With help from (or at least the promise of) stimulus monies, however, the $188 million building designed by KMD Architects has found new life. The hole at the site of the former state building at Golden Gate and Polk has been growing steadily deeper over the summer months, but the sudden announcement of movement on the building nevertheless makes for surprising news on the city’s construction scene. (As of earlier this afternoon, there wasn’t any crew on site.) According to a PUC spokesman, they have cheaper debt and lower construction costs to thank: “That’s the silver lining of the recession.”
· S.F. PUC starts building stalled $188M HQ [SFBT]
· Destructoporn: Civic Center State Building Now Just a Hole [Curbed SF]
· Back From the Grave: SF PUC Eco-Palace [Curbed SF]
· New PUC Not To Be [Curbed SF]

The Harvey Milk Memorial Library in Upper Market’s reemerging this Saturday from its cocoon after 20 months of spit and polish, says The Snitch. The library also happens to counted among the branches singled out for preservation because of a certain 1950s architectural uniqueness. Anyway, “could the city have erected a brand new library that doesn’t look like the squat, brick version of a Soviet factory for less than $5.5 million? It’s rather likely. Could it have happened without inducing a blood feud from the city’s preservationists? No, no, and no.” There you have it. [Snitch, previously]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Millennium Tower, which channels “the spirit of a crystal sculpture,” debuted this spring with properties ranging from $600K for “Residences” to $1.568 million for “Grand Residences.” However, as “there is not a lot of action” at the million-dollar price point, developer Millennium Partners was said back in July to be taking 15 percent of the luxury tower’s units to the rental market— a strategy played before at Millennium’s other properties, including San Francisco’s Four Seasons. At the moment, a couple 2-bedroom units are on Craigslist, ranging from an $8,000 unit on the eighth floor to an $8,500 unit on the 30th floor. It gets better! A very special 3-bedroom Grand Residence— one of which Curbed toured in April and is reproduced above — is finalizing construction and will be going for $18,000 a month with a one-year lease. It’s got 3.5 bathrooms, 2,819 square feet, two parking spaces, and all those other perks, including exclusive residents’ access to RN74 grub from below.
· The Grand Residences at Millennium Tower – 55th Floor [Craigslist]
· Millennium Grand Penthouses Sold: One to Valley Boy Tom Perkins [Curbed SF]
· Curbed Inside: Millennium Tower [Curbed SF]