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

SFMOMA’s planned expansion faced a hurdle in the Howard Street fire station that was sitting in its way. No more — the city and the museum have inked a deal whereby SFMOMA will build a brand new fire station at 935 Folsom St, and give the fire department $10 million to boot or essentially giving the fire department $10 million. In exchange, the city will deed the Fire Station No. 1 and part of Hunt Alley to SFMOMA. That’s win-win: one for the cash-strapped city budget, two for SFMOMA and its new wing, and maybe even three for the lot at 935 Folsom, which at one point was planned for condos — and which we might also safely assume will no longer happen. If votes by the Fire Commission and Board of Supervisors go smoothly, construction of the Folsom fire station should begin next year.
· Deconstructionist Or Cubist? MOMA To Design, Build A Fire Station [SF Appeal]
· SFMOMA Lands $250 Mil for New Wing, Says They’re Halfway There [Curbed SF]
· Where To Now, SFMOMA? [Curbed SF]

Rumors that Mid-Market’s Argenta would give another go at selling its units, rather than renting, haven’t borne out yet— but that doesn’t mean that a deal can’t be had. Keep in mind that “deal” is relative to the rest of the Argenta’s apartments, which at last check ranged from $2,250 for a 1-bed to a whopping $3,800 for a 2-bedroom. A bit too rich for your blood? Go below-market rate (if you qualify!) and snag a 2-bedroom with 1,267 square feet for the low, low price of $2,104 a month. For two people, that means a combined income of $77,450. Or get an 822-square-foot 1-bedroom for $1,879, if you make $67,750 a year or less. Included are garage parking, a gym, Internet access, and a “2001: A Space Odyssey” rock garden.
· $2104 / 2br – BMR at Argenta! [Craigslist]
· $1879 / 1br – BMR at Argenta! [Craigslist]
· Rent Check: The Argenta, Post-Rental Metamorphosis [Curbed SF]

The gentle townsfolk of Bournemouth in the U.K. know how to party: their city council voted to front the $12 million needed to buy and demolish the ugliest building in all the queen’s land. The Waterfront Leisure Complex, or “IMAX building” as it’s known to locals, won a 2005 poll that asked Britons which building they’d most like to see bite the dust. The ballsy move’s inspired The Boston Globe to ask its readers what building they’d like to see torn down. Which leads us, inexorably, to the dizzying, mouth-watering question of the day: what San Francisco building would you like to see torn down! Nominations and salty language below. [Boston]

Nob Hill’s Masonic Center has been planning a renovation that would kick up capacity from 3,200-ish to 3,500 people, and lease the venue out to Beverly Hills-based Live Nation for more frequent, and more varied concerts. Nob Hill protesters — who are up in arms over potential shootings, noise, what have you — and the project sponsors will be heading to the Planning Commission soon to duke it out, though the Chron predicts that no matter what happens, it’ll be appealed to the Board of Supes. In any case, Live Nation’s not buying the noise argument: “This isn’t sleepytown USA. I’ve met with some of these people, and when the cable car is going by, I can’t hear what they’re saying.” [SFGate]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

Then: $6,375,000
Now: $4,800,000
You Save: $1,575,000, or 24.7 percent!

A price chop so stunning comes but once every several months, but it probably matches this — well, let’s be frank — stunning-ass house. Stunning enough to revisit the house in its finger-clicking entirety (or close to it). Like the other flamboyantly priced firehouse featured this month, the restored Noe Valley firehouse (No. 44) has been looking for a buyer for quite a while — in this case since May 2008. The 4-bed, 4-bath (and two half-bath) house totals 6,140 square feet and has a “dramatic observatory tower,” the original spiral staircase, and — not to be forgotten — a wall-mounted toilet.
· 3816 22nd St [Redfin]
· Engine No. 44 Firehouse [Website]
· Pricechopper: Historic Fire 44 Takes Another Chop [Curbed SF]
· PriceChopper: That Firehouse is Rather Lovely [Curbed SF]

Community Action Marin has announced another winner in what’s turning out to be some sort of dream-house raffle addiction for the nonprofit (their third since 2007). The winner of a $2 million, 3,200-square-foot Larkspur home was a 26-year-old San Francisco guy who makes his living as a smog technician. Though he reportedly hasn’t decided whether he’ll take the home or the $1.6 million cash prize, we all know that few people can afford the gory tax consequences of just taking a multimillion-dollar house. [Merc, previously]

Speaking of the War Memorial upgrade, the SF Examiner has a rendering today of the 40,000-square-foot addition, along with a story about the proposal. Looks like what we have above is the latter of two designs being considered for the annex, “neither of which have been vetted by the historic preservation community” at this point. The architect isn’t mentioned, but presumably it’s Mark Cavagnero — in his SFBT profile this past Friday, he mentions a Beaux Arts option for the addition that would blend right in with the existing building, and another option that would be “very deferential in massing, shape, form and size, but … a more contemporary building utilizing green technologies.” The $60 million addition would allow San Francisco Opera to consolidate a number of operations currently spread throughout the city, and has already been thumbs-up’d by the War Memorial’s board of trustees, though “the hurdles it would take to get this done are mammoth.”
· Opera envisions expansion [SF Examiner]
· Cavagnero projects on the board [SF Business Times]
· SFJAZZ’s Hayes Valley Theater Plans Should Be Arriving in Spring [Curbed SF]

[LindenHayes in the background, still wrapped in this Google Street View shot]

The 700-seat SFJAZZ theater we learned about last summer got a little media tickle Friday in an SF Business Times profile of architect Mark Cavagnero — it seems the project’s plans will get their official debut sometime this spring. Last year, the Examiner reported that a new three-story building would be built at the site of an auto shop on Franklin between Linden and Fell, presumbly the U & I Auto Safety Center at 205 Franklin. The building, according to notes from an Arts Commission meeting in 2008, would also have a 140-seat performance space dubbed “the lab,” and cafe, retail, and office spaces. SFJAZZ was firmly committed” at the time to a 2012 opening. Tragically, though Google still links to it, a page dedicated to the “SFJAZZ Performance Hall” on Cavagnero’s site has gone dark, meaning we’ll most likely have to wait till spring for exciting images.

As for Mark Cavagnero himself, the SFBT says the man has carved out something of a niche in designing and renovating spaces for cultural institutions. He first made a name for himself fixing up the Legion of Honor, and John King gave praise to his Sava Pool design, done in conjunction with Paulett Taggart, last year. We also recently learned that Cavagnero’s attached to the new police headquarters project in Mission Bay. At the moment, the SFJAZZ theater’s still doing its environmental thing with the city, but the group has a robust $30 million on hand. Cavagnero’s also been enlisted to study a seismic renovation of the War Memorial Veterans Building, as well as a four-story addition in its parking lot at Franklin and Fulton. In the meantime, new development LindenHayes probably has a lot to tweet about.
· Building for peak performance [SF Business Times]
· Mission Bay Police HQ Will Ask for Money to Strut Its Staircase [Curbed SF]
· Potential New Addition to Hayes Valley [Curbed SF]

["EAR," via Curbed SF Flickr photog kapshure]

· SFBG vs. suburbanist writer: “huh?” [SFBG]
· Bay Area’s the least affordable area in the country [SFBT]
· Spotted in the Inner Richmond: rocket house! [SFist]
· Aircruise is a decadent hotel in the sky [Metropolis POV]
· For rent: “college dorm-style” rooms above Zeitgeist [Mission Mission]
· Slower sales in January, but hold the panic [SFGate]

Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

This 2-bed, 3-bath “chic Telegraph Hill townhouse” was built in 1985, according to its website, and its renovation completed in 2006. The interiors were done by local firm Huang Iboshi Architecture, and it looks like they know what’s what in the world of conscientious landscaping— the kitchen has a “mature culinary garden” outside on a terrace, with decorative plantings from Flora Grubb Gardens. The three-story “house-like condominium” has an two-car garage, roof deck — and elevator, for lazily riding up to the roof deck, no doubt. HOA is $400 a month, while the place asks $2,100,000.
· 235 Francisco [Website]