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

Thanks to the likes of buses from Google, Facebook, Yahoo, and Apple, the Mission has become a new techie haven — sparking the second wave of gentrification for the neighborhood since the original dot-com boom. Working class Latinos aren’t too thrilled about it, but one quoted business owner thinks the second wave is more plugged in to the “social network of the neighborhood.” (See what she did there?) Also, the only other neighborhood as popular as the Mission among Facebookers is the Marina. Heh. [WSJ]

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On Tuesday we noted the opposition to Anasazi Properties and Stanley Saitowitz’s 1601 Larkin — a neighborhood-wide poster juxtaposing the old church with slightly stale iteration of the new condo building. Opponents went down a list of bullet points explaining why the proposal was problematic, including the developer “not providing any adaptive reuse option” for the church. But that wouldn’t have just been problematic for neighbors — an environmental impact report has to provide such alternatives, even if they’re not favored by the developer. The release of the EIR on the Planning Department’s website today, along with comments and responses to the doc, do in fact show a couple adaptive alternatives to the church. One would simply fill in the church’s parking lot with a slimmer condo building while keeping the church for use as five residential units, an entrance lobby, and child-care facility — for a total of 14 condos. In the “partial preservation” scenario, the bell tower would be saved and Frankenstein’d onto the new building, creating 27 units — again, note that the green-glass scheme is an older design that’s long been available on both Anasazi’s and Saitowitz’s respective websites (see Monday’s post for the metallic reboot).
· Some Nob Hill Neighbors Still Want the Church; Debate Continues [Curbed SF]
· Are Planners Overstepping Bounds Telling Architects What to Do? [Curbed SF]

["Maker Faire 2010: articulate," via Curbed SF Flickr photog captin_nod]

· Nuclear Buddha watches a game of petanque [Civic Center]
· Gavin’s Warm Water Cove rescue: apparently forgotten [SF Citizen]
· Millennium and their former drive-in, future office park [SF Examiner]
· “LEED is a snapshot, not a promise of performance“ [NYT]
· Surprise! Mortgage rates coast downward [WSJ]

Planners have a metric in mind for the Blue Greenway plan, a long-term vision to turn San Francisco’s portion of the 500-mile Bay Trail into, well, lots of green next to all that blue. That metric would be for anyone walking the 13-mile stretch to run into open space every six minutes. The project may end up taking “decades” to finish, but that makes it no less exciting. How exciting? “Generally, it’s amazing,” says a former task forcer. [SF Examiner]

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This Richmond 2-bed, 1.5-bath top-floor condo has been on the market for 20 days now. Overlooking Park Presidio, “extraordinary remodel” flogs its “amazing attention to detail” — it’s also got a bright sunroom and eat-in kitchen. Square footage on the unit’s 1,755, and asking price is $1,495,000, for $852 per.
· 653 14th Ave [Website]

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If any local architecture firm has plenty of work these days, it’s got to be BAR Architects, whose partnership with Prado Group has borne two major supermarket/condo developments. We featured a rendering of the newer one, at 1401 California, last week — a six-story building that comes right up to the corner of California and Hyde, and also manages to preserve a piece of the old Cala Foods wall and V-shaped ceiling. Moving on to the other mixed-use project, then: the Whole Foods at 2001 Market. The project has up until now has been depicted in watercolors and simpler renderings, making these latest images a whole different look at the project. BAR notes the building’s “emphasis on verticality and 25-30 foot modules,” which “allows the building to continue the residential rhythm of the neighborhood.” But enough architalk — according to the architect’s site, the project could supposedly begin construction in fall 2010, with the Whole Foods opening early 2012 and the 80 condos coming online by mid-2012.
· Rendering Update: Whole Foods Condos Go Simpler [Curbed SF]
· Upper Market Whole Foods: Even More Renderings (Again) [Curbed SF]
· Rendering Reveal: YES (Again) on Castro Whole Foods [Curbed SF]

In case anyone still finds this kind of HGTV-style remodel extravaganza exciting, Sunset magazine’s pulling their own on a “historic 1920s California Mediterranean bungalow” in Los Gatos. One interesting move: before they do anything, they’re picking up the house and rotating it 90 degrees. [Website, via Curbed Inbox]

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At this point, it’s just sad, but we won’t begrudge 830 El Camino del Mar another honest go at it. The Sea Cliff 2-bed, 2-bath has been on and off the market for years now, and for the same amount of time has failed repeatedly to find a buyer — meanwhile, we watch, with some inscrutable mixture of interest and boredom. The latest list price for the 3,734 square foot home: $10,500,000, a price chop from January’s $11.5 mil of one million dollars, and 41.7 percent off its $18 million asking price from summer 2008. Anyway, plucky little Sea Cliff house: see you again on the MLS, same time next year?
· 830 El Camino Del Mar [Redfin]
· PriceChopper del Mar: Almost 40 Percent Off Sea Cliff House [Curbed SF]

So much happening this summer: next month, Streetsblog reports, a judge will consider lifting the injunction on bike lanes in the city — an injunction that has kept its heavy thumb on potential new lanes now for years now. The ban has already been partially lifted since November, allowing sharrows and a few new lanes, but if the environmental impact report is finally deemed good and ready, the floodgates will really open. [Streetsblog, previously]