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

SF Bike Coalition wants you to give up gas on Fridays for snacks and coffee. No word on what they construe as snacks, and this being San Francisco, the coffee beans had better be artisan-roasted and free-trade. And what if you walk to work?

The City Place development for Mid-Market hits the Planning Commission today. The hearing is broadcast live on Channel 78 for geeks, insomniacs, or other interested parties. Right now the Commission is hearing a report on a plan for the Northeast Embarcadero, so it could be a while before City Place comes up.
· At the Planning Commission This Week [Curbed SF]
· My Mid-Market Madness [Curbed SF]
· T-Minus Two Days and Counting [Socketsite]

Thanks to our tipster P.F., who brought this new construction on a somewhat awkward lot to our attention. He wrote:

This corner lot was a giant stone cliff/boulder for years, with that anti-landslide metal mesh on it. Always figured it was un-buildable, but they just removed all the rock & flattened out the lot. It was fun watching the digger machines trying to maneuver around on the street — it’s so steep that they kept sliding backwards down the hill, despite having tank treads. (The noise that made, not so much fun — fingernails on a blackboard x100).

These look like your basic modern loft/luxury condos to us. Let us know when they hit the market, P.F., and thanks for the tip!
· 19th and Rhode Island Streets [Google Maps]

So many open homes, and so little time! Here are a few must-sees:
Japanese retreat in Noe Valley, high up in the trees at 542 Valley St. — 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, lots of great detail and authentic Japanese touches including a tranquil garden, tatami room, and soaking tub. Listed at $2.195 M. Open Sunday, July 11, 2-4 p.m.
Also visit this adorable Victorian in Bernal Heights, just off Cortland at 236 Elsie Street. 3 bedrooms, 2 baths with tasteful upgrades and lots of charm, listed at $849,000. It’s open Saturday and Sunday, July 10 and 11, from 2-4 p.m. Or if you’re more into Arts & Crafts style homes, check out the 3 bedroom, 2 bath bungalow a few doors down at 208 Elsie St., listed at $869,000. We love the location and the rooms are more generously-proportioned than the Victorian, but to us the house lacks just a bit of the Vic’s charm. 208 Elsie is open Saturday, July 10 from 3-5 p.m., and Sunday, July 11 from 2-5 p.m.
Just listed at $965,000: A large 4 bedroom, 2 bath at 575 45th Avenue in the Outer Richmond. Nice detail and great backyard (if the sun ever comes out that close to the ocean, that is). Open Saturday and Sunday from 2-4 p.m.
· 542 Valley St. [Redfin]
· 236 Elsie St [Redfin]
· Adorable Bernal Heights Victorian [Curbed SF]
· 208 Elsie St. [Redfin]
· 575 45th Avenue [Redfin]

The east toll gate of Point Lobos Road, now the intersection of Geary and Masonic Boulevards (looking southeast) c.1865 [Photo Credit: Greg Gaar Collection, via Outside Lands]

Above, the site of the future/maybe Target at the pretentiously-named City Center on Geary Boulevard. Geary was originally known as Point Lobos Road (because that’s where it ended- at Point Lobos) and is named in honor of the first post-statehood mayor of San Francisco, John W. Geary.

The unpopular and brutally moderne cement edifice that may/may not become a Target started life as a Sears-Roebuck and stands on the edge of the Calvary Cemetery site at Geary and Masonic Boulevards, here circa 1865. Much of the Calvary site is now occupied by Kaiser Medical Center. Trader Joe’s stands on the edge of Laurel Hill Cemetery which ran between Geary and California. Laurel Hill was for Protestants. Calvary for the Catholics and the Masonic Cemetery (it would sprout on the right side of the image above) was for Masons. Masonic cemetery is now mostly housing, plus St. Ignatius and the University of San Francisco. There was also the Odd Fellows Cemetery, but we’re going to leave that fraternal bunch alone for now. Under the pressure of development, the City dug everyone up and transported them all to Colma in 1899. Headstones and monuments became landfill, creating the Marina District. And we think we have epic land-use battles.

What we’d really like to see here is some action on making Geary Boulevard friendlier from Japantown and westward, where it becomes a mini-freeway, and bringing it back uphill to Masonic, which it currently passes under. Traffic moves too fast- which of course was the plan back in the 1950′s- but those days are over. West of Masonic, trying to cross Geary on foot at most intersections is suicidal. No one’s in any hurry to get to Colma. And where’s the bike lane, please?

· Target sets its sights on S.F. [SF Gate]
· Streetwise: Dearly Departed [Outside Lands]
· Winner of the Ugliest Building Contest: The City Center [Curbed SF Archive]

Love at first sight – this adorable blue and white Victorian on a nice block in Bernal, steps away from the delights of Cortland Street. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, nicely updated throughout. We love those warm gold walls and the west-facing city view from the back looks fairly stunning.
On the negative side, the bedrooms seem a bit small and one of the bathrooms is pretty ordinary. According to Redfin, the last time this home sold was in 1999 for $93,000. Even allowing for the cost of extensive renovation, that’s a tidy profit! We predict the sellers will miss those low, low property taxes.
The home is open this Saturday and Sunday, July 10 and 11, from 2-4 p.m.
· 236 Elsie St. [Redfin]

First, the good: this newly-listed Liberty St. Victorian is located on one of the most beautiful blocks in Eureka Valley, offers stunning views and sweet, unpretentious exterior charm. The bad? Hints of an over-zealous 1950s-era remodel, including –horrors!–an ugly forest of knotty pine in the aging kitchen and breakfast room. The two bathrooms aren’t shown in the pictures accompanying the listing, and that also worries us.
Of course, the $1.2 million listing price isn’t perhaps all that bad for a fixer Victorian on this block, with these views. It’s open for a special preview late this afternoon, July 8, from 4-6 p.m. Anyone want to sashay through and give us a review in the comments? Another open house is scheduled for Sunday, July 11, from 2-4 p.m.
· 572 Liberty St. [Redfin]

Here at Curbed SF we pride ourselves on our snarky take on our fair city’s real estate and neighborhood mini-dramas. But every once in a while a story slaps us into seriousness — like when we saw the new listing for 4221 Moraga, a short sale of a single-family home going to auction July 16. Ostensibly, it’s a two-bedroom, one-bath Outer Sunset home listed at a jaw-dropping $279,888 (the property was last sold in 2003 for $575,000). But there are four additional unpermitted bedrooms and three additional unpermitted bathrooms (!), and the pictures show evidence of a family with young children living in pretty spartan conditions. Oh, maybe we’re being sentimental, but this listing makes us think about the distress of families being dislocated by economic troubles and a bursting real estate bubble. We hope the people in this family (or families) land on their feet.
· 4221 Moraga St [Redfin]

Photo, right: Does this look like a good idea to you? Image courtesy of SF Citizen
· S.F. Quandary Develops Over “Orphan Block [SF Chronicle]
· Probe: Alameda Official Secretly Aided Builder [SF Chronicle]
· Changes on the 22nd St. Corridor [Mission Loc@l]
· SF Considers Banning Sale of All Pets Except Fish [SF Chronicle]
· Wait Continues as Proposed Final Orders Filed in Bike Injunction Case [SF Streetsblog]

“These guys are all just weenies” accurately describes the tone of most discourse in North Beach. Today it refers to the inability of the historic Preservation Commission to vote on replacing the old North Beach library with a new one.