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

In Orinda, the Hertzka & Knowles house with the terraced roof/patio/stage set has been taken off the market after a number of price chops. Sadly. it would seem that houses inspired by French modernism from the 1920′s don’t sell in Orinda. Or that someone who wants a house based on the French modernism of the 1920′s wouldn’t be caught dead in Orinda.

Meanwhile, the lovely John Elkin Dinwiddie house in Berkeley took a major pricechop and finally closed for the (relatively) bargain $1.8M after being listed for $1.995K. It needs a lot of “refreshing” and we wish it luck in its new life. Also the new owners. Will they restore the funicular from Tunnel Road leading to the front door, like a private woodsy Berkeley version of Angel’s Flight? Even without the funicular this project will be soaking up a few bucks, and the big question remains- did exiled and eminent architect Erich Mendelsohn have a hand in the design?

· International Style in Orinda Now $300K Less [Curbed SF Archive]
· John Elkin Dinwiddie in Berkeley, 1951 [Curbed SF Archive]
· 83 Oak Ridge Road [Redfin]
· 50 Haciendas Road [Redfin]
· Angel’s Flight [Curbed LA Archives]

The agenda for this week’s meeting of the Planning Commission is posted, and there are a few items of interest — most notably the proposed City Place development at 935-965 Market, otherwise known as a key section of the forlorn, dirty, dangerous and much-discussed “Mid-Market” stretch of Market Street . It’s worth re-reading guest editor Susie Cagle’s impassioned post on San Francisco’s exasperating habit of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good in development issues. The long, gaseous debate over Mid-Market is the poster child for her argument.
Also up: a project for the Castro’s “hole in the ground” at the intersection of 16th, Noe and Market Streets. The five-story 2299 Market project would fill the long-vacant lot (a fire destroyed the last occupant, a church, in 1981!!!) with 18 units of housing and ground floor retail. Please God, just don’t let it be another Starbucks!

· July 8, 2010 Planning Commission Agenda [SF Gov]
· T-Minus Two Days and Counting [Socketsite]
· My Mid-Market Madness [Curbed SF]
· 2299 Market as Proposed, Opposed, and Recommended by Planning [Socketsite]
· Five-Story Project at Market, Noe and 16th Moving Forward Now? [Curbed SF]

In Brokerbabble, “needs work but has potential”. We’d probably would have said “good bones”. In whatever language, 39 Curtis Street is charming one bedroom/one bath gem in Crocker-Amazon that’s awaiting you, your architect, your contractor and a buttload of building inspectors. Your banker may decline to get involved but at least you won’t have to live with someone else’s granite countertops. It’s only $320K. and you can walk to the Balboa BART. Just wait ’til you see the back yard!

· 39 Curtis Street [Redfin]

Big Agriculture lobbyists just won’t stop: News of grants for school vegetable gardens from major farm business organization Western Growers. A whopping $15K went to five schools and included drip-irrigation kits. No word on whether the kids are required to use seeds from Monsanto. [Mercury News]

Have you been following the mini-brouhaha over a proposal to create a plaza on Noe Valley’s 24th Street? Proponents say the trial measure will increase foot traffic and create an “innovative public space.” Opponents say it will increase vehicle traffic in other parts of the neighborhood and close off one of the only through routes in Noe Valley. Apparently, it’s getting quite heated — is it just us or does Bevan Dufty seem just a wee bit nervous in this entertaining video from last week’s community meeting on the project?

· Noe Valley Plaza: Tea Party Filibuster Hijacks Meeting [Noe Valley SF]
· Mildly Entertaining Shouting Disrupts Noe Valley Meeting [SFist]
· The Noe Congestion Question [Curbed SF]
· Noe Merchants Want Their Street Plaza [Curbed SF]

“Do Not Block Sidewalk” or “Do Not Block Bike Lane”? Who’d have thought an ARCO gas station could cause so much trouble? A long post from the bike point-of-view about problems caused on Fell Street by the heady brew of a left-side bike lane, a gas station where drivers line up to block both vehicular and bike traffic for the cheapest gas in town, plus left turns onto Divisadero. With everyone forgetting that Fell Street is the path of an unbuilt freeway and the best west-bound route to Golden Gate Park. Blend in pedestrians and oil spill protests for the perfect summer cocktail. [Streetsblog]

Night Shift from Whole Wheat Toast on Flickr

· Mehserle trial might end today, or it might not [SFist]
· Youths warned against Mehserle protesters [SF Chronicle]
· S.F. hospital gets proper makeover [SF Chronicle]
· Holiday meter enforcement means big cash for SF [Bay Citizen]
· Target eyes Geary and Masonic site [SF Appeal]

Bernard Maybeck, the Bay Area proto-Modernist, gets some love from architect Glenn Robert Lym, who’s made a number of videos about architecture and three specifically about Maybeck. The videos are available as podcasts and on Youtube, plus the architect’s own site. They’re almost languorous- the guy clearly loves Maybeck’s work. Sadly, almost entirely exteriors with interior stills pulled from the web, but he does a good job of describing them. Maybeck had a way with grand, timbered rooms with walk-in fireplaces and minstrel galleries.

· Glenn Robert Lym

Edge of San Francisco – Southeast from Spots Unknown on Vimeo.

We want to wish you a jolly Fourth of July weekend- we’ll be closed on Monday the 5th and hope you will be as well. Drive safely, drink responsibly, don’t eat too many tofu dogs. We recommend artisanal pork products over incendiary devices. And to inspire some trekking beyond your usual borders on this lovely weekend, we offer some video from Spots Unknown:

Too many of us think the only things worth looking at in our cities and towns are those safe and sanitized attractions that require an admission fee. It’s no wonder people feel unfulfilled as they shuffle through the maze of velvet ropes on their way out through the gift shop.

Urban explorers strive to actually earn their experiences, by making discoveries that allow them to get in on the secret workings of cities and structures, and to appreciate fantastic, obscure spaces that might otherwise go completely neglected.

Indeed. Happy 4th, y’all.

[According to Redfin, our fave online brokerage and intel source, there are 82 open houses this holiday weekend, most of them on Sunday. And that's just single-family houses. We've picked three that jumped out at us. -PF]

1112 Lombard Street: A grand Russian Hill 1940′s Georgian that’s suffered a few price-chops down from $4.998M a year ago when it first hit the market. It can now be yours for $3.675M. Open 2-4 on the Fourth, we recommend taking Hyde Street south to Lombard Street and making a right. Lombard going east will be backed up beyond Van Ness with tourists honoring the Signers of the Declaration of Independence by waiting to drive down the crooked bit. Come to think of it, 1112 Lombard does look a bit like Monticello, so have at it.

Like original woodwork? have we got a house for you: 1368 McAllister, in what remains of the Western Addition. Looks barely touched but entirely livable as is. No parking and recently price-chopped $75K to $1.725M. The kind of atmospheric Victorian many San Franciscans dream of, open Sunday 2-4.

3235 Webster Street: A sweet semi-detached and remodeled Marina of indeterminate style. They may have been going for Andalucian Village, but it’s still a charming mash-up. Swell living room, A nice walk to Marina Boulevard for the yuppie passagiata plus Moscone Recreation Center is steps away, as the realtors say. Open Sunday 2-4 and on the market about two weeks: $2.195M.