| New Intelligence on the Artani Condominiums in San Francisco | August 6th, 2008 |
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The Artani has 52 units total, with a combination of one bedrooms, one bedroom plus dens and two bedrooms. There are no studios or three-bedroom units. All of the units come with one car parking. Square footages run from just over 700 sf for a one bedroom to the 1400 square foot penthouse units– . Tentative pricing puts an entry point at $599,000 to $1M+ for a penthouse unit with indoor/outdoor terrace and water views. Almost all the units have some outdoor space. There will be a ‘knockout, fabulous’ (sales agent’s words) roof deck with fountains with landscaping designed and installed by Living Green of SOMA The principal amenity will be a doorman/concierge. The Artani not heavy on bells and whistles– I like to call these kinds of buildings “stylish, not stylin.” High end finishings include Caesarstone countertops, and hardwood floors come standard in all the units. Multi-paned windows with floor-to-ceiling glass will be the building’s hallmark and a major architectural feature of the project. Relative to other large condominium buildings on the Van Ness Corridor (Chelsea Court, Symphony Tower, Opera Plaza), the Artani will have a much higher end feel with richer finishings and lobby attendant. |
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One of my bosses is Artani’s developer. So Paragon is handling marketing and sales for the units. The sales office is scheduled to be up and running right after Labor Day weekend.| Clean Living, Clean Air at the Arterra | July 28th, 2008 |
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The Arterra has 270 units in two buildings. I hadn’t been that wild about the project until my first hard hat tour a few weeks ago. The architecture seemed a little bland and it’s set way out at the edge of the Mission Bay district, which is still being built up. Three-to-four years out it will feel like a very different neighborhood, but right now it feels a bit remote. The tour changed my view. There’s a good energy about the building and the prices are very reasonable. My clients have a 2br/2ba in escrow in the $775,000 range with big corner windows, some city skyline views and a small deck. The plan for Mission Bay also includes bike trails, esplanades running along Mission Bay Creek and a very cool urban park with basket ball courts and storage for kayaks. The most striking about touring the Arterra is the absence of toxic smells. Usually when I tour new construction I’m slightly overcome by paint fumes and off gases from carpeting. There’s none of that at the Arterra– it just feels really, really clean. The Arterra has a variety of unit sizes at different price points. For more information on availability and pricing, call me at 415-577-0809. |
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I and some other associates in my office at Paragon Real Estate in San Francisco have a number of units in escrow at The Arterra, San Francisco’s first LEED-certified condominium development. Move-ins are scheduled to begin later this summer.| SOMA Grand Demographics | July 20th, 2008 |
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Soma Grand represents San Francisco’s true spirit of a diverse community. Our residents vary in age, education and profession as well as marital status. So, what is the common denominator with these folks? Every one of the residents who chose Soma Grand as their home are smart, savvy, stylish early adapters who embrace the pioneering spirit of the Gold Rush that made San Francisco what it is today. Over 85% of our residents have earned a college degree or higher. Over 20% work in the technology, while marketing/advertising, real estate and medical fields follow closely behind in occupation. About 50% are between $100K ~ 250K in household income level and 60% are married. 69% are between the ages 25 to 44 while the remaining 30% are over 45. . . . The posting also reports that 61% of the residents are unmarried– and from the anecdotal information I’ve gotten on the building, I’d lay odds that most of them are men. . . . I sometimes joke that there are “girl” buildings and “boy” buildings (The Brannan), and there are buildings that seem to attract dozens of empty nesters. If I were to predict the population at SOMA Grand, I’d say it will be skewed slightly younger and all the residents will share a common ‘pioneer spirit.’ I know this term sounds hokey, but you gotta’ be a visionary to see where this neighborhood is going. . . I don’t mean to be sarcastic– Mission between 7th and 12th is due for dramatic changes over the next three years. Most significant is the San Giacomo project next door to the SOMA Grand, which will add 440 units to the neighborhood along with a major grocery store and other shops on the ground floor. In the immediate future, look forward to a new Charles Phan (Slanted Door) restaurant on the ground floor of the SOMA Grand building, with more upscale dining spots across the street. |
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I’ve gotten a scolding in the past for ‘profiling’ my buyers, and sellers by specifiying their (general) ages and (specific) sexual orientations. I think the SOMA Grand website blog avoids these ethical dilemmas by focusing on general population demographics. Here is what they have to report:| Beware of Signing in at New Homes Projects | July 19th, 2008 |
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It’s just one of many things that make buying a new home different– and sometimes trickier than purchasing an existing one. Once you sign in, it’s possible that the developer won’t pay a commission to an outside agent. Different home projects have different policies on the matter. But I’ve had clients sign in without me and sometimes it’s been very difficult for me to represent them afterwards. It’s frustrating, because I can’t guide them through things like negotiating the price, upgrades and credits back for closing costs. My new home buyers also benefit from my careful review of every page of the developer’s purchase contract and disclosure documents. Builder contracts are naturally one-sided, and designed to take away many of the rights a buyer has in ordinary resale contracts. Some of the differences are contingency timelines, which are often quite short. There are also extensive liability protections built into the contract to keep you from pursuing damage in the event of a disagreement. I go in and out of new home developments all the time to stay on top of what’s available and where. Agents in Paragon’s New Homes Group also meets monthly to review all new homes projects, and swap insider information on different buildings. As a result we know how much different developers are shaving off their prices, how fast different buildings are selling and which ones have a large number of units coming back on the market because of buyers who have been unable to obtain financing. When I work with a buyer interested in new homes, my experience helps them quickly assess the different projects how one stacks up against another. We usually get a lot accomplished in an initial meeting at my office, where we can review the marketing collateral for each development and discuss neighborhood, amenities, price, and size. After that first meeting we generally zero in on three or four new homes projects to visit on an initial outing. Please visit some of the New Homes I’ve sold in the Featured Listings section of my website. I will be adding two additional sales the Arterra and Soma Grand soon. |
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You shouldn’t even think about visiting a new homes project and signing in by yourself– at least if you want to be represented later by a real estate agent.| SFBlu– | July 11th, 2008 |
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I did a hard hat tour of SFBlu yesterday, with a special focus on the penthouse units on the top floor. There are four of them– ranging in price from $2.65- to $3.5+M. All of them are built on three levels– the top floor is a tiny solarium room that opens out onto a big corner terrace, that can become wonderful outdoor garden, with stunning views towards the bay and downtown. The floor below is the main living level, which has a wonderful spaciousness– there’s enough room for two seating areas and a large dining room table. The lower level has the bedrooms. Here the rooms look a little small, but it’s hard to tell how small (or large) they really are because there’s no furniture and, for the most part, no walls yet– just steel framing. Finishings at SFBlu are, for the most part, exceptional. Nice, thick glass shower doors, high end cabinetry and big floor to ceiling windows. The least expensive units look smack into the side of the AT&T building which isn’t very exciting. The architect has tried to compensate by squaring off each window, to allow for sliver views towards downtown at the front corner or the living room. The upside to these units is that they are very reasonably priced, considering the square footage. Two-bedrooms wit this kind of face are in the mid-800K range for 900+ square feet. For a view away from AT&T, the price jumps up into the $900’s. |
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I wish I knew how to put that little horizontal dash over the ‘u’ in the SFBlu when I type it out. It looks so much better.| The Radiant and Radiating Radiance– | July 11th, 2008 |
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The Radiance is a bit of a pioneer in the Mission Bay neighborhood. Mission Bay is already one of those “build it and they will come” locations, where a total of 6000+ unit is slated for development in the next 5-10 years. About a third of those units are finished or near completion in and around the Berry and King Street. The most established part of the neighborhood is King Street, where the Beacon Condominiums house a Safeway, a Starbucks and a Barnes and Noble. The 170 off Third condos are nearby, running from Townsend through to King Street. Berry Street is also starting to pull itself together with a number of larger condominium and apartment buildings at or near completion. The Radiance distinguishes itself by being in a slightly more remote location south of Mission Creek on Mission Bay Boulevard. Until now the only memorable landmarks in this neck of the woods have been The Mission Rock Cafe and Jelly’s Dance Club. The Radiance will change that with 417 units split among two 16-story towers and two nine-story mid-rise buildings. The Radiance touts itself as ‘family friendly’ with unusually large units that include 3-bedroom town homes which run as large as 1,990 square feet. Prices run from $649,000 to $2,349,000. Some units will have nice views back towards the city, encompassing the length of the skyline and Bay Bridge. Rumor has it that prices may be softening at The Radiance. They took a mess of reservations back when they opened and every one wanted into the San Francisco real estate market, but many of those buyers have disappeared and my impression is that they’ve got lots of inventory to work with. 7/14/08 update - The MLS has just posted two Radiance units: #416, a 2br/2ba with 1802 square feet listed for $1,521,000; and #112, a 2br/3ba with 1844 square feet, listed for $1,799,600. San Francisco’s Redevelopment Agency’s website offers a more comprehensive overview of plans for the Mission Bay neighborhood. /King Street Corridor but the Radiance is the first one located across the Lefty O’Doul Bridge. |
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The Radiance at Mission Bay is celebrating a “Grand Opening” this week, even though their sales office has been open for over a year on King Street, and they’ve had model homes to show since April. | The Artani is Coming! The Artani is Coming! | July 9th, 2008 |
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The banner is going up tomorrow on The Artani, a collection of chic condos offered by Paragon. Here are some basic stats: The location - Eddy and Van Ness. I know that corner sounds a little off-putting, but within 3-5 years you won’t recognize Van Ness Avenue between Market and Post. Upcoming changes and improvements include: A planned greening of the median strip 50+ condos at 75 Van Ness 100+ units at the Galaxy theater site Senior housing at the Kinko’s site 50+ units at the Shell Gas Station site. Hayes Valley Plan also allows 40-story towers at the Avenue’s gateway, at the corner of Market and Van Ness. The buzz about Van Ness is similar to what you heard about South Beach in the mid-90s. Those with vision could see how the neighborhood was going to take shape, and knew to jump in early. Others waited to see it happen before buying there. The Artani is built to standards that anticipate the Avenue’s evolution to one of the City’s hottest neighborhoods. Each unit has floor to ceiling windows to take advantage of light and views (and the views are better than you think). Finishings are upscale, with chocolate hardwood floors, CeasarStone counters, stainless steel appliances and European fixtures. Some units will even include air conditioning. Amenities and common area styling make the building feel like a boutique hotel. There will a doorman/concierge and a landscaped rooftop terrace with water features, private sitting areas and vistas of the City. The units will be one-bedrooms, one-bedrooms plus den, and two-bedrooms. Prices start in the $600,000’s. The sales office is scheduled to open in early September. With the building close to completion, a short escrow is possible and move-ins could happen as early as the first week in October. For more details or a possible early preview, please call 415-577-0809! |
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| What’s Up With 140 New Montgomery? Inquiring Minds Want To Know. . . | June 19th, 2008 |
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Developer Wilson Meany Sullivan had previously planned on including a hotel component in the project, replicating the Four Season, Ritz Carlton and St. Regis projects. My suspicion is that they saw the tremendous success The Millennium is having and chose to simplify matters by switching over to a straight luxury condonminium project using the Millennium model. Like the Millennium, 140 New Montgomery will offer high-touch service, comparable to what you get in a four-star hotel– except you don’t have to share with hotel guests. A common term of art for these kinds of projects is “lifestyle residences,” i.e. you aren’t just buying a home– you are buying a lifestyle. Wilson Meany Sullivan is shrewd to choose go for bigger, fewer units instead of many smaller ones. Common wisdom has always been to pack as many units into a floor plate as possible to generate the highest return (i.e. two one bedrooms will sell for more money than one two-bedroom). However, over the past few years, the growing demographic of high-end home buyers has enabled builders to charge more per square foot for bigger units than smaller ones. These builders also enjoy the advantage of building fewer units, which drives down costs and makes for a shorter build-out period. Some interior views of the current building’s lobby and historic displays are available on a phone company employee’s personal blog. |
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The historic Art Deco Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company builoding at140 NewMontomery is slated (for now) to be converted to 135 extra-large residential units. The 26-story building will house an 8500 square foot restaurant and the existing garage accessible fromNatoma Street, which will accommodate 70 valet-parked cars (hooray! parking for everyone!).| More on the Montgomery | April 24th, 2008 |
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I visited the Montgomery yesterday to preview what they have left and I think even more now that this is an overlooked gem. The Montgomery was built in the 1900s and was used as offices up until its conversion to 107 residential units last year. The exterior of the building remains absolutely original, including the big double hung windows, which were entirely rebuilt with state-of-the-art glazing that buffers sound. The project won a prize for 2007’s San Francisco Times best development projects for best rehab or renovation. These oversize windows are a distinctive architectural feature in each unit, along with exceptionally high ceilings that run anywhere from 9′6″ to 20 feet and higher. The floor plans are fairly conventional, except for the “Executive Studio,” which has an entry and stepped-up sleeping space with its own doorway so you don’t see the bed until you walk all the way into the unit and turn around. Here is some general pricing (as of today) and square footages. I have some idea about why they are putting weird numbers on at the end of their prices– it’s a scientific strategy designed to get higher prices (i.e. $476,845 sounds like less than $475,000): The Executive Studios run $476,845 to $545,845 and run 635-752 square feet (that’s big for a studio). These units have an exceptionally clever floor plan with a sleeping area set slightly above the main level, which creates a sense of privacy and keeps your bed from intruding into the rest of the space. The 1br /1ba’s run $586,845-625,845 and are 782-960 square feet. The 1br+den/1ba’s run $755,845-881,845 and are 816-946 square feet. The dens are (just) large enough to accommodate a full-size bed and you could install sliding doors for privacy. 2br/2baths start at about $1,050,000 and run up to $1,275,000. Their square footages run 1531-1678 square feet. Every two-bedroom is a corner unit with light on two sides. On a practical level, the biggest change at the Montgomery is that they now offer three years of pre-paid parking at the Paramount Apartments across the street. So buying a unit without deeded parking becomes less of an objection. (Deeded parking does come with the upper-end units, like a penthouse for $1.4M.) Each unit comes with its own storage space (an unusual feature) that is at minimum 5X4X6 feet. The closet space inside the units is also unusually generous. |
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| The Montgomery | March 26th, 2008 |
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The sweet price point - units start in the $400K range Close-in location– Steps from downtown, these units can command extraordinarily high rents from professionals who want to walk to work. Historic building - Great facade, cool lobby. Builder is ready to deal - They are offering all kinds of incentives on upgrades and financing. With all the new homes on the market, I think The Montgomery has gotten lost in the shuffle. They also didn’t quite know how to market the property– and can’t figure out if the homes will appeal more to pied-a-terre buyers or full-time urban dwellers. The only serious drawback is the lack of parking. I’m finding though, that many of my younger buyers are quite content to go carless. And if this is a pied-a-terre and you only stay part-time, it’s probably worth the price discount to just rent a space while you’re in town. |
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I think the new homes at The Montgomery may be an overlooked gem. Here’s why:
