I'll admit that I may be jumping the gun a bit, but its exciting for a real estate geek like myself to lay hands on the 24 different floor plans available at the newly opened One Hawthorne sales center. That's pretty much all you can do at this point, anyway. The building won't be ready for hard hat tours for another three weeks and brochures, virtual reality tours and all the usual sales center accessories have yet to arrive.
What you will find are a delightful sales team, some of whom you will recognize from The Infinity a few blocks east. Since walking through a home is the best way to judge its merits, we will have to make do with what the team is sharing right now about the 165 condominiums. The 24 different layouts range from junior 1-bedrooms through 3-bedroom penthouses and I was pleasantly surprised by the large-ish, well-designed units offering plenty of closets and windows.
Pricing has not been established so we can't judge the relative value, but a few things to keep in mind are that parking is available with about 75% of the homes and that it is valet only. The first phase to hit the market in February will be on the 2nd though 8th floors only of the 25 story tower. A strategy surely meant to determine value on the upper floors but more likely to stymie buyers that want views and light.
This will be the last new tower Downtown for quite some time, so the One Hawthorne team is pretty much guaranteed a lot of traffic to the sales center. Whether or not that traffic results in raining deposit checks remains to be seen but it looks promising.
For expert guidance on this and all other Downtown developments you know who to call.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
What's Up? New Developments at New Developments
January is typically a slow month in real estate. People are busy working on their resolutions (or breaking them). Once the Superbowl has been played, business starts to pick up with homes hitting the MLS and buyers starting to write offers.
Some new developments have gotten a jump on activity for early 2010 and made some fun and/or interesting changes. Lets take a look...
829 Folsom: You say Goodbye and I say Hello.
Sotheby's New Marketing Group has handed over the sales and marketing reigns to The Polaris Group as of the new year.
Since opening in mid-2009 few of these Folsom Street condominiums have gone into contract, perhaps the new blood (and new pricing) will be just the trick. Pay them a visit and say "Hi" to the new team; maybe they will show you one of the killer Penthouses.
Hang out with some hot models at BLU.
Not those kind of models. Although that wouldn't hurt. Anyway, these 16th floor beauties showcase the stunning finishes and views available at what one wag had dubbed "The Millennium Junior". The A plan is especially sweet with no units adjacent and views on three sides. The Ladies of BLU await you (that would be the lovely sales team).
She's a Brick House: Union unveils the brick and timber building!
They call it Union North. It's the "old" portion of Union's new construction/historic rehab combo and you are now allowed to tour and perhaps buy. One of only two developments currently marketing (Esprit Park being the other) that gives you that elusive and desirable combination of new systems and finishes with the beauty and character of vintage brick and timber. Bonus points for the cool neighborhood already stocked with shops, bars and restaurants.
Do you have colleagues, friends or family searching for a San Francisco condominium? Your referrals have been greatly appreciated and I look forward to exceeding expectations again in 2010.
Some new developments have gotten a jump on activity for early 2010 and made some fun and/or interesting changes. Lets take a look...
829 Folsom: You say Goodbye and I say Hello.
Sotheby's New Marketing Group has handed over the sales and marketing reigns to The Polaris Group as of the new year.
Since opening in mid-2009 few of these Folsom Street condominiums have gone into contract, perhaps the new blood (and new pricing) will be just the trick. Pay them a visit and say "Hi" to the new team; maybe they will show you one of the killer Penthouses.
Hang out with some hot models at BLU.
Not those kind of models. Although that wouldn't hurt. Anyway, these 16th floor beauties showcase the stunning finishes and views available at what one wag had dubbed "The Millennium Junior". The A plan is especially sweet with no units adjacent and views on three sides. The Ladies of BLU await you (that would be the lovely sales team).
She's a Brick House: Union unveils the brick and timber building!
They call it Union North. It's the "old" portion of Union's new construction/historic rehab combo and you are now allowed to tour and perhaps buy. One of only two developments currently marketing (Esprit Park being the other) that gives you that elusive and desirable combination of new systems and finishes with the beauty and character of vintage brick and timber. Bonus points for the cool neighborhood already stocked with shops, bars and restaurants.
Do you have colleagues, friends or family searching for a San Francisco condominium? Your referrals have been greatly appreciated and I look forward to exceeding expectations again in 2010.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Worlds Tallest Building Opens For Business: Welcome to The Burj Khalifa.
Yesterday marked the official grand opening of the worlds tallest building in Dubai, the Burj Khalifa. Originally named The Burj Dubai ('Dubai Tower' in Arabic); construction started on September 21, 2004 and was completed October 1, 2009.
"So what?" one may ask. "Dubai has been building high rises like crazy for years". While that is true, I'll let the facts and figures for the highest man-made structure in the world speak for themselves:
Height: 2,684 feet. 1,000 feet taller than the next highest building, Taipei 101 completed in 2004.
Floors: 160.
Cost: $1.5 billion USD or $9 million USD per floor.
Elevators: 57.
Capacity: 25,000 people.
Usable square footage: 5.67 million.
Residential units: 1,044.
Residential square footage: 1.85 million.
Office square footage: 300,000.
How many appliances? Miele manufactured 7,650 for the residential units.
How many toilets and bidets? Duravit made 4,000 for the building.
Observation Deck? Highest in the world on the 124th floor.
So for now, The Burj Khalifa wins the age old "Whose is bigger?" contest.
The unanswered question is how are the condo closings going? With the sales office claiming to have sold 95% of the 1,044 units within eight hours of hitting the market back in 2006, it will be interesting to see how many of these contracts close amid economic uncertainty both in Dubai and abroad. Prices per square foot are reported to have topped out at $2600 USD.
Monday, December 21, 2009
A Toast...
To my colleagues, clients and friends:
Thank you for indulging me each week when I pick up my virtual pen. I hope you find it entertaining, informative, sometimes zen.
I am grateful for life's blessings and my ability to share and send. In a small way, we learn, we laugh, we mend.
2009 is almost gone, the first decade of the new century at end. Now the wiser, lets welcome 2010!
Cheers!
Thank you for indulging me each week when I pick up my virtual pen. I hope you find it entertaining, informative, sometimes zen.
I am grateful for life's blessings and my ability to share and send. In a small way, we learn, we laugh, we mend.
2009 is almost gone, the first decade of the new century at end. Now the wiser, lets welcome 2010!
Cheers!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
SOLD! Online Storage Auction Rakes It In; Provides Storage For Rakes.
The Infinity held the second and final round of deeded storage space auctions last Thursday. Round one of the auction took place November 18th with all units selling. Thursday night represented the last opportunity for Infinity homeowners to bid in the online auction and score a deal on some much needed room to stash bicycles, buggies and boards, both ski and surf.
I have a client who participated unsuccessfully in the first round and would be traveling during the second, so I happily stepped in to be his bidder-by-proxy. Being a very bright and analytical gentlemen, he provided me with a detailed bid strategy which yielded success and what I think to be a respectable value based on the 'comps' as we say in real estate.
That brings me to the most fascinating thing about the auction for me: seeing value assigned to property in real time. It was a small-scale case study of a consumer market in action. Before your eyes you saw demand rise and fall, then rise and fall again. Prices did a similar dance, leveling off for periods, dropping and then shooting up suddenly. I found it terribly interesting to review the post auction data and determine patterns and how well the group did individually and as a whole.
The big question on most peoples minds: Does having storage add value to my home? My answer: Absolutely, but there is no way to determine how much. Try this scenario: Two almost identical Infinity units hit the market at the same time at the same price. One has storage and the other does not, which sells first?
In a challenging market, anything a seller can do to make their home stand out will add value. Whether or not that value translates to more money, a quicker sale or both is up to the market.
I have a client who participated unsuccessfully in the first round and would be traveling during the second, so I happily stepped in to be his bidder-by-proxy. Being a very bright and analytical gentlemen, he provided me with a detailed bid strategy which yielded success and what I think to be a respectable value based on the 'comps' as we say in real estate.
That brings me to the most fascinating thing about the auction for me: seeing value assigned to property in real time. It was a small-scale case study of a consumer market in action. Before your eyes you saw demand rise and fall, then rise and fall again. Prices did a similar dance, leveling off for periods, dropping and then shooting up suddenly. I found it terribly interesting to review the post auction data and determine patterns and how well the group did individually and as a whole.
The big question on most peoples minds: Does having storage add value to my home? My answer: Absolutely, but there is no way to determine how much. Try this scenario: Two almost identical Infinity units hit the market at the same time at the same price. One has storage and the other does not, which sells first?
In a challenging market, anything a seller can do to make their home stand out will add value. Whether or not that value translates to more money, a quicker sale or both is up to the market.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Asked and Answered: Does Downtown San Francisco Really Need Another Mall?
According to the Urban Realty Company, the developer for the proposed CityPlace Mall on Market Street between 5th and 6th, the answer is "Yes". The project has been in the design and review phase for a few years now. If approved in the current iteration, CityPlace will add approximately 250,000 square feet of 'value' based' retail along a dreary stretch of Market Street that most people wouldn't consider strolling down at any time of day or night, retail or not.
In general, I'm a pro-development type of guy but I'm not confident this mall will succeed. With potential tenants being 'value based' (think Ross Stores and the like) and the retail sector suffering, I don't see what value this adds to the neighborhood. Target will open The Metreon soon and additional retail square footage seems superfluous. Maybe I'm short sighted.
Neighborhood residents have the most to gain. Anything that can be done to change the scene along Market Street there can and should move forward. In lieu of a Ross, how about a grocery store that could serve the areas new residents in buildings like SOMAGrand and Argenta ? The typical Safeway occupies about 45,000 square feet so there would still be plenty of room
for designer outlet stores.
In the mean time, I'll see you at The Westfield Center. An excellent example of historic rehabilitation, adaptive and mixed-use development that is home to Spanish designer knock-off value retailer Zara. So there.
In general, I'm a pro-development type of guy but I'm not confident this mall will succeed. With potential tenants being 'value based' (think Ross Stores and the like) and the retail sector suffering, I don't see what value this adds to the neighborhood. Target will open The Metreon soon and additional retail square footage seems superfluous. Maybe I'm short sighted.
Neighborhood residents have the most to gain. Anything that can be done to change the scene along Market Street there can and should move forward. In lieu of a Ross, how about a grocery store that could serve the areas new residents in buildings like SOMAGrand and Argenta ? The typical Safeway occupies about 45,000 square feet so there would still be plenty of room
for designer outlet stores.
In the mean time, I'll see you at The Westfield Center. An excellent example of historic rehabilitation, adaptive and mixed-use development that is home to Spanish designer knock-off value retailer Zara. So there.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Holy Healthcare Batman! $2.6 Billion in Hospital Construction Under Way in SF
As the national debate on health care rages on, San Francisco's medical institutions have other fish to fry. In order to be in compliance with state seismic safety laws, UCSF Hospitals and San Francisco General Hospital have embarked on ambitious building campaigns. They are building earthquake-safe facilities and providing the City and region with new physical infrastructure that will be perfectly situated to take advantage of the pharmaceutical and bio-tech investment and research happening here.
A quick glance at the action:
UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Scheduled for completion in late 2010. The 48,000 square foot facility is located at the corner of Post and Divisadero Streets and its substantial steel frame is already in place. The Osher Center will house research, education and clinical programs and is estimated to an approximately $400 million price tag.
UCSF Mission Bay Children's Hospital. The first phase of a three hospital project, Children's will house 183 beds and is budgeted at $1.6 billion. Site work is under way on the corner of Third and 17th Streets and a complete facility will arrive by 2014. This hospital will allow UCSF to continue being one of the top ranked children's hospitals in the country (currently ranked 7th). Hospitals specializing in cancer and women's care will follow on the same site.
San Francisco General Hospital. After San Francisco voters passed a bond initiative to the tune of $887 million, plans for the new hospital on the current Potrero Avenue campus moved forward. The new and improved 450,000 square foot, 284 bed hospital should be ready for staff and patients in 2015 and will be a welcome improvement over the current hodge-podge of buildings. Many of my doctor friends have told me that if you suffer a traumatic injury and are still conscious, tell the EMT's to take you to General.
With General's construction financed by bonds, UCSF is relying on donations, bequests and grants to fund its construction costs.
Now all we need is a seismically sound Veterinary Hospital for Cat Woman and The Penguin.
A quick glance at the action:
UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Scheduled for completion in late 2010. The 48,000 square foot facility is located at the corner of Post and Divisadero Streets and its substantial steel frame is already in place. The Osher Center will house research, education and clinical programs and is estimated to an approximately $400 million price tag.
UCSF Mission Bay Children's Hospital. The first phase of a three hospital project, Children's will house 183 beds and is budgeted at $1.6 billion. Site work is under way on the corner of Third and 17th Streets and a complete facility will arrive by 2014. This hospital will allow UCSF to continue being one of the top ranked children's hospitals in the country (currently ranked 7th). Hospitals specializing in cancer and women's care will follow on the same site.
San Francisco General Hospital. After San Francisco voters passed a bond initiative to the tune of $887 million, plans for the new hospital on the current Potrero Avenue campus moved forward. The new and improved 450,000 square foot, 284 bed hospital should be ready for staff and patients in 2015 and will be a welcome improvement over the current hodge-podge of buildings. Many of my doctor friends have told me that if you suffer a traumatic injury and are still conscious, tell the EMT's to take you to General.
With General's construction financed by bonds, UCSF is relying on donations, bequests and grants to fund its construction costs.
Now all we need is a seismically sound Veterinary Hospital for Cat Woman and The Penguin.
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