homesmillbrae.com » Bedroom Unit

The Madrone, Mission Bay: sold out in record time

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:43:23 +0000

Share this gallery: 1 of 13

Mission Bay: Where once tumbleweeds tumbled and defunct buildings moldered, a thriving community has emerged, one that’s been developing over the past decade and a half. And part of it is Bosa’s Madrone at Mission Bay, a condo complex that broke SF records for the rapidity with which it sold out.

Composed of two 16-story towers and a total of 329 units, these condos, according to a recent press release from The Mark Company, are 100% spoken for. Despite facing a still recovering economy, The Madrone closed on more than 200 residences by the building’s completion in August 2012. In August, its grand opening month, a total of 97 units closed, making it San Francisco’s fastest selling property (previously, the most units closing escrow in a month was 50 for a single development).

Luxury condos back in demand

San Francisco’s appetite for luxury condos has been reawakened of late, but the dearth of inventory makes satisfaction of that hunger hard to come by. In March of this year, the number of available condos on the MLS was down 32.9% year-over-year, while the median sold price was up 31.6%. The Madrone met the needs of well paid tech, education, and science employees looking for for waterfront 1, 2, and 3 bedroom units with swanky amenities. But the record sell-out of every single condo in the complex is still a striking accomplishment given the price point here: Property records for a sold 2-bedroom unit show a sale price of $1,818,750; and a 3-bed for $1,995,000.

Evolution of a neighborhood

Mission Bay covers 303 acres of land between the San Francisco Bay and Interstate-280. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors established the Mission Bay North and South Redevelopment Project Areas in November 1998, successfully planning the building of the University of California, San Francisco research campus, a state-of-the art UCSF hospital complex, housing and services, all steps away from ATT Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants.

San Francisco, already so dense and tiny, offers few chances for the emergence of a new neighborhood. We asked Alan P. Mark of the Mark Company what he expects next for the area, given this large induction of new, well-monied residents.

There will be a couple of thousand renters moving into Mission Bay within the next couple of years as a number of rental buildings are being delivered. Retail services typically follow. My forecast would be that there will be a mixture of more well known entities and entrepreneurial retailers.

What do you think, readers? We have our established Haight-Ashbury, our Marina, our Pac Heights, each with their identity and unique vibe. Given these latest developments, what will be the flavor and feeling of Mission Bay?

Anna Marie Erwert writes from both the renter and new buyer perspective, having (finally) achieved both statuses. She focuses on national real estate trends, specializing in the San Francisco Bay Area and Pacific Northwest, and writes for SFGate and CurbedSF. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2013/04/19/the-madrone-mission-bay-sold-out-in-record-time/

Bay Watch: Sailing Fans Start Scoping Out San Francisco

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 07:17:03 +0000

By SARAH TILTON

With the America’s Cup sailing into San Francisco Bay next summer, some local homeowners with views of the race are renting out their homes to yachting fans willing to pay for a front-row seat.

SAN FRANCISCO—As this city gears up for the 34th America’s Cup next year, a race of a different kind has already begun: one to snag the best views of the sailing regatta.

Peter Jacobsen, a semiretired dentist from Yountville, Calif., isn’t taking any chances when it comes to ensuring a view of the America’s Cup racecourse on San Francisco Bay. Dr. Jacobsen and his wife, Gwendolyn, last year paid $158,000 for a fractional interest in a one-bedroom unit at a ritzy condo development right by San Francisco’s waterfront.

Enlarge Image

Gilles Martin-Raget and America’s Cup Event Authority

The silver trophy for the America’s Cup

The deal guarantees just 35 nights a year at the property—but importantly, a Bay-view unit for two weeks during the America’s Cup finals scheduled for September 2013.

The Jacobsens shelled out the six-figure sum even though they already own another fractional interest at the property that they bought for $182,000 in 2009. But that unit doesn’t have a guaranteed view, and with the regatta approaching, “we needed more time and it was an opportunity to lock in the perfect view,” says Dr. Jacobsen, 67 years old.

More than a year before the event, sailing fans are scouting out prime vistas for the America’s Cup. The chase for best perch has inspired a real-estate scramble, with some agents setting up shop specifically to locate rooms with a view for elite clients.

Other people are scoping out places closer to the action.

Rental prices for the America’s Cup are already soaring. Landlords are dangling options such as a $60,000-a-month rent for a home in the posh Pacific Heights neighborhood during the race. Although results remain to be seen, agents say prices could go as high as $100,000 a week during the finals.

“It will be a real land-grab for the good stuff,” says Rick Teed of Sotheby’s International Realty.

The anticipated demand for a race view stems partly from the relative rarity of the America’s Cup taking place in America. The race hasn’t been held in the U.S. since 1995, and in recent years has taken place off the coast of New Zealand and Spain. (The race was named by the New York Yacht Club after the schooner America, which beat the British in a race in 1851.)

The Cup has never been held in San Francisco Bay, which race officials describe as a “natural amphitheater”—as opposed to the open ocean where the regatta usually takes place. That means some prime views of the event can be had from land this time rather than from the decks of spectator boats.

America’s Cup

The race is coming to San Francisco through the efforts of Oracle Corp.

founder and chief executive Larry Ellison, whose yacht and sailing team won the 2010 America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain. The winner of the race, which is typically held every three to four years, decides where the next competition will take place. The billionaire also owns a home in San Francisco with first-class views of the Bay.

But Mr. Ellison may have an even better seat than that for the regatta. An America’s Cup spokeswoman says Mr. Ellison will be on board Oracle Racing’s boat during the races. Through a representative, Mr. Ellison, 67, declined to comment.

The Cup itself, a sterling silver trophy that gets its own seat on airplanes, comes in a custom Louis Vuitton case and always travels with a companion, the Cup spokeswoman says. It is kept in a secret location when not on tour, she says, but will be displayed during the race in San Francisco.

The heady rental numbers are spurring some homeowners to try renting their home for the first time. Marjorie and Larry Schlenoff listed their 3,162-square-foot four-bedroom San Francisco home, which they have lived in since 1999, for $35,000 a month for a long-term lease encompassing the Cup period. For shorter stays around the time of the Cup, the price is higher: $15,000 a week, says Mrs. Schlenoff.

“We’ve never rented our house,” says Mrs. Schlenoff, a psychoanalyst and nonprofit founder. But with the home’s vistas and location near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club, she says she and her husband see the regatta as a unique opportunity and the house as a “business asset.”

She listed her home through rental agency ReLISTO, which has multiple homes available for the Cup, including a $3,500-a-month studio with no views to $60,000 a month for a 5,000-square-foot Pacific Heights house with panoramic Bay views.

Charlie Martin, a real-estate agent in Sausalito, Calif., launched a group called RezLux in February specializing in Cup rentals. In addition to real-estate needs, he says he will also provide personal chefs and concierge services for the race. So far, he has handled calls from potential clients in England, Japan and New Zealand. “We’re starting to book,” he says.

Some homeowners say there is no way they will rent their home during the Cup because they want the panoramas for themselves. Venture capitalist and America’s Cup Organizing Committee member Tom Perkins, who owns a 60th-floor penthouse in San Francisco, will be watching the Cup from there.

“It’ll be just about the best place to watch,” says Mr. Perkins, 80, adding that he plans to have “lots and lots of people over.” Mr. Perkins, who once owned one of the world’s most expensive yachts, dubbed the Maltese Falcon, says he has several pairs of binoculars and a World War II telescope ready for the festivities.

Others are plotting a cheaper course to view the regatta. Sean Randolph, president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, says he plans to watch the Cup from a kayak in a buffer zone that will be created on San Francisco Bay for nonmotorized boats. While Mr. Randolph’s home in Marin County, north of San Francisco, has a view of the Bay, it doesn’t overlook the Cup’s racecourse, and he doesn’t want to shell out thousands of dollars to rent a property.

“In a kayak, you’re sort of participating because you’re on the water and you’re a little closer” to the action than on land, he says.

For John Kostecki, a sailor on the Oracle sailing team, the best views of the race are free. In particular, he recommends a stretch of waterfront near the Marina Green, where spectators can get close enough to hear sailors’ conversations. “It’s quite deep and the boats can come quite close,” he says.

Write to Sarah Tilton at sarah.tilton@wsj.com

A version of this article appeared April 25, 2012, on page A1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Bay Watch: Sailing Fans Start Scoping Out San Francisco.

Article source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304331204577351982251005646.html