The Town School for Boys, a private school in Pacific Heights, reached an agreement last week with the Recreation and Park Department, which owns the 80,000-square-foot space, for a lease from August to July 2014 with a possible extension through September 2014. Rent will be $42,000 a month but the school will get two months rent-free in exchange for renovating the building. The Exploratorium most recently paid $490,000 a year in rent.

“The Exploratorium is very much a learning center and there are a number of classrooms and administrative spaces within the building,” said Nick Kinsey, Recreation and Park Department property manager. “It was clear that the space would work well for them with minimal adjustments.”

Temporary site sought

The school approached Rec and Park last year as it searched for a temporary location while the current school building underwent renovations. School trustee Alex Wong said the space fit the K-8 school’s needs and that many students and parents have enjoyed going to the Exploratorium.

“There’s just something magical about that site so it’s pretty exciting,” he said. “If we have to move the kids, I can’t think of a better place than the old Exploratorium.”

Between the time the Exploratorium leaves in March and the Town School moves in, Rec and Park will rent out the space for special events that could range from corporate functions to indoor soccer tournaments.

“There’s nothing worse than a building that’s not occupied to attract all sort of questionable activities,” said Jan Berckefeldt, executive director of the Maybeck Foundation, which protects the legacy of Palace of Fine Arts designed by architect Bernard Maybeck.

Since its construction for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition, the Palace of Fine Arts has been home to a phone book distribution center, indoor tennis courts and a garage for United Nations delegates’ limousines in the 1940s.

“It’s pretty much a wide-open space that offers all sorts of possibilities,” Berckefeldt said.

The Maybeck Foundation is offering advice to Rec and Park as it searches for a permanent tenant for the space starting in about a month. More than a dozen institutions, recreational clubs, art organizations and museums have already inquired about the space, said Kinsey, who added that multiple tenants could end up occupying the Palace of Fine Arts.

Lynn Sedway, a real estate consultant hired by the Maybeck Foundation, said an important factor in the long-term consideration is finding a tenant who will preserve the historic building as well as consider the impact on the neighborhood.

“Anything that generates a huge amount of traffic, anything that generates a huge amount of noise … that could cause a problem,” she said.

Possibilities for space

An advisory committee of public officials, neighbors and merchants has been meeting since the fall to discuss possibilities for the space, and some of the top concerns include limited parking and preserving a 982-seat theater in the building that takes up almost one-third of the space.

“The Palace of Fine Arts is a citywide asset but it’s also smack in the middle of a neighborhood,” said Supervisor Mark Farrell, whose district includes the neighborhood and a member of the advisory panel. “Having grown up two blocks away, it’s been a magnet for family and young children for decades and I’d like to see that continue.”

The Recreation and Park Commission will be briefed by the department Thursday on the process for identifying future tenants for the space.

Neal J. Riley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: nriley@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @realdealneal

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/School-for-boys-to-lease-Exploratorium-4209885.php

Compared to second-quarter data from 2010, rents rose 8.6 percent in San Francisco and 9.3 percent in San Mateo County, for monthly averages of $2,400 and $1,800 respectively.

The trend can be pegged to a dwindling rental supply and increasing demand from new workers with high-paying jobs, according to RealFacts owner Sarah Bridge.

“Talent is coming into the area. It’s not that there are so many jobs, but the ones out there are paying well,” Bridge said, adding that although the new tech boom is similar to the dot-com bubble of 2000, it is bringing workers with a more experiential, less materialistic mindset. “They’re not big into being tied down to a big piece of real estate.”

According to the real estate data aggregator Zillow.com, 480 homes were sold in San Francisco in May, down 22 percent in a year-over-year comparison. Meanwhile, RealFacts data show supply running out in San Francisco and San Mateo County, both with a 96 percent occupancy rate, up 6 percent and 1 percent, respectively.

The factors are helping San Francisco maintain its status as one of the most expensive big-city rental markets in the country, which has advocates for current tenants taking notice.

“It’s making it a landlord’s market,” said Ted Gullicksen, executive director of the San Francisco Tenants Union. “We could see more evictions, more tenant buyouts.”

Gullicksen said although The City’s rent-control standards keep some costs in check for renters, state law prevents the controls from being applied to units themselves. Like in 2000, Gullicksen said, he fears without cheaper options, residents could be pushed to the outskirts of the Bay Area.

“I think we’re headed back in that direction,” he said.

Of the 43 markets examined by RealFacts, 41 posted rent increases, with the biggest gains seen in the Bay Area. San Jose, the unofficial capital of Silicon Valley, experienced the largest increase at 6.6 percent, up from $1,650 to $1,759 per month.

dschreiber@sfexaminer.com

Average rent per unit type

Average rent increase

Source: RealFacts

Article source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/peninsula/2011/07/influx-workers-drives-rental-rates-san-francisco-and-san-mateo-county