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China wants its Pearl River Delta megalopolis, a global manufacturing engine with more people than France, to be even more dominant.

Policy makers plan to boost economic output of the region beyond that of greater Tokyo, New York and San Francisco by 2030 with factory upgrades and hubs for innovation, finance, shipping and trade, state media report.

The region of nine cities in Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen, plus Hong Kong and Macau will grow from the current population of 68 million to 86 million people within 14 years, according to Morgan Stanley.

“Cities naturally expand outward as their populations grow,” analysts including Robin Xing and Jenny Zheng in Hong Kong wrote in a recent report. “But whether this expansion evolves haphazardly or is carefully planned makes a crucial difference to future economic growth. China’s central government is leaving little to chance in the Greater Bay Area.”

They project the highest population and property market growth over that period will be in seven smaller satellite cities, such as Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, potentially creating there a real estate market worth 9.6 trillion yuan ($1.44 trillion) with some 640 million square meters of living space. The delta-area population rose by 1.24 million last year alone—about the size of Brussels or Dallas. 

Morgan Stanley’s stock analysts recommend shares of companies with high exposure to the region, citing Country Garden Holdings Co., China Overseas Grand Oceans Group, Yuexiu Property Co., Agile Group Holdings Ltd. and CIFI Holdings Group.

The nation’s top economic planners said last week they’ll release a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area master plan by year-end. Local and central government officials signed a development framework agreement on July 1, the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China following British rule.

The former territory is increasingly integrated with mainland China, from connected stock and bond exchanges to a nearly complete high-speed rail link. Also under construction is a cross-bay bridge that will slash travel time between Hong Kong and Guangdong’s Zhuhai from three hours to 30 minutes.

China’s development model will “change from supercities to city clusters,” the analysts wrote. “It enhances the competitiveness of the region if the hub and satellite cities are positioned well.”

That approach will reduce overpopulation in hub cities, and urban railways will become a key means of transportation, saving energy, reducing pollution and easing traffic congestion, they wrote, citing initiatives such as Guangdong’s plan to quadruple its intercity urban rail network by 2030. 

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Looking at 1336 Campus Drive, which was built in 1968, we might assume it’s an example of a well preserved mid-century modern home. But what we’re looking at in this case is actually an extensive remodel, the work of award winning architect Douglas Burnham of Envelope Architecture and Design. The four bed, two and a half bath Berkeley home just listed for $1.325 million. 

Respect for the original

So organic is this remodel that the home seems like a time-capsule. But in fact, the changes Burnham made are substantial. “We loved the bones of the house, and we wanted to work with them and respect them, but we made some dramatic changes.”

When work began on this renovation, the house itself was in major disrepair. The clients, a museum curator and her family, wanted to rehabilitate the entire structure, including the revitalization of the exterior facade and the addition of modern details and amenities. The resulting renovation re-interpreted the two-level ‘hippie house’ into a three-level modern japanesque tree house.

Major changes

As part of the renovation,  the 1000-square-foot lower level—including bedrooms, a family room and a large shared bath/steam/sauna room—was added.

Also, the current facade pictured here is not original. “The entire façade was re-skinned with vertical cedar on a new stucco-concrete base. A series of metallic, galvalume-clad boxes project through the wood façade, creating openings to link the interior with the house’s lush forested surroundings,” said Burnham.

The kitchen, then orange, they left alone, because its mid-century design fit with the aesthetic of their renovation project.

The current furnishings also fit perfectly to complete the time capsule effect.

All total, the home is over 3,000 square feet over three levels, much of it wood or glass. The latter material lets the sylvan setting become part of the home– a blending of outside and inside, and a hallmark of mid-century modern design.

History

The home last sold in 2015 for $1.240 million; now it’s listed at $1.325 million. But if you love 1336 Campus Drive (and it’s kind of hard not to), you should know that this Berkeley neighborhood is a hot one in terms of popular real estate. According to Estately, “81 percent of nearby similar homes sold for over asking price. Similar homes that sold in bidding wars went $220k above asking price on average, but some went as high as $810k over asking price.”

So what price will this incredible home ultimately fetch?

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. Follow Anna on Twitter: @AnnaMarieErwert

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/ontheblock/2017/08/21/mid-century-modern-time-capsule-in-berkeley-is-actually-an-incredible-remodel/

“We are talking about an extra $700 a year,” Orinda Vice Mayor Amy Worth said of her suburban constituents.“These are working people who use the bridges to get to their jobs.”

Worth, who as a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission has a say in how transit dollars are allocated, has some prominent company in questioning how the proposed ballot measure is being put together. State Sen. Steve Glazer, an Orinda Democrat, and GOP Assemblywoman Catharine Baker of San Ramon say BART in particular needs to be well policed if it’s going to be trusted with millions of additional toll dollars.

“The current proposal falls well short,” said Glazer, who has been on a one-man crusade against BART ever since a pair of 2013 strikes at the transit agency made life miserable for riders in Orinda and everywhere else in the East Bay.

If approved by voters, the toll hike on the Bay Area’s seven state-run bridges — every cross-bay span but the Golden Gate — would raise $125 million a year for projects intended to ease traffic congestion.

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The proposal is being put together by Bay Area legislators, with state Sen. Jim Beall, D-San Jose, at the helm. Supporters of the toll increase say everyone will benefit from the plan, but Worth and other East Bay politicos say drivers from Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties — who use the bridges most often — are getting the short end of the deal.

The officials note that, while nearly two-thirds of toll payers come from the East Bay, they are in line to get only half the money being outlined in the spending plan.

And a big chunk of the overall cash would be earmarked for projects that would do little or nothing to directly ease bridge congestion — like $400 million to help extend BART to San Jose and $350 million to run Caltrain underground into the heart of downtown San Francisco.

Beall conceded that Santa Clara County drivers would pay a little and get a lot. But he said that’s part of the political equation needed to pass the measure, which must win collective majority approval from the nine Bay Area counties.

“You have to give people a reason to vote,” Beall said.

He added that East Bay critics “don’t need to be attacking projects in my area — why not just tell us what projects are important to your area?”

That’s just what they did last week, bringing in a $500 million wish list of projects for Alameda and Contra Costa counties. It includes millions to improve the Interstate 80-San Pablo Dam Road corridor and $100 million to smooth drivers’ ride on the westbound Interstate 580 approach to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

“If that happens, then we would not oppose the measure,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, who has raised objections to the plan as it stands.

Whether Glazer and Baker would come on board remains to be seen.

Beall said lawmakers have about two weeks to reach a deal if the measure is to make the ballot next year. Whatever eventually lands there probably has a decent chance of passing, regardless of whether the East Bay officials endorse it.

Just look at the math. On average, 378,000 Bay Area drivers a day cross the state-run bridges — compared with 3.7 million voters in the nine counties who would benefit from their extra toll dollars.

Alley oops: Presidio Terrace isn’t the only private San Francisco street that has been snapped up in a tax default sale — there was another road sold in 2015.

But unlike exclusive Presidio Terrace, whose homeowners are clamoring to get their street back, no one seems to want this one.

There are no street signs on the two-block alley, in an upscale part of the Richmond District near the southwest corner of the Presidio. It runs parallel to Lake Street and largely provides garage access to two dozen multimillion-dollar homes between 22nd and 24th avenues.

The company that developed the homes went belly up in 1922, which resulted in a long string of unpaid taxes on the alley. Finally, the San Francisco tax collector put it up for auction, and a New York real estate investor snagged it, sight unseen, in an online auction for about $5,000.

The investor then listed the street for $35,000, but finding any takers has been next to impossible because the homeowners have easement rights.

“You can’t build on it. You have to pay taxes, insurance and any other necessary items to maintain it,” local agent Fred Glick, who declined to identify his client, wrote in his pitch to sell the street. “But … you can impress your friends that you own real estate in the hottest market in California, beautiful San Francisco.”

And if that doesn’t convince you, Glick is also pitching the property as a tax break for anyone wishing to travel to San Francisco “to come and check on your investment.”

It’s not the first time Glick has worked a tough sale.

“I also had a warehouse back East with dead bodies in it,” he told us. “But I’m not allowed to say any more.”

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross

Article source: http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/3-toll-hike-plan-has-Bay-Area-politicos-dueling-11943800.php