In two decades of selling San Francisco condos, Alan Mark has never seen anything like 300 Ivy St.

On the first weekend the sales office opened the 63-unit project in Hayes Valley attracted 350 potential buyers, some of whom arrived two hours before the office opened at 11 a.m. The five-story residential condominium, developed by Pocket Development, has attracted over 2,200 potential buyers to its interest list in just 12 weeks. …

“Even when the Brannan opened in 2001 you wouldn’t have seen a database built up so quickly,” said Mark, founder and president of the Mark Co.

The condos are priced above $1,000 a square foot, with one-bedroom units (with no parking) starting in around $650,000 and the two-bedroom condos (with parking) starting just above $950,000.

via Buyers stand in line for Hayes Valley condos – San Francisco Business Times.

San Francisco is undergoing nearly $5Billion worth of new construction that will add as much as 8,000 new residential units to the city. Many of the projects we’ve been watching for quite some time now will be selling in no time. Some projects are selling before their time. Over at 300 Ivy Street, presales have started but delivery won’t be until September at the earliest. Not to be outdone, the Marlow over in Nob Hill is selling now but delivery will be next spring!

MISSION DOLORES

200 Dolores

Finally, they’re here, well, just about done. When they come on in June they’ll be priced at $1,000 a square foot thereabouts. One – 1 bedroom, 1 bath, approx. 650 square feet; Two – 2 bedroom, 2 bath, approx 1015 and 1120 square feet (lower and middle units in the Victorian) Nine – 2 bedroom, 2.5 baths, approx 1095-1530 square feet, some with private roof decks. One – 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths, approximately 2200 square feet, (upper unit in the Victorian)

NOB HILL

The Marlow

Already pre-selling for spring 2014 delivery in Nob Hill.

LOWER HAIGHT

The Linea SF

115 new residences due in 40 weeks designed by architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia at Market and Buchanan Streets. Complete with “elegant and expansive attended lobby finished with porcelain tile floors, natural white oak wood paneling and a wall-mounted Italian marble sculpture.” Also has an interior courtyard with, “lush plantings and greenery create a serene interior view,” and a rooftop terrace.

POTRERO, NORTH SLOPE

The Onyx

According to their marketing materials “modern elegance will meet urban vitality; upscale living,” that will ne comprised of “private havens of glass, style and high function.” Homes will be “well-appointed” one-, two- and three-bedroom residences. Sales center opens this summer with Phase 1, a collection of 20 residences, which will be complete in fall 2013.

LOWER PAC HEIGHTS 

Blanc SF

35 new condos from Stanley Saitowitz the noted architect at Sutter and Larkin that is described as “an urban boutique experience merging modern design and classic architecture.” A “limited collection” of 35 two- and three-bedroom residences with all the interior refinements starting sales in July.

HAYES VALLEY 

300 Ivy

With the sales office now open, this long-awaited 63-residence development is under construction scheduled to be completed this fall. The developers worked with local architect David Baker to strive to achieve a LEED Platinum certification when complete.

LAUREL HEIGHTS 

300 Cornwall

6 custom Homes at 300 Cornwall featuring exceptional living spaces and extraordinary design – designed by Owen Kennerly

Here’s the scoop on 200 Dolores
As provided to me by the listing agent for the property Anne Herrera of Sotheby’s – Thanks Anne!

This project has been in the works for quite some time. Each will come 1 car garage parking. They will be “gorgeous with exceptional finishes.”
Anne anticipates list prices at approximately $1000 per square foot, subject to a final discussion with the developer — Often times prices in new developments will depending on supply and demand.

Anne expects completion of the project at the beginning to middle of June.

Anne suggests people check out the project’s website for up to date information.

Floor plans available next week.

One – 1 bedroom, 1 bath, approximately 650 square feet.

Two – 2 bedroom, 2 bath, approximately 1015 and 1120 square feet (lower and middle units in the Victorian).

Nine – 2 bedroom, 2.5 baths, approximately 1095-1530 square feet, some with private roof decks.

One – 3 bedroom, 3.5 baths, approximately 2200 square feet, (upper unit in the Victorian).

All square footage and list prices are approximate and subject to change.

On Condos, the Lottery and Tenants In Common: The TIC System as We Know It… or, Knew It

SUPERVISORS TO DEBATE PROPOSED CHANGES THAT COULD FREEZE LOTTERY FOR 10 YEARS, GRANT LIFE-TIME LEASES AND ALLOW OTHERS TO CONVERT ON SET SCHEDULE

“Conditions subject to change” is almost a throw-away, boilerplate phrase you’re likely to see almost everywhere these days thanks to those pesky lawyers (sorry!). From airplane tickets to online shopping, you may suddenly find the ground beneath you changed in a blink of an eye. For those owning certain tenants-in-common home in San Francisco this may be the case come May 7, 2013. That’s when the Board of Supervisors for San Francisco is to vote on proposed changes to the City’s confounding TIC/Condo legislation. The current system is predicated upon the fact that condominium units are mostly exempt from stringent rent control laws while TIC units are not.

TIC 101: The ABCs of Rent Control and Why Condos are Valued More

Recall each and every condo unit will have its own legal title that is universally recognized by buyers and lenders alike; one unit = one title, multiple titles per building. Owners of a TIC unit however are buying a percentage of the entire building with a governing contract agreement defining which owner gets which space; one building = one title, no matter how many units. This applies to the more than 85% of residential buildings in the City originally occupied before 1979.

How It Works Practically

Let me discuss how it works. When you buy a TIC there’s only one legal title for the entire building. This is unlike a single-family home or condo where each unit has its own title. Instead, the reason why you live in Unit 1,2 or 3 is because of a contract agreement you buy when you purchase. You are purchasing a percentage of that single title. In SF people want to convert for two main reasons: (A) it brings the unit out of the rent controlled pool, and, (B) each unit would therefore gain its own individual title. Once that’s achieved, any bank will lend on it, the owner can do anything he or she wants like take an equity line of credit out, or will it to someone — whatever their heart’s desire. The important thing is that your potential buyer pool has now expanded. After all, only 2 banks currently lend on TIC purchases (Sterling and NCB) and their rates are higher (.075 – 1 percent) and down payments are higher (20% minimum, sometimes more), and financing is never fixed beyond 7 years. Because of the City’s pro-tenant bent and the desire to keep housing affordable, the city greatly restricts the numbers of buildings that can convert to 200 buildings a year. Currently, only 2-unit buildings that are occupied by different owners are allowed to skip over the condo lottery. Otherwise it’s the condo lottery. (Think you can skip over it just because you have 2 units but rent one out? Nope, even if you were a 2-unit building and rented out one unit, you’d still have to enter the lottery). One commentator estimates: if you bought in a 6-unit building that is otherwise condo-conversion eligible, it would be 2030 before you could convert.

To even get into the lottery owners have to meet requirements relating to how long an owner must live at a property before entering (three years) and what ratio there is between owner-occupied units vs. ones tenants rent and disqualifying past building evictions — even ones that may have taken place years ago between completely different people. The lottery takes place in January or February of a given year. Here’s a rough scenario for you:

• Let’s assume Bob, Mary and John buy in a 3-unit building in 2005, 2010, and 2012 respectively. They all owner-occupy (for 3-units you need just one owner, for 4 it’s 2, for 5 and 6 it’s 3). Here, because Bob first occupied in 2005, the building can enter the lottery in 2008.  They enter the condo lottery and they lose each year — 5 times they lose. But each time they loose, it means that their chances increase the next year because they get more tickets in the lottery and may be elevated into a luckier pool of lottery entrants. BUT, if Bob sells his unit then everyone else left takes a hit downwards in time. Therefore, the number of tickets and 3-year residency requirement is then judged by the next senior owner — Mary. Because Mary only bought in 2010, she hasn’t met the 3-year requirement yet for 2013, but she will in 2014. And when Mary does qualify the number of lottery tickets is reduced/reset back to year 1. Bye-bye special pool and 5 years of dashed hoopes. So instead of getting the number of tickets a 6th year entrant would, the building gets the 1st year allocation. 

Enter Scott’s Idea…

Let’s admit it: that system is complicated and leaves too much to chance, right? Well, to combat this weird-sense with some common sense, in late 2012 Supervisor Scott Wiener originally proposed a resolution that would allow a limited number of TIC owners to pay a fee to bypass the lottery. But this being San Francisco, the original idea has been drastically rewritten. Drastically so. The revised legislation passed the Land Use Committee and will be up for a Supervisor vote on May 7, 2013.

The salient points of what the changes are as of April 28, 2013:

• 5- and 6-unit buildings will be unable to convert after a 10 year freeze of the condo lottery;
• certain tenants in TICs may be given a life-time lease (yes, life time – not the channel, but the number of years); and,
• there will be a conversion schedule for buildings otherwise eligible for conversion as of April 15, 2013.

Whats does this mean? Well if you bought in a 6-unit or 5-unit building that would otherwise be eligible to convert into condos in the first place I’d be peeved. Really peeved. While those who bought in such buildings weren’t about to win soon, they still had the hope they could change one day. (Yes, I’ve heard stories of buildings winning way, way early, but for the most part don’t count on it). For 3- and 4-unit buildings it would be dicier if the legislation passes especially if the building is being occupied by all new owners starting after April 15, 2013. If the legislation passes (which it may well do) this could drastically impact prices downwards for new TICs coming online and for those buildings who did not meet owner-occupancy minimums.  On the other hand, if the building was eligible to convert on April 15, 2013 (certain owner occupancy minimum times and ratios must be met along with a ‘clean’ eviction history) prices could go up because a date certain for conversion could be established.

Learn More from the TIC Guru

There’s lot’s more to process, so read more about it from THE guy who widely started using the TIC legal device 20 years ago Andy Sirkin:

http://www.andysirkin.com/HTMLArticle.cfm?Article=219

From this week’s Sunday NYTimes:

Many of the safety issues of yesterday’s kitchens are gone. No one in my family is likely to tumble into an open hearth. But new kitchens pose a more subtle danger to our health by doubling as a comfortable social, entertainment and eating hub. Retail marketers have long known that when tempting food is within close range of our eyes or nose, we tend to eat more of it. In our new kitchens, it’s just too darn easy to get to addictive snacks and calorie-rich drinks.

See more at the NYTimes Sunday Review

Take a look at what’s open on Tuesday the 19th.

Take a look what’s on broker tour on Feb 19. Want to tag along? Want me to preview something you can’t otherwise? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do. And take note that there are too few homes listed. So, if you or you know anyone even just thinking about taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the strong market, let me know!

Broker Tour for Feb 19 2013 (pdf)