In the spring, home buyers turn excitedly to fresh market offerings. For those interested in a coveted Pacific Heights address, the development boom has finally reached this in-demand neighborhood: New luxury condominiums are providing entrée into this well-heeled neighborhood.
We’d be shirking our duty to covering San Francisco real estate if we didn’t devote a few column inches to the most anticipated new development in the whole city: the Pacific, a gleaming high rise at the enthralling location of 2121 Webster. “The buzz is warranted,” says Pacific Union’s Nina Hatvany, one of the city’s top residential agents.
The Pacific has been on the real-estate radar since the developer, Trumark Urban, bought the former dental school in June 2013. Just a block from Fillmore’s boutique mecca, the nine-floor building is an anomaly—a rare condominium project in the middle of Pacific Heights. Re-envisioned by Handel Architects, the designers of the Millennium Tower and the Four Seasons San Francisco, the project takes advantage of the commercial building’s notably tall 11- to 12-foot ceilings and open floor plan. The design team added faceted bay windows (the building has water views starting from the sixth floor), giving the previously flat exterior the equivalent of modernist bling, and created suitably sophisticated interiors (the black antiqued limestone floor in the lobby sets the tone). “I’ve never seen finishes and fixtures and materials like those available here—they’ve really raised the bar,” says Sotheby’s agent Gregg Lynn, who is well versed in luxury condominiums (he sold the penthouse at the St. Regis for a record-breaking $28 million). The property has also commissioned A-list interior designer Jay Jeffers to design three model apartments. At the Pacific, there are 76 total units, including 10 row houses and four penthouse units ranging from 3,100 to 4,000 square feet. Pricing was not yet available at press time.
A bit furhter down the hill is LuXe at 1650 Broadway, a 34-unit building oriented, as are other condominium developments on Broadway, toward views of the water. Local architects Edmonds + Lee are responsible for the building’s sleek contemporary interiors. The west-side penthouse has three bedrooms and two spacious terraces (including one with that prime Golden Gate panorama), and is selling for $5.88 million.
Another two luxury developments are attractively located in the center of the city, on the periphery of Lower Pacific Heights. Units at 1450 Franklin and the Rockwell at 1688 Pine Street, just west of the Van Ness corridor, are well-positioned for commuting to Silicon Valley. Located on what was San Francisco’s historic Auto Row, both developments have a sense of history, retaining the facades of the vintage auto showrooms that once commandeered the street. The 259-unit Rockwell is nearly sold out, but its largest space, a three-bedroom penthouse, was still available at press time for $3.105 million. The 1450 Franklin site was acquired by developer Village Properties in 2007, who waited patiently until the market was ready for the boutique project. “We’re only 14 stories high, but we have views that are better than that of 40-story buildings,” says Rob Isakson, a partner at Village Properties. The sales office will open this spring for its 67 units, including four three-bedroom penthouses.
