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193 unit San Francisco complex sold at $730/sqft.
2008-05-06 01:43:00 SocketSite, San Francisco's property evaluation blog, reports on the $115 million record sale price for a new 193-unit luxury apartment complex in the new Mission Bay, valuing the units at $730/sq.ft. More interesting is the comment stream of readers trying to justify why the purchase was made - examples: What many of you seem to overlook is that UDR is a publicly-traded, investment grade REIT. Check their public filings - they recently borrowed $200MM at LIBOR+85. That's 3.6%. If that's the cost of capital on this project, it may well pencil out of the box.(According to this GlobeSt article, the cap rate is in the mid-4% range)If the developer can only sell those units individually for $600/sqft, why would they offer $730/sqft? They understand that rents are going to rise around here for the foreseeable future. Note that the sellers had planned for a 9-month lease-up but they were able to get all 193 units into contract in just 4 months. The purchase is puzzling conside...
Lotion Making Classes Offered in the San Francisco Bay Area
2008-04-17 06:59:00 If you are interested in learning how to make your own lotions from scratch, I have a couple of options to tell you about:(1) I am currently teaching a brand new lotion crafting class at the Palo Alto Adult School on May 10 from 10 am to 2 pm. In this class, students will learn how to make individual batches of lotions and creams. If you would more information on this class, please visit the school's website at www.paadultschool.org. In June, I will be teaching this class through the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Adult School (http://ace.fuhsd.org). Registration for this class will begin around May 12th.(2) Another option is a class offered through The Nova Studio in Point Richmond, CA. Lori Nova's next Lotions and Creams class is on June 7th from 3:30 pm to 6:30 pm . For more information on this class, check out the studio's website at www.thenovastudio.com.(3) For those living in the Fairfield area, Joan Morasis teaches classes in lotion making at various locations. For more informa...
Slumburbs
2008-03-15 07:13:00 The spectre of brand new and unsold housing developments in the exurbias of the Central Valley and Inland Empires of California, and other overbuilt areas, imply a new sociogeographic development: "new housing" slums. Carol Lloyd's Surreal Estate explores the idea in her Slumburbia article. Prices on these new homes will eventually bottom out to a nadir when they can attract investors, who will rent them out. Local economies, hampered by the recession that has already hit areas of high foreclosure, may not even support the rental markets. The relative pricing of California exurban housing seems to drop a few thousand dollars per mile away from the coast. Unfortunately, people have figured out that living in Sacramento is like living in a more expensive version of Texas: ?if [Austin] it wasn?t surrounded by Texas it?d be called Sacramento?, Chuck Thompson, travel writer
"The Perfect Storm"? The Turnaround of the San Francisco Bay Area Office Ma
2008-03-10 11:07:00 For years, Wall Street viewed the San Francisco office market as stable but mature. It no longer was considered a headquarters market, but its core markets-including technology and medical research-its strong branch market, and its attractiveness continued to draw a robust workforce. Wall Street also pegged office market rents in the San Francisco Bay Area to those in New York. Historically, Bay Area rental rents on average have been about 50% of New York rents. In 2007, New York Class A office rents hit $200 per square foot. With the Bay Area's office market average rental rates as low as $28 per square foot in 2005, the Bay Area looked like a real bargain. As a result, buyers flooded the Bay Area, buying and selling some buildings two or three times in a couple of years, with each buyer anticipating higher and higher rental rates. What Wall Street did not consider were the tenants who will be entering the market in the next couple of years and their options for keeping rental...
This wheelchair ramp costs $1.1 million to the City of San Francisco
2008-02-27 22:49:00 San Francisco's city government is lamentable... in the private sector, this would be bid rigging... Here's what else is going into the million-dollar ramp: -- $77,000 for the city's Bureau of Architecture project manager, design and construction fees. -- $455,000 for the actual construction, plus asbestos removal. -- $28,000 for a construction scheduling consultant. -- $3,500 for an electrical consultant. -- $68,000 for the Bureau of Construction Management to oversee the construction and various consultants. -- $12,000 for Department of Technology and Information Services oversight. -- $16,500 for permits and fees. (Yes, believe it or not, the city charges itself.) -- And as much as $65,000 for bid overruns. And a few more quotes that sound just too self-serving for the citizenry: "It's crazy," admits Susan Mizner, director of the mayor's Office on Disability. "But this is just the price of doing business in a historic building." "I deserve equal access to every part of...
Free wifi networks
2008-02-03 12:24:00 In San Francisco, a city wide free internet initiative proposed by Google and Earthlink was met with fanfare last year and then notoriously dumped by a dysfunctional Board of Supervisors who made extra demands on the wifi providers that toppled the deal. A private company, Meraki started a "Free the Net!" campaign that uses wifi repeaters to spread the wifi signal free. Consumer participants need to capture the "Free the Net" signal before they can qualify for a Meraki repeater to boost the signal further onward across San Francisco (unfortunately the signal hasn't reached my neighborhood yet or I would qualify for a free repeater).Meraki started its network in the center of San Francisco and its currently in build out towards the edges. Yesterday, Meraki announced a $20 million VC funding to provide free wireless internet access for the city of San Francisco. After proving the repeater proliferation model in San Francisco, the company will expand nationally. There are many homegr...
Press Release: San Francisco Bay Area Maker of Soundproof Windows Moves to
2008-01-23 21:30:00 Reno, NV (PRWEB) January 22, 2008 -- The much anticipated move to Reno, Nevada, has finally happened for the previously California-based company, Soundproof Windows. After many years in the San Francisco Bay Area, the decision to relocate was made more attractive due to lower costs and the business-friendly climate in Nevada. Since the majority of the business is nationwide and not just in California, this move made even more sense."We have increased our warehouse space by 50%, purchased a fleet of Dodge Sprinters, hired more people, and see this as a huge opportunity to increase our production capacity yet again," said Soundproof Windows' president, Randy Brown. "We are excited to be in this thriving Nevada community and have already offered soundproofing solutions to one of the retirement homes along the main highway in Carson," Brown added.All of the management personnel from the old Fremont facility relocated; locally, Soundproof Windows also hired Don Handlin to be their Plant...
Academic Nirvana: San Francisco Bay Area Rivals Cambridge-Boston?
2008-01-23 07:19:00 The San Francisco Bay Area is one of the most compelling places in the universe for a serious advanced college education. From nationally ranked prep schools, private high schools, and well respected public schools to the university level, the bay area has it all. It is one of the only places in the country to ...
San Francisco Bay Area Gamers Needed to Fight Evil
2008-01-19 09:45:00 It look like Capcom looking for gamer to come out in San Francisco here what they had to say.We’re looking to a few fans for feedback on a new Capcom game. Here’s how it works: You come in next Friday afternoon, January 25th, from 2pm to 5pm. We let you play top seekrit new game. Then we ask you questions about your hopes, dreams, and innermost feelings. In addition to getting an early hands-on with the game, we’ll also be showering prizes on anyone we select.Here’s what we need to know from you:—Name—Age (you must be over 18 with valid ID to participate)—Which titles have you played in the last 6 months?—Approximately how many hours per week do you spend playing?—Phone number at which you may be reached during business hours—Email addressSend your application to: contest@capcom.comAnd again, you must be in the San Francisco Bay Area next Friday (Jan 25th), and available to come out to might Capcom HQ from 2pm to 5pm. Please do not apply if you cannot come at the...
Sprint Trials NFC In San Francisco Bay Area
2007-12-25 09:05:00 Sprint is looking for subscribers to participate in a beta test of NFC cashless payment. The trials, which are being held in the San Francisco Bay Area will test NFC as both payment at local Jack In The Box as well as transportation payment and ticketing on the BART. The phone will work as a ...
Sprint Trials NFC In San Francisco Bay Area
2007-12-25 00:00:00 Sprint is looking for subscribers to participate in a beta test of NFC cashless payment. The trials, which are being held in the San Francisco Bay Area will test NFC as both payment at local Jack In The Box ...
By: Latest phones
How to Market your House on the Internet - the definitive presentation
2007-12-22 13:49:00 Friend John Harper has really outdone himself with a great client slide presentation that sells the Harper Team's Internet and Web 2.0 expertise. Real estate blogs generally have been acknowledged as informational by nature, hooking lead generation opportunities by providing real time insight and data for their local or regional client base. Hard sell is seen as no-no. What John has done is to "sell" how the Harper Team and its blog differentiates itself from competition that has not established any web presence. The slide presentation is a call to action that I believe every blogger should develop... the tone and style of John's presentation fits naturally within the parameters of blog marketing - educational, factual, and easy to understand. Bravo!
Visitor's Guide to San Francisco Bay Area - Part 1
2007-12-06 06:24:00 One of the most sought-after tourist destinations in USA has to be the city of San Francisco, which, like New York, is termed as the city that never sleeps. A beautifully designed city on the Bay at the western coast of US, this place has something interesting, exciting and fulfilling to offer to every individual; whether you are a nature-lover, a water-sports person, love architecture and history, are an avid shopper, an adventurer or a foodie like me, you will never be disappointed in SFO, and will always come back for more too! But 2 days is a very short time to capture the essence of the city; ideally, you at least need a week to revel and appreciate what SFO has to offer. But not many of us have the luxury to spend more than a weekend for short getaways. So as a resident of this area who loves travelling and blogging, I am honored to play a guide to your San Francisco Bay trip, guiding you through the must-see places and tourist attractions in and around the city, and making su...
By: Fun and Food
Luxury Home Real Estate Prices Remain Strong in the San Francisco Bay Area
2007-12-06 04:46:00 Analysts confirm that the Luxury Real Estate Market is still defying the downward price trend that is affecting many Bay Area neighborhoods. The average value of high-end properties in the San Francisco Bay Area in the July-September Quarter was $3.08 million; according to San Francisco based First Republic Bank. It was the second consecutive period that ...
Cultural blogging
2007-11-23 15:26:00 Real estate agents whose native language is Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean (and others) have the opportunity to engage their own native communities in California and other metropolitan areas with high density of new immigrants. One good strategy for foreign born RE agents is to create hyperlocal blogs in their native language that document the activities of their native communities - social events, celebrations, new restaurants and shops, film/video reviews, places to go - and supplement the blog with commentary on local real estate. The mission is cultural service and positioning oneself as a hub for that community. It's a soft sell that real estate agents aren't used to practicing - instead of blaring that you are a real estate agent looking for leads, show the reader that you're trusted as a community leader. The readers understand who you are and your profession, and may appreciate the fact that you're not hard sell. This facilitates natural networking and eventual co...
Market bifurcation everywhere
2007-11-21 10:37:00 NAR reports this morning that housing prices increased in 62% of metropolitan markets in the US. This statistic confirms market bifurcation on a national scale that is also mirrored across regional and local markets: Market Bifurcation Stable Suffering National scale Regions primarily between the Coasts that didn't experience the housing boom High demand regions - California, Florida - where housing prices boomed along with building starts State scale (California) High demand cities with strong economies - Silicon Valley, Los Angeles Overbuilt exurban regions - Central Valley, Inland Empire Local scale (San Francisco Bay Area) Cities with strong economies with little subprime exposure Cities where speculating investors and subprime buyers bought in anticipation of an expanding economic base around the Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego (Global scale) Countries hit by housing price acceleration, fueled ...
5.6 Earthquake Hits the San Francisco Bay Area
2007-10-31 05:21:00 I was outside with a couple friends when I suddenly heard the trees start to shake in the distance, followed quickly by the bench I was seated upon. One of them started to freak out for a moment as... A place for the various funny movies I've found on the net, as well as clever thoughts about religion, politics, quantum mechanics, philosophy...
By: A Fox's Thoughts
Local Blog Network Connects
2007-10-29 10:35:00 The seven blogging agents at Homescopes.com, the first Northern California blog network, have a unique routine... every Monday morning they congregate together on a web conferencing system and discuss how they are developing their blogs. It's a unique kind of coffee clache where everyone makes their own coffee and can drink it in their pajamas.Pat, Amber, Kevin, Ann, Sam, Marian ( Julie had just left, Pam and Joe couldn't make it...) Anyway, five of the Homescopes bloggers made it to our Homescopes first annual lunch together in San Francisco's Annabelle Bistro downtown. Many of the Homescopers hadn't met each other before (and it was my introduction to Sam Benson ). It was like a pen pal's reunion, a mini - Blogger Connect. Mike Price of ML Broadcast and Damon Pace of Incredible Agent are rounding up another Blogger event for NAR next November 13-16... contact him for details.
Manhattanization of San Francisco - part 2
2007-09-12 02:09:00 San Francisco moves closer to building its "Grand Central Station of the West" with the jury recommendation to the city's Transbay Authority's board of directors: That team, led by developer Hines and Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, is offering $350 million for the right to build an obelisk-like, 1,200-foot office tower at First and Mission streets alongside a new Transbay Terminal. The team also designed a new terminal that would be topped by an elevated park the length of five football fields. The comments on Socketsite about the "butt plug building" make entertaining reading, and they express the public reaction (chagrin and awe) to the city going from quaint to gaudy. San Francisco's dot.com bloom in the late 90's and subsequent bust unleashed a flurry of high profile Manhattanization projects this decade: The new Downtown replete with 30,000 new condo units on the booksHome to the new Stem Cell Research center that will continue to bring in biotech The biggest upscal...
Classes (Soap, Bath Products and More) In San Francisco Bay Area
2007-08-30 00:14:00 If you are interested in learning how to make your own bath and body products, here are a couple of places you can learn how:I teach Melt and Pour Soapmaking, Homemade Bath Products (Bath Fizzy Bombs, Bath Jelly and Bath Oil) and Bath Salts/Body Scrubs/Milk Bath. I teach these classes at the Palo Alto Adult School, Redwood City Parks and Recreation, and College of San Mateo Community Education. In the side bar you will find link and dates of classes.If you are interested in Cold Process Soapmaking, Hot Process Soapmaking, Lotions, Body Butter, Lip balm classes, check out the link in the side bar for The Nova Studio. If you live in the Fairfield, CA area you may want to check out the link for Joan Morais. She offers classes in similiar bath and body products.So, if you are interested in learning how to make your own bath products, please check out the appropiate links in the side bar.Have fun!
Build a Sofa For San Francisco Bay Area residents
2007-08-16 07:10:00 These guys are located right across from our mattress store. I’ve talked to the owners and they are kinda cool. Anyways, you gotta check out buildasofa.com for your next custom sofa you are going to build if you live in the SF Bay Area. They used to have this 2 story sofa ...
All about Inman Week
2007-07-29 23:35:00 Inman Connect San Francisco, starting this Wednesday, August 1 at the Palace Hotel, will be the focus of real estate this week. I'll be monitoring activities that fall within my range of vision through Transparent, but I'm assuming the main resource centers will be Connect's Facebook group, and the official Connect blog. I've been inviting a lot of new Bay Area bloggers to Blogger's Connect, the first official "pen pal party" of the nation's real estate bloggerati. I'll be acting as a kind of InviteShare and letting conference goers of some of the extracurricular activities going on... feel free to contact me about stuff - link to me at Facebook or TwitterInman's State of Real Estate Marketing Report Last week, Inman News and their fine reporting corps published the State of Real Estate Marketing 2007. The data itself, culled from the Inman readership, provides a mirror for Realtors to understand where they fit into the new marketing paradigm that takes them more...
Stock Market Crash's Silver Lining for Bay Area Realtors
2007-07-27 08:54:00 Another simple concept nobody is discussing... stock market crashes are good for some real estate markets, like the San Francisco Bay Area. Today's 310 point crash in the Dow is about the corporate credit crunch... bonds that back current LBO offerings, formerly called junk bonds back in the 80's, can't find buyers. Today's news was just plain bad... sliding new home sales, reinforcing the continuing saga of foreclosures and builder red ink just added fuel to the fire. This market crash feels like a panicky knee jerk reaction, that's why it bounced back from its 450 point drop. I would venture to say no one knows whether this is the beginning of the bear market or a temporal correction. LBOs aren't directly relevant to today's real estate markets. Simply put, everybody knows there is a lot of investment capital in float that migrates en masse from stocks to bonds to real estate and back again. Treasury yields are dropping as a palliative to cushion the housing markets' woes...
Bay Area Market Bifurcation
2007-07-19 08:39:00 (I originally wrote this article as a reply to Pete Flint's question on Trulia Voices about the current direction of the Bay Area housing market... I reposted the answer here in order to show the map and links) The latest word on the Bay Area housing market - bifurcation - def: forked or divided into two parts or branches (click on map to link to commentary on the Bay Area housing market... hint: click on the shapes)The current market obeys classic supply and demand - the limited supply of higher priced housing ($1mm+) in demand cities like San Francisco, Burlingame and Palo Alto maintain a seller's market where multiple offers (we've heard instances of up to 40 on the Peninsula) are still common. The large supply of entry level housing ($700k and lower) in counties like Solano and those in the Central Valley were being bought by folks priced out of that San Rafael to Cupertino corridor (trace a thick line between the two ...
San Francisco Bay Area MLS Search Improved
2007-07-15 13:28:00 1SiliconValley.com has provided map-based searching for homes and real estate across Silicon Valley and the Bay Area for several months now. We've recently added several new features that I hope will make your home search more convenient. Based on your feedback, we've added a details page for each search result that shows all the available ...
Haight Ashbury - the new Yuppie destination
2007-06-05 08:52:00 The LA Times last week had a revealing article about how the ex-hippies who settled in San Francisco's fabled Haight Ashbury are turning against the new breed of homeless youth that populate the neighborhood. For example: Evans ... has never seen anything like this crowd, who use his flower bed as a bathroom and sell pot outside his window. They're known as gutter punks, these homeless kids with dirty dreadlocks and nose rings, lime-green mohawks and orange spray-painted faces, who panhandle with cardboard signs that riff on their lifestyles. "Please Help Us Get Un-Sober," one reads. Another: "Please Give Us Weed, Beer or Money." Sometimes aggressive, they block sidewalks as they strum guitars or bang on bongos. Gangs of them skateboard down the middle of Haight Street. Some throw used hypodermic needles into a nearby pond they call Hep-C Lake. Evans, 64, says they should get help, clean up or go home. "I used to be a hippie. I wore beads and grew my hair long,"...
Haight Ashbury - the new Yuppie destination
2007-06-05 08:52:00 The LA Times last week had a revealing article about how the ex-hippies who settled in San Francisco's fabled Haight Ashbury are turning against the new breed of homeless youth that populate the neighborhood. For example: Evans ... has never seen anything like this crowd, who use his flower bed as a bathroom and sell pot outside his window. They're known as gutter punks, these homeless kids with dirty dreadlocks and nose rings, lime-green mohawks and orange spray-painted faces, who panhandle with cardboard signs that riff on their lifestyles. "Please Help Us Get Un-Sober," one reads. Another: "Please Give Us Weed, Beer or Money." Sometimes aggressive, they block sidewalks as they strum guitars or bang on bongos. Gangs of them skateboard down the middle of Haight Street. Some throw used hypodermic needles into a nearby pond they call Hep-C Lake. Evans, 64, says they should get help, clean up or go home. "I used to be a hippie. I wore beads and grew my hair long,"...
State of Silicon Valley Real Estate
2007-05-02 09:37:00 Today's (May 1, 2007) San Jose's hometown newspaper, the Mercury, had five (5!) real estate related articles that tells a complete story of the state of Bay Area real estate.1) Everybody wants to live in the economic engine called Silicon ValleySan Jose is one of the fastest growing cities in California... housing is scarce and that contributes to housing prices remaining stable... and expensive.2) They'll still standing in line buying real estate sight unseenThis demand for housing contributed to almost 100 prospective buyers placing deposits (~40% pre-sold) for a luxury condo development in downtown San Jose that won't open until 2009, exceeding developer expectations. With all the withering housing doom news, who would place this bet sight unseen? Apparently lots.San Francisco is also undergoing high rise transformation south of Downtown. I've always thought that Bay Area cities suddenly shifted to high rise housing due to limited land space and the b...
Real Estate Agent California? Selling House San Francisco Bay Area, Buying
2007-04-27 00:00:00 A professional real estate agent offers selling house, buying houses in san francisco bay area by Faye Weng, California, USA.
San Francisco Bay Area Homes for Sale, Home Inspection Before Listing
2007-04-27 00:00:00 San francisco bay area home for sale, home inspection knowing the condition of home before listing by professional real estate agent, California, USA.
AboveNet, PAXIO team on FTTH network in San Francisco Bay area
2007-04-10 00:38:00 AboveNet Inc. (Abovenet), provider of fiber-based connectivity for business and carriers, has announced an agreement with PAXIO Inc. (PAXIO) for optical network facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area. AboveNet’s network facilities throughout the San Francisco Bay Area incorporate key business locations, data centers, carrier hotels, and IP points-of-presence (PoPs) providing PAXIO a greater footprint ...
San Francisco Bay Area Sees Drastic Rise in Foreclosures
2006-10-25 14:27:01 Foreclosures in the San Francisco Bay Area have gone up nearly 90% from September 2005 to 2006. While Marin and Santa Clara counties say the lowest increases in foreclosure, San Francisco has seen an increase of nearly 110% since last year. Much of these foreclosures are due to people investing in urban properties through Adjustable Rate Mortgages. Now that interest rates are rising, homeowners are unable to keep up with bigger payments, and therefore succumb to foreclosure. There are all kinds of availabilities for foreclosure homes in San Francisco, so now might be an excellent time to get involved with buying foreclosures in the area. [via CBS 5 San Francisco] |
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