What I think is going to revolutionize home buying and selling is Microsoft Tag’s 2-D barcode technology for use in marketing materials and signage. BLU at 631 Folsom in SoMa is using the technology now; it essentially lets you snap a barcode placed on the building frontage and view, in this case, a video of one of the units. I think the technology fits hand in hand with the need for buyers to see the inside of a property anytime they happen to drive by. These days, many buyers explore neighborhoods on their own before working with a Realtor. The barcode technology lets these same buyers get a feel for what’s inside a building without having to deal with setting up a showing. If they like what they see via their mobile app, they’ll most definitely want to make time for a showing appointment.

I tested out the app on my iPhone, and found it to be quite easy. You just go to gettag.mobi and then you’ll be directed to the download page for the App Store. Once you download the free app, you simply hold your phone up to the barcode through the automatic viewer and the app will snap it. Check it out by snapping the above barcode. It’s pretty cool technology, and has great potential for the real estate industry.

Pricing starts at $739,000 and goes up to $819,000 for a unit on the top floor. Kitchens like these are becoming almost standard in new condo developments:

But they are quite crisp and modern. And there’s also a solar-powered roof:

The units have reasonable space, and are nicely done. I think the biggest drawback is the location; Olive is on a small street between Van Ness and Franklin, and Ellis and O’Farrell. So you have to be okay living on what’s known as the Van Ness corridor—an area that’s near desirable neighborhoods like Hayes Valley and Lower Fillmore, but isn’t exactly where you want to be. The block itself is all right; you’re adjacent to a large commercial building, which looks like a partial parking garage. Outlooks aren’t great, but the units get decent natural light. And if you buy #502—the top-floor, rear unit—you’ll get an awesome view of every local satellite dish atop all the neighboring buildings.

None of the eight units are in contract yet. Biggest competition is probably right around the block at The Artani, which also has two bedrooms in the $700,000s. But that building has a lot more units (52), so those looking for a smaller, lower-key building might prefer 238 Olive.

A bit of history: The Warfield was designed by Gustav Albert Lansburgh, and was constructed between 1921 and 1922 in a Renaissance Revival style. The Warfield Theatre opened in May 1922. The Examiner once occupied the building, and Al Capone apparently used the building in the 1920s, too.

There are a total of eight floors of space, with seven floors being offered as commercial office condos and zoned C3G with an allowance for what’s known as Accessory Use Housing. This means you can use about a quarter of each floor for residential use, and the rest of the space for a variety of uses. Floors 2-5 will share a wall with the famous Warfield theatre, but the top three floors definitely have residential possibilities.

Square footage ranges from 4,601 for the second floor, to 5,118 for the 8th floor. The latter is the penthouse unit, which is the only fully developed one. I pictured Lenny Kravitz living here and shooting that video with Gina Gershon. My favorite part is the cassette-embossed cabinet in one of the bathroom areas:

And I also liked the “office” part of the floor:

The penthouse includes a huge attic space, as well as a 5,000-square foot roof deck. It’s being listed at around $2.5M. Included in the mix are a purple bedroom and adjacent fuschia half bath.

The other units are presently “warm shells,” meaning they’re waiting for development. I checked out unit 5, which looked like this:

Prices for the other office condos range from $1,339,000-$1.4M. Unit 6 has a half-acre deeded roof space, by the way. Some other tidbits: HOA dues are $1,000/mo; parking is available for $180/mo; and each owner is guaranteed eight tickets to every performance at The Warfield.

You can also buy the actual Warfield auditorium for $10M. Or the whole damn building for $22M. Drum solo, please.

I say: Get in there and set up shop by the end of June. Then you can get your eight seats for the Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings show on 6/25.

There are now four luxury condos in a modernist building on Page at Shrader, from a $449,000 garden-level studio to a 3BR/2BA listed at $1,089,000 (the other two 3BR/2BAs are priced at $1,049,000 and $1,059,000). All the bells and whistles are there—radiant heat, “professional” kitchens, white oak flooring, Marvin windows and full marble baths. Let’s not also forget the double crown molding, open living/dining areas with stone-mantled, gas-burning fireplaces, and custom paint.

First open next week, but contact me if you’d like to get in sooner.

I attended The Artani’s launch party last night (a lively affair) and toured a few of the models. The last time I was there, I rode up in a construction elevator with a bunch of workers, and had to navigate the very much work-in-progress building. So it was interesting to see the finished product. They’ve done a nice job with the floor plans and finishes, featuring CaesarStone counters, Italian tile backsplashes and baths, Bosch or Viking appliances and distressed wood floors.

The 1BR/1BA units are priced from the high $400,000s, and the 1BR+den/2BA condos start in the mid $500,000s. The 2BR/2BA are priced from the high $600,000s. HOAs dues range from the high $300s to the mid $400s. Each unit gets a parking space, and everyone has access to the loungey roof deck.

Here are a couple shots of a typical kitchen and bath:

I saw unit 405, a 1BR/1BA listed at $499,000. It faced south, and the main outlook was a roof with duct and other equipment, as well as other buildings. Unit 306 was a large 2BR/2BA corner home with all the bells and whistles. The living/kitchen areas faced Van Ness, which is busy, but in an odd way, was kind of appealing. If you’re a Type A personality who likes a lot of activity surrounding you, #306 could be a good fit. Though this one is not available, it’s representative of a larger unit on that side of the property.

Unit 402 ($549,000) was a 1BR/1BA that faced the small street on the north side of the property, affording a nice view into the windows of the apartments across the way. The window on the property line that faces west had a nice downtown view, but due to building codes was required to be many inches thick. This leads to a somewhat distorted view, like looking through a magnifying glass. (I thought it was me, at first, feeling the effects of the signature Artani cocktail.)

Overall, I think the Artani is priced competitively for a luxury building located on Van Ness. The biggest hurdle for the sales team will be to overcome the hesitancy on the part of buyers to live on Van Ness, an area that is between neighborhoods, has a bit of a homeless issue and is noisy from all the traffic. Some buyers looking for two-bedroom condos might sooner gravitate toward LindenHayes, which has a superior location and finishes (but much higher price points). In the end, I think The Artani offers pretty good value.

The floor plans are similar in each unit—one level features a smallish master bedroom and bathroom, and the other level has the living area, kitchen, bedroom and another bath. Here’s a shot of one of the living areas that face the Bay:

And here’s a sample kitchen:

My favorite unit was 310, listed at $1,099,000. The master suite was located on the entrance level, and had an outlook of the nearby buildings. The kitchen/living area and bedroom/bath upstairs had Bay-facing outlooks, and the outdoor space was off the front balcony.

There are one or two below-market-rate units, but given that these are around $900,000, I’m not sure how “BMR” they are.

HOA dues are around $428, and there’s an elevator in the building. One-car parking is included for each unit.

Though the condos offer good space, the biggest drawback is that they’re located pretty much on Lombard. So you get the constant traffic and bustle from multiple lanes of traffic on a primary San Francisco corridor. Within a block radius, you’re surrounded by the Days Inn, Super 8, Presidio Inn, and America’s Best Value Inn, so there won’t be a shortage of accommodations for your guests if you don’t want them holding up in your second bedroom. Granted, once you cross Lombard you’re in the heart of the Chestnut Street retail area. But there will be substantial noise from the Lombard activity for those desiring a quiet place to live.

But if you look at the average sales prices and overall size of the comps, 3190 Scott comes off as being more spacious and is definitely viewed as an upscale building. (A good comp that’s currently in contract is over at 2839 Union, between Baker and Lyon. This is a top floor, 2BR/1.5BA plus sunroom and original kitchen that was listed at $1,079,000 and went into contract within a month.) I think 3190 Scott is a good fit for, say, Marin or downtown commuters who are looking for a good separation of space between bedrooms, as well as luxury finishes and a bit of outdoor space. Contact me if you’re interested in seeing the building. So far, none are in contract yet, so you’ll have your pick.

In the meantime, “dusty shoe” tours are continuing, by appointment. To date, there are 15 pending sales out of a total of 32 units—not bad for minimal advertising and no MLS entries.

Here’s a refresher on what’s available, and in what price ranges—keeping in mind that pricing is still “fairly fluid” at this point, according to Doug Shaw at Pacific Union:
- 16 1BR/1BA residences, ranging from $529,000-$649,000 (some in contract)
- 12 2BR/2BA, from $769,000-$965,000 (some in contract)
- Three 3BR/2BAs (all are in contract).

Parking is included with all units. Contact me if you’d like a dusty shoe tour before the grand opening.

Current pricing lands one bedrooms from $440,000-$490,000; two bedrooms range from $530,000-$650,000. One three-bedroom unit remains, priced in the high $600,000 range. A large garage with ample parking, as well as various degrees of storage, are available.

Keep in mind 555 Bartlett is FHA approved. Give me a call if you’d like to check out the remaining inventory.

Welcome to the new incarnation of 526-528 Broderick. We now have 526 Broderick’s 1776-square foot, 4BR/3.5BA, two-level lower unit listed at $1,150,000. And upstairs is 528 Broderick, which is a 3BR/2.5BA, 1383-square foot unit all on one level.

The top level living area is pretty spacious, and they’ve even included a piano with the staging to emphasize that fact:

Most 3BR+ condos in the neighborhood have sold in the $700,000-$800,000 range. But none quite match the finishes and floorplans of 526-528 Broderick. 1696 McAllister, a 5BR condo with 3,000+ square feet and two-car parking sold last year for $1.4M. If today represents a slightly different market, the Broderick developer may be in luck. My sense is that bringing on these units now vs. Spring will work to their advantage. First open is Sunday from 1:00-4:00. (Working on finding a Web site, as there doesn’t seem to be one online yet.)

The building at 566 South Van Ness between 16th and 17th Streets in the Mission known as The Citrino is making a minor comeback in the current market. Citrino completed construction back in 2007 and went on the market in July of that year at a time when the credit crisis hit the media in a big way. Things didn’t get much better after that.

Though the developer did sell 22 of the 32 condos, an ownership change then took place, and future sales were put on hold. Seven of the condos that remained were rented, and three were left vacant. One bedrooms had sold in 2008 from the low $400,000s to the low $500,000s, and the two bedrooms sold from the high $500,000s all the way up to the mid $700,000s.

New ownership is now in place, and it’s looking to sell off units as tenants’ leases expire. And two of the three vacant, top-floor units are already on their way to being sold. The pair of 2BR/2BAs with about 932 square feet and one-car parking came on the market at the very end of January and were listed at very competitive prices of $569,000-$579,000. They went into contract within days of coming on the market. The last top-floor condo is currently available for $569,000.

Citrino’s finishes are high-end, with Scavolini kitchens, Bertazoni ranges, Fisher Paykel dishwashers, CaesarStone countertops, and gas fireplaces:
There are nice outdoor spaces and a cool roof deck. HOA dues are in the $330 range. Probably the biggest downside is the block on which Citrino is located. Though it’s around the corner from the 16th and Mission BART station and about four blocks from the Valencia corridor, Citrino is opposite a rundown gas station, adjacent to the South Van Ness car wash/gas station at 16th, and a few doors down from a temporary occupancy hotel that breeds a lot of characters. Buyers have to decide if the nicely done units and the convenient location outweigh the sketchy street locale.

Returning to market after a hiatus is a strategy that’s picking up speed in the new development segment. The Artani at 818 Van Ness is getting ready to unleash a bunch of units it pulled from the market after an unsuccessful sales attempt last year, and 829 Folsom is also resuming sales after a marketing team change. In all cases, prices are lower than when the buildings first started selling in 2008-2009. I’m sensing some good opportunities for buyers who are ready to jump into the mix and get new-construction homes for reasonable prices.