This is the land of the ‘blue-shirt army’ the just-out-of-college or MBA-in-hand-just now crowd that lives here and take the 1 California Express bus that brings these legions of financial/services sector workers to the Financial District on weekdays. You’ll find spacious houses, art-deco era condos, and a score of rental buildings with garages on the bottom floor in this maritime neighborhood that has 2 main shopping drags (Chestnut and Union) and Lombard as your big thoroughfare. Living here is about the outdoors and night life to an extent. Views, if you get them, are of Alcatraz, the Marin Headlands and the Golden Gate Bridge. You’ll get fog earlier and the area is avoided a lot of times because it’s built on fill from the World’s Fair. Many of the properties here will be investment income properties with 2-5 unit buildings filled 1 and 2 bedroom rental units. The units will have single-pane windows, dated bathrooms (circa 1930 or 1980), a double parlor layout with hardwood floors, Spanish-style stucco buildings with some embellishments with garages underneath
The upgraded versions of these former rental units make up the condominium inventory here. Usually the condos have thicker (and darker) hardwood floors, nicer cabinets with a Bertazzoni (maybe even Viking) gas range, stone countertops, recessed lighting, a higher bedroom-to-bathroom ratios, marble-laden bathrooms with plush finishes, plantation shutters and carpeted bedrooms. You’re bound to find a coved ceiling or two too. in These condos tend to start in the $1.2M+ range going all the way up to $3M-$4M+ depending on views, room count, finish level and/or amenities.
Included Areas: Marina, Cow Hollow