Mission Moratorium on Market-Rate Housing Fails; Ballot Measure Still Possible
After seven hours of public testimony, the Board of Supervisors tonight voted down Supervisor David Campos's proposed 45-day moratorium on market-rate housing construction in the Mission District. Members of the public crowded into City Hall for the hearing, spilling into the overflow room, and, once public testimony began, lining up dozens at a time to speak. As proposed, Campos's moratorium would have permitted only housing projects with 100 percent affordable units to move forward for 45 days, or potentially two years, because of an extension permitted under state law. The measure would have affected 33 projects currently proposed in the Mission and stalled 1,574 planned units of housing. Though the measure met defeat, garnering only seven of the nine votes it needed to pass, a ballot initiative is currently in the works to put a similar moratorium on the November ballot.Cute but Dilapidated Western Addition Fixer Wants $800K
A two-bedroom Victorian at the corner of Divisadero and Golden Gate in the Western Addition has just landed on the market seeking $800K. Victorian pedigree is not easily had anywhere in this city for less than $1 million, especially for a freestanding structure, so we're betting this place is not in the greatest shape. The photos bear that out, but they also show some charming (if rough) interior spaces with tall wainscoting, bay windows, and a columned fireplace. It looks like some of the wood floors were painted at some point (as was once the fashion), and the kitchen's sole occupant is one lone, sad stove. In the garage, there's a big piece of modern art hanging in a random spot—the sole bit of staging on the premises—so we've got to wonder what it's covering up.
Flowchart: Will My Rent Go Up When My Roommate Leaves?
Click to enlarge. Flowchart by Tobener Law CenterRent control can be a slippery situation in San Francisco, and almost as soon as you've got it, it's time to worry about losing it. Particularly if you live in a roommate situation where the other tenant is the only one on the lease. When your roommate moves on, you're almost certain to face a rent hike, if your landlord is paying any attention whatsoever. What's a law-abiding, cash-poor renter to do? Here to untangle the thicket of rules surrounding roommates and rent control is tenant rights attorney Joseph Tobener of the Tobener Law Center, who put together this flowchart to help you navigate the law in trying times.
Luxury Developer's 200-Square-Foot Rentals Will Have 'the Feeling of a Vintage Hermes Leather Trunk'
Developer Artthaus is known for working on fancy, high-end places like the big house at 2939 Vallejo Street in Pacific Heights. The firm's latest projects, however, are two apartment buildings that will be designed as group housing, with units totaling less than 200 square feet, plus shared kitchens. Artthaus filed plans last week to build a 131-unit building in the Mission at 1798 Bryant and a 36-unit building in SoMa at 45 Dore Street, reports the San Francisco Business Times. The sites were originally intended to hold more luxury condos, but are now slated to be micro-units with rents somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,500 per month. Despite the much more confining quarters, the proposal for at least one of the projects conveys its commitment to quality by evoking high-end luggage.Magnanimous Landlord Will Let You Live Inside This Box Truck for $800/Month
San Francisco's overheated rental market is so extreme that listing amusing Craigslist hoaxes has become a collective pastime in this town. Every few weeks someone puts a sinkhole, Muni shelter, or crap-filled shed on Craigslist for an insane (but not … unreasonable?) amount in attempt to lighten the mood or, at least, show us how much worse it could be. Photographer Scott Hampton even did a whole seriesdevoted to placing For Rent signs on trash cans, mail boxes, and wooden planters to great tragicomic effect. Things are, in fact, so acute that it's sometimes hard to tell if these listings are satire or just really inspired lifehacks that no one's thought of before. So when a Craigslist post offering up the interior of a box truck as an $800/month rentalpopped up on Facebook last night, it definitely confused people.
The Richmond's 4-Star Theater Goes Up for Sale, Teases Condo Potential
The 4-Star Theater in the Richmond may not have the old-school charm of other independent theaters around town, but it has been running for more than 100 years. Now, however, the Clement Street spot is up for sale for $2.8 million, and it's targeting developers, not theater operators, as buyers, reports Richmond SF. The property is zoned for mixed-use development up to 40 feet, and the brokerbabble on the property's sale flier proclaims that there is "huge development potential for mixed use with condos." 
22 Solutions for Small-Space Living With All Your Beloved Stuff
Are you one of Earth's 3 billion urban dwellers? Then there's a fair chance you're limited on space. And in case you don't subscribe to Marie Kondo's do-away-with-everything-that-doesn't-spark-joy manifesto, you probably have a lot of stuff squirreled away that you no longer have room for but aren't quite ready to part with. Enter the savior of the uncompromising hoarder: Space-saving furniture. We've compiled 21 lightweight, multifunctional, and adjustable items that will perform spatial alchemy on any apartment. Their beauty is in their ability to transform, contain, and enlarge. You can shop them all right now, they fit into every budget (ahem, Josef Albers Nesting Tables gladly rub shoulders with a $3 shelf from Flying Tiger), and they will give your Container Store-ridden apartment a much-needed update.
The 10 Most Beautiful Apartments on the Market Right Now in San Francisco
It's no secret that poring through rental listings in San Francisco can get depressing. Dingy kitchens, terrifying bathrooms, and a total lack of character are basically the norm. So we've put together a list of 10 of the prettiest rentals currently on the market. Some have period details, some are modern, some cost a small fortune, and, uh, none are exactly cheap.
↑ In Cole Valley, a big, elegant two-bedroom near Golden Gate Park is renting for $5,450. There are a lot of things to like about it, including the pillars and built-in shelving, but the best part is the very leafy outlook. Those views are of the "professionally maintained" backyard, which is shared with the one other unit in the building. Sadly, there is no parking. 
Moratorium Vote Today; Why Towing Is So Expensive in SF; Guerrilla Speed Bumps
Andres Rustan· Massive Mission housing development set to replace circus theater as moratorium debate looms [SF Business Times]
· Roxie Theater hanging on for another three years [Hoodline]
· SF considers moratorium, buying affordable housing [Mission Local]
· Why AT&T Park's giant glove is missing a finger [SF Chronicle]
· Portsmouth Square bridge to get artistic facelift [SF Examiner]
· Luna Park changing hands [Capp Street Crapp]
· Help a Bernal neighbor beautify Mission Street [Bernalwood]
· Why is towing so expensive in San Francisco [KQED]
· In parched California, firefighters prep for epic blazes [Wired]
· The tallest tree at Muir Woods is 777 years old [NYT]
· Antioch removes speed bumps installed by residents [NBC]
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Once $15M, Classical Pac Heights Mansion Sells for $11.5M
After spending nearly two months on the market, the column-studded, classically inspired four-bedroom at 2010 Jackson Street just changed hands for $11.5 million, though it listed for a much more ambitious $15 million. Designed by architect Ted Moulton and built in 1961, the home was originally just one story high, and served as a curious bachelor padfor George W. Kleiser, a retired advertising exec. Later on, architect George Livermore came along and added a second story, bringing the bedroom total up to four.
Despite his worldwide fame and fancy commissions for Hobbit supercenters, Frank Gehry has found the time to design an avant-garde playhouse for the precocious children of Silicon Valley. This Saturday, June 6, a bright pink playhouse designed by Gehry will go on auction at the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto as part of a fund-raiser for housing organization Rebuilding Together. Titled "Tours en l'Air" (French for "Facebook paid me to do this"), Gehry's playhouse deconstructs the form of a princess castle, all the while mocking our desire for a more familiar form with its aggressively pink hue. [Rebuilding Together]The Mission's Historic Albion Hall Is for Sale, Asking $6.5M
Photos via Olga SobolevaAlbion Hall in the Mission has served a number of fascinating purposes in its long life. It was originally built as a meeting hall following the 1906 earthquake and was used as the headquarters of the San Francisco Socialist Party for a few years after its construction. More recently, it has served as a venue for musical and theatrical performances, primarily by lesbian artists. Then, in 2009, it was remodeled to become a grand four-bedroom residence built around a massive and stunning central hall. It is now on the market looking for $6.5 million, one of the largest asks ever in the Mission.
SF's Median Asking Rent for One-Bedrooms Hit $3,500 in May
The latest rental prices from real estate website Zumper are in, and they confirm that the rents in the city just keep going up. According to Zumper's latest monthly rental report, San Francisco's median asking rent for a one-bedroom in May was $3,500, which is 1.2 percent higher than April's figure of $3,460. (Zumper's measure of one-bedroom prices is not to be confused with Zillow's rent index, which looks at all apartment sizes, and recently estimated the median asking rent in San Francisco at $4,225.) Zumper's new figures widen the gap between San Francisco, which has the highest median asking rent in the country, and its closest competitor, New York, where rents stayed stagnant in May at $3,100 for a one-bedroom. The median rent for a two-bedroom in San Francisco was $4,680 in May, up 3.3 percent over the month before. 
Noted vegan and water-based life form Moby has a lot to say about California water policy, and recently helped launch a petition asking Governor Jerry Brown for a stricter water budget. In an interview with Rolling Stone, the musician spins an extended metaphor comparing the record industry of the late 90s to politicians whom he says are in denial over the reality of water's scarcity. "I feel like Governor Brown and the legislature are taking a similar tactic to water that the record companies took to Napster," he says. "They want to pretend that things are going to go back to a much easier, simpler status quo." [Rolling Stone]What $2,000/Month or Less Rents You in San Francisco
Welcome to Curbed Comparisons, a column that explores what one can rent for a set dollar amount in various San Francisco neighborhoods. Is one man's studio another man's townhouse? Let's find out! Today's price: under $2,000/month.
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- EditorLamar Anderson
- Associate EditorTracy Elsen
- Features EditorSara Polsky
- PhotographerPatricia Chang
- PublisherVox Media
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