Happy Holidays!

December 2022


Dear Neighbors,


Although evenings have become colder and it gets dark earlier, cheerful holiday lights and decorations help light up the night when you're on an evening stroll. Don't miss the spectacular lit up tree at Cherry and Jackson. It's truly magical.


With this newsletter, we bring you information from the Sacramento Street Merchants Association and an important update about making Clay Street a permanent Slow Street, among other news.


For those of your who responded to our Thanksgiving postcard campaign and paid your dues, a heartfelt THANK YOU. If you haven't yet had a chance to join PHAN, you can pay your annual dues of $40 with PayPal or send a check to PHAN, P.O. Box 29503, SF, CA 94129. We purposefully keep our dues low because when we do need to get City Hall's attention, having a large number of dues-paying members can make all the difference.


As always, you can reach out to us by emailing us at info@phansf.org.


We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season!


The Board of PHAN

Sacramento Street Merchants Holiday Stroll: Friday, December 9


The shops along Sacramento Street add a special vibrancy to our neighborhood, and they deserve our support. This Friday, December 9, from 3:00 to 7:00 PM, merchants along the street will be open late and all are welcome to come by for a festive start to the weekend. Shop local this holiday season!

December 6 SFMTA Hearing To

Make Clay a Permanent Slow Street

SFMTA has announced plans to consider CLAY STREET for permanent inclusion in the city's SLOW STREETS program. There will be a hearing on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at 1:00pm at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 400, Floor 4.


The SFMTA has also offered this guidance for providing feedback or participating in the hearing:


"Members of the public may attend the meeting to observe and provide public comment at the physical meeting location listed above or online at ww.sfgovtv.org/sfmtaLIVE.


Members of the public are encouraged to participate remotely. If you want to ensure your comment on any item on the agenda is received by the Board in advance of the meeting, please send an email to MTABoard@sfmta.com by 5pm the day before the meeting or call 415.646.4470." 


PHAN has not taken an official position on Slow Streets, and encourages neighbors who want to weigh in on the issue to get in touch with SFMTA.

Presidio Heights' Real Estate Market

Shows Resilience

By Carol Solfanelli


As the holidays approach, the neighborhood feels quieter as people head out of town to be with family. What is happening with the real estate market in San Francisco? It took a turn as interest rates began to rise at the end of April this year. For Presidio Heights, this rise does not appear to have affected our neighborhood as much as some others.


However, I personally felt the impact when I listed the lower condo in my two-unit building in mid- April. In the earlier super hot market, I would probably have received multiple offers; however, though interest was not as strong, I still received an offer after 12 days. Fortunately, it was a good one and there is a nice couple living in my building below. :) Let’s take a look at home and condo sales in our neighborhood over the past year.


Home Sales

According to the Multiple Listing Service, eight homes have sold in our neighborhood over the past year (ending November 28, 2022) at an average price of $8,059,750, almost the same as the prior year’s

average of $8,041,652. The highest and lowest sales prices in the past year were $15,750,000 for a 6,985 square foot 6-bedroom home and $3,818,000 for a smaller 4-bedroom home. The average time on the market for these homes has been a relatively quick 24 days this past year, less than the time of the prior year’s 44 days on the market. Volume is down consistent with the current market with 15 fewer homes having sold this past year than the prior one.


Condo Sales

Over the past year (ending November 28, 2022), 25 condos have sold in this neighborhood at an average price of $2,568,864 slightly up from an average of $2,296,522 in the prior year. The highest and lowest sales prices in the past year were $4,050,000 for a 2,335 square foot three- bedroom condo and $1,200,000 for a 1,228 square foot two-bedroom condo. The average time on the market for these condos has been 23 days this past year, slightly longer than the prior year’s 19 days.

Volume is about the same with one less condo having sold this past year than the prior one.


The above numbers do not include any off-market sales that may have occurred. Whether or not selling off market is a good idea, was discussed by me in a previous blogpost. You can compare these sales to sales in 2020–21 in my prior blogpost.


Conclusion

Reviewing this data reveals that the average price of homes and condos in Presidio Heights hasn’t changed much from 2021 to 2022 at least when looking at properties sold on the market. Once properties went on the market, they sold very quickly, showing the market’s strength in Presidio

Heights. While many neighborhoods throughout the city have seen a slowdown in sales and properties taking much longer to sell, our neighborhood has shown some resilience.

Did You Know You Can Adopt A Drain?

As we enter into what will hopefully be a rainy season, did you know that you can adopt a neighborhood drain? Part of the city's Power, Water and Sewer program, the Adopt-a-Drain scheme pairs volunteers with a drain of their choice to help maintain. The city provides supplies, and the volunteers work to keep the drains clear. In our neighborhood, some drains have already been adopted with another forty drains up for grabs. Drains on Locust apparently need some extra TLC. To find out more about the program, head to this link.



Recent News on 3700 California

Since our last newsletter, the Chronicle published this article that referenced 3700 California, the former site of Sutter Health's CPMC California campus. PHAN is keeping up to date on what is happening with the major developments that impact our neighborhood. If you have any questions, news or concerns to share, please reach out to us at info@phansf.org.

What Is That Brick Circle in the Street?

You've probably walked or driven by these brick circles embedded in the street and never given it a second thought. Or perhaps you gave it a glance and thought they are remnants of the cable car system that once served the neighborhood. Well guess again! The brick circles actually mark the location of an underground cistern which holds water to fight fires. They are located all over the city, and to learn more about them, check out this article from KQED's podcast Bay Curious.

Forward This Newsletter!

Join PHAN! We Need Your Support!

As noted above, if you aren't yet a member of PHAN or want to pay your annual dues, it's easy. Go to our website www.phansf.org to pay via PayPal or send a check to PHAN at P.O. Box 29503, San Francisco, CA 94129. Thank you!

You can reach out to PHAN by emailing info@phansf.org. Let us know what we should include in future newsletters, send us comments, suggestions or corrections. We are not the NYT, but we do our best to get it right and are open to suggestions!