Cesar Rubio Photography

A broker friend just asked us who we like (locally) for architectural photography, and we agreed it's Cesar Rubio. If we only had one shot, and needed it to grab more than 50% of passers-by, we'd spend the bulk of the budget letting Cesar get it right. He's done the sexier jobs, from SOM SF to Dwell, but he's not so commercial to avoid shooting a Tiburon interior now and again. Portfolio: here. (And no, we've not employed him, but will.)

160 San Marcos Avenue

We absolutely love Craig Steely's work. He's always at least 5 years ahead of trends (glass tile in year 2000, anyone?), and can do modern with a warmth that few other local architects can muster. So we find ourselves wishing we could build his 3,700 SF single-family home design for 160 San Marcos Ave, which recently made its appearance on MLS; the lot and plans are yours for 850,000 underwritten land-loan smackers.

But Craig's site announces construction in 2005, and we're closing in on 2008. Community issues at design review? Indecisive seller? We hope it's not the former, for architecture's sake, but aren't betting on the latter...

Ahhh... Nostalgia Marketing

When the market gets tough, we love some nostalgia campaigns. Un-real-estate related, but relevant in theory, 45 Ipod Cases has a really cool new product: tape cases perfectly crafted for your Nano. And they're $45. Duh.

Our favorite Friday marketing and design find:
http://www.45ipodcases.com/nano/case27.php

Brass. It's the New Chrome.

(Guest Blogger -- Woo Woo!)

I, Guest Blogger, recently noticed a trend, and then heard Realtor whispers that were perhaps an initial validation of our observations. I wonder if modernist design is starting to go the way of modernist art. In the '70's, the hearty flamboyance and self-confidence of neo-expressionist art came as a very logical response to the mechanical precision and restraint of modernism. I think we're starting to see a similar transition now in the the world of design. Just in time too because when builders start opting for electric ranges because of their "sleek clean look", it makes us think consumers have pushed new-moderism just a tad too far. Don't get me wrong, I heart good, authentic modern design just as much as the next design-oriented individual but I also find a sense of comfort in the unabashed unpredictability of color and form that we see in places like Ian Schrager's reawakening: http://www.gramercyparkhotel.com/gramercy_park_hotel.html?gclid=CL_s-4Cr4YwCFRG3hgodlVsNzQ

Perhaps the abundance of muted colors everwhere has made us feel like we've cut off the circulation to our senses... this new look has the blood running back in again.

Borneo Sporenburg

Lamenting the half-blocks of SF, with their quaint, tiny drives and each homes' perfectly- executed coved ceilings, we had to counter the high with a little low: great architecture of the early 1900's wasn't matched by any execution of smart outdoor space. (And no, we didn't expect it to be... ) Still, we ended up on Borneo Sporenburg again.

Your brief history (circa mid-1990s): "Borneo Sporenburg was a dock area on the outskirts of Amsterdam serving trade with Holland’s colonies in the East. As part of the phased regeneration of these now disused areas, a residential brief of 2500 dwellings was set for this zone, dictating a high density of housing, despite the predominant market demand for a suburban self-contained house. The development demonstrates that family housing is not incompatible with dense urban areas. It reverses the predominant social trend towards a dense urban core inhabited by childless couples, singles and the extremes of high and low income, and a suburban fringe occupied by middle-class families."

And so the design standards went on... arriving at a mandated 30-50% void (patio,outdoor, or public) space requirment per residence and the kind of facades we wouldn't mind seeing form a strip along any wanting Excelsior or SOMA street. While we're not the biggest fans of the Sphinx Garden (the public space aspect of the mandate above), we think we'll be easier to please with pics of the interior patios.

West 8 did the designing, though their website has too many other huge projects to celebrate to go into detail on Borneo S. Good luck googling for interior shots, but Harvard's Graduate School of Design has published Residential Waterfront, Borneo Sporenburg, Amsterdam, edited by Rodolfo Machado.

Holl in the KC

How'd the great Steven Holl-designed-Kansas-City-art-museum reveal/soiree go? Surely someone was allowed to be there.

P.s. Steven Bowers has some great photos online from 2006, if you haven't been lucky enough to visit yet.

They're Cool. That's Why They're *Expensive*

We admit it. We love this project. From the oh-so-forward thinkers of Hell-A who love their dogs enough to make a (BIG-ish) dog park in many of the city's new developments to the awesome pairing of white Arrital Cucine cabinetry with concrete floors and the built-in wine glass storage units. All of it does it for us.

If you haven't been to the "neighborhood", it kind-of borders something sometimes nicknamed "Skid Row." But now the "young professionals" are moving in, L.A. Live has hit the (friends and family) market, and you should really have a look at it all.

Laverne's Champagne Chair

Obedient as we are, we followed-up on a designer recommendation, took a likin' to Erwin and Estelle Laverne's Champage Chair, and present to you a $2,400 transaction opportunity. A product of 1957 constructed with lucite, aluminum, and liquid leather(!), this chair is currently being offered by Monda Cane in NYC and is not to be confused with DWR's annual champagne chair contest, where designers with ridiculous amounts of talent create chairs from cork, foil, wire, and glue.

Because It's Friday...

Meet #56 on Residential Design and Build's Top 100 New Products list: Motiv's "tissue paper holder and protector", for those too-close-to-the-sink spots. While this particular winner doesn't seem to be available online, Motiv's latest collections are now distributed through Bed Bath and Beyond and at a few dozen other California locations.

If You Have To Show The Copper Stars...

There are hints of rationality in the SF market if you take the time to search for them, and the latest at 1448 Kearny certainly qualifies. Despite the killer Telegraph Hill location, the listing finally, finally expired after attempting to sell an interior-designed studio for about $2,110/SF. (Did they know that the Ritz-Carlton Residences in SF averaged $1,360/SF?)

Nevertheless, it produced a little new parlance around our offices. If a home has so few "grab factors" that you end up shooting copper stars on the beadboard walls, consider talking to the seller about pricing expectations again. We find ourselves referencing Kearny every few days with a sigh and a "We're getting into copper star territory" as we do one Brokers' tour or another.

The Story:

List price: $699,000 (Reductions? Oh, yes. Originally $778,000 or $2,360/SF)

List date: January 2, 2007

SF: Not provided by agent, but tax records show 330 SF

Comments: Sold fully-furnished; height restrictions

Citrino Update

Citrino update: 1BRs starting at $500K; 2BRs starting $689K. All units have deeded parking and HOAs are estimated to hover in the mid-$300s. Drive-bys available at 566 South Van Ness.

Cheap Reads: Prefabulous

It was only a matter of time before this title was used somewhere, anywhere, and here it is for $16.50 on Amazon. Sheri Koones' new book, published by Taunton Press, walks one through seven prefab approaches over the course of seven chapters titled Modular, Panelized, Structural Insulated Panels, Timber Frame, Log Construction, Concrete and Steel. It's nuts and bolts, not historical and experimental, but that probably means we're officially hitting mainstream status with prefab.

From the author, regarding her hopes for the text: "... by describing 7 different types of prefab construction ... that it will shed new light on this wonderful way of building a house. The houses profiled in this book are quite varied in size, style, and method of construction, but all of them were built in part or almost totally in a factory. In today's world I believe we are all concerned about preserving our resources and saving energy - prefab construction is an excellent option towards both of those ends. I have always hoped to be an advocate for the homeowner, providing options to help them make the best possible construction decisions."

Park Fifth Renderings

David Houk released Park Fifth's rendering to the LA Times this month, illustrating exactly how 732 units should fit into two skyscrapers--one of which will be the tallest building west of Chicago (at 76 stories). A sales center will open this Summer, though ground shouldn't be broken before 2008 and construction isn't slated to complete until 2010. (So, expect some amazing new reservation-holding tactics employed in L.A. soon.)

Now taking names: Parkfifth.com.

P.S. Love the logo.

Because It's Friday... The Onion

There's No Such Thing As A Free Seminar On How To Buy Distressed Property For No Money Down

See, We Told You They Are/n't Doing It

The windows thing. It's more contagious than we'd first imagined. In the same week that we brought you Sotheby's electric blue, exploding sky, we also call your attention to a new SFH listing -- 75 Mars Street, San Francisco, featuring nebulous blurred windows (2 votes for real; 2 for fake). The two fake votes were mostly driven by the living room shot, where the shadows in the pano-view shot don't match those of the room. If the blur-views are Photoshop indeed, we absolutely need to get our eyes on the house of ill-repute that must be driving the "modifications."

Citrino

Vanguard intros 32 one- and two-bedroom condominiums at their newest Mission project: Citrino. Homes will start in the $500,000s. Interest list only: http://www.citrinosf.com/

SF Evictions Down (Wait. What About the CRISIS?)

With all the voiced concerns/screaming/squawking/insert your preference from the SF Tenant's Union of late regarding a (perceived?) eviction crisis, we're surprised to read the Rent Board's March 20, 2007 Annual Eviction Report.

In the words of Executive Director Delene Wolf:
"The number of notices filed with the Department this year represents an 8.9% decrease over the prior year’s total filings of 1,621, and is about the same as the prior year’s total of 1,446 filings."

Nuisance causes ranked first again (19.3% of all evictions), followed by lease breaches (18.6%), the ever-castigated Ellis Act (16.7%), and OMIs (14.9%).

Natch, the data begs this question: If nuisances are the most "successful" route to eviction, why aren't Chris Daly and Aaron Peskin doing all they can to make tenants exempt from ever causing them? We feel some legislation coming on whereby tenants may achieve angel status to avoid some eviction tactics. Even in absence of this, it's interesting to note that despite Mirkarimi, Daly, and Peskin's Just Cause, Ellis Act, and other maneurerings, ordinance changes seem to have had zero effect.

Read the Annual Eviction Report

The Exploding Sky's Sister

As it's our day job, we've been slightly fascinated by the speed at which various new trends in real estate advertising are picked up by the general Realtor community before reaching their tipping point on the local MLS. Altering the sky on a listing's best facade shot caught on especially quickly, and some brokerages began using (and still do use) the exact same sky background, down to the cloud, on all of their listings.

You'll draw your own marketing line around what's an acceptable version of reality and what's crossed over into "misleading" territory (OK, so one approach is the equivalent of your mother, a talented photographer in her own right, taking a photo of you in your Sunday best, while the other is a lot like spending 8 hours in Photoshop erasing power lines, subbing the neighbor's cracked shale roof with new terra cotta tiles, and distorting perspective enough to make a 10 x 10 room appear to be twice that size.).

Wherever you stand on this one, we think we've spotted the sky trend's new baby sister: the electric blue nightfall shot--Photoshopped into every room in the house.

Pictured above: Sotheby's listing of a 3BR / 2.5BA SFH in Sunnyside, SF ( I said Sunnyside). Listed at $1,700,000 and recorded at 2,564 SF ($663/SF).

Now Selling: Ritz-Carlton Residences at L.A. Live

Their VIP reservation event complete (Which Warriors bought where?), what remains of the 224 Ritz-Carlton Residences will now be available to the public. $1,100+/SF-ish; the residences begin at floor 27, with the top 3 floors being reserved for 12 penthouses. The project website is a registration page only, but worth bookmarking. Keep up with the entire L.A. Live project at AEG's site.

SB 464 - The Ellis Act Bill

In the middle of flattening home prices, an imploding mortgage market, and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors' deficit spending (which now includes absolutely every scrap of surplus the City had, including the Rainy Day Fund), the movement of SB 464 continues through the California State Senate. SB 464 adds restrictions to already-restricted Ellis Act law by proposing that no landlord be allowed to exit the "landlord business" until after they have owned a property for at least 5 years.

That's right. No matter what financial, health-impacting, or emotional events befell a property owner during their first 5 years of ownership, if there are tenants on the property, the landlord will be forced to continue to perform all the landlord duties the State demands they perform for at least sixty months. Sure, not all landlords (or teachers, or bus drivers, etc.) are wonderful people. And this law assures that slumlords and evil landlords will have to stay in the business too.

Despite the obvious consequences of SB 464 (like that there's likely to be a mass Ellis Acting of all grandfathered buildings two seconds after the bill's passage and that it might be unconstitutional to force a citizen to work in a certain field for a number of years), tenant support groups are cheerleading the bill as the knife in the heart of evictions. The law would clearly steer developers and contractors away from tenant-occupied buildings, or in the least would increase the off-the-record tenant buyouts used to empty buildings before their sale in rent-controlled cities. SF tenants should be dancing in the streets if this bill stops getting postponed and is actually passed.

Keep up with it here.

Canine Gramercy

On the heels of all the hotel REITs that have picked up the pieces multifamily dropped in your stock portfolio, cue the entrance of another boutique hotel chain: Wag Hotels. Notably, they've adopted the second-trendiest element in the hotel industry: calling suites condos ("Our feline guests stay in our two story Cat Condominium.").

(For the latest human hotel trend equivalent, check out Barry Sternlicht's 1 brand venture.)

The third Wag Hotel in California opens its doors this weekend in San Francisco. They "invite you and your dogs to come and see Wag Hotels new location in San Francisco on May 12th and 13th from 10am to 8pm both days. There will be hors d'oeuvres, music, treats and we are giving away 1 year free stay for the lucky dog, and many more free nights."

Featured Project: The Book Concern Building

New construction in San Francisco can earn the right product $850+/SF. Naturally, developers then want $1,000+/SF, and they usually get there by building up, or building fabulous.

OR, you can build itty-bitty units of an entirely different tact that hit price points not seen since 1998 in San Francisco. You can do what the Book Concern Building did: convince people to live in 270 SF of space just so they can own it. Check out the six remaining units' prices -- especially the 261 SF studio at $1,045/SF. Even if your soft and hard costs put you at $350/SF to build, you're approaching 200% margins (pre-taxes, marketing, sales and other expenses).

At McAllister and 7th, Book Concern calls its location Civic Center, while the SFPD might call it a little more, say, Tenderloin-y. Add to this the building's former career as home to the Church of Scientology and, well, it doesn't seem to have mattered.

Showroom of the Week: Ikea Stockholm

No, really. Ikea Stockholm deserves a little mention for finally doing what everyone has been saying they should do for the past 10 years (make furniture that won't break when you move it, nor drive you to emotional meltdown during its assembly). I swear I saw the "pouffe" (cowhide ottoman at right - $199) at a staged open house, and there was something about it that made me think Ikea, and yet I just couldn't be certain...

Now, despite the compliment we're intending to give above, we do need to say that because Ikea CEO Anders Dahlvig has been so welcomely vocal about building and packaging sustainably, it'd be nice if he could endeavor to make the pouffe's "genuine cowhide" look genuine without also being genuine.

Steven Holl, Please Make Them Build This

We featured an Amsterdam-inspired project in the East Bay this week, which set us on one of those world wide web blackouts where we re-established consciousness three hours later while staring at Steven Holl's concept renderings for his Zuidas Housing site.

The yellow membrane is very very yellow, even in its preliminary design stage -- it's EPDM, the popular roofing material. And the skin is a green glass curtain wall. The design incorporates eighty-nine apartments of six floorplans at a cost of $14M. But just wait til you see its profile. Why doesn't this happen here?

Time to Love Building Two Custom Homes Per Year

The market's still above 13,000, but it's a bad day to be a Big 5 Homebuilder. Yesterday Centex announced that its Q4 2006 profits (free)fell 49% due to a 14% drop in closings (The stock promptly dropped $1.72/share). It seemed unnecessary to also call out an extreme rise in cancelled contracts across the Ryland/Centex/Lennar/Pulte/KB board (and Champion too, if you please), despite price decreases and increased buyer incentives.

Closer to home Pulte has pulled out of their plan to build 500 condos in SOMA at the San Francisco Tennis Club site, after many months of hand-to-hand with a well-organized and well-represented area group.

Featured Project: Blue Star Corner

Rick Holliday's twenty live-work homes in Emeryville, CA. are officially on the market. And Blue Star Corner is finally bringing L.A.'s new favorite counter surface (Caesarstone) to Nor Cal, as well as all the other key things happening elsewhere, like Ann Sacks soaking tubs and Kohler everything (why doesn't someone go after the gorilla that is Kohler faucets and toilets? It's been three years since we've seen anything else used at almost any price point.). The project was inspired by Amsterdam and designed by the ever-popular David Baker + Partners, San Francisco.

Featured Prefabber

We love their site, love their city, and love that they offer an "accessory" model in addition to fully-functioning prefab homes. Still, we're just cynical enough to find it a little over the top to claim that buying a Place LLC prefab structure is as simple as buying a car. Place offers small (1,247 SF), medium (1,660 SF, shown above), large (2,091 SF) and TINY (935 SF). At the listed sizes, the average starting price amounts to about $210/SF for the structure itself, exclusive of decking and any walks or podiums covering the unstructured parts of the footprint.

Customization possible. You select the site and, most likely, the structural engineer who will say it's a go. Place provides permitting docs and the builders and estimates that you'll move in within a year of beginning this process: info@placehouses.com.

Showroom of the Week: Milan and the Cows

As probably will happen a million times before this blog is over, the entire City of Milan got our attention this week, as a holder of Europe's 2007 Cow Parade this April: "Life-size cows, made of fibreglass, are sponsored by businesses, painted and decorated by artists, then displayed on the city’s streets to create a free, fun and interactive art event, unlike any other public art exhibition before." NYC got to live the Parade in 2000, but much has changed since then. Google Milan Cow Parade for a hundred images, or go for it in Italian: http://www.cowparademilano.it/stalla.php..

Photo credit: Pol Oxygen magazine

40 Bond - "Last Remaining Units"

40 Bond, the most fabulous of fabulous high-end/over-the-top/celebrity service projects in the U.S., is sitting on its final 6 units. Ian Schrager's foray into residential, which began in a cast glass and iron building on Bond Street and a sales office on Lafayette, reports no market softening in the upper eschelons of purchasing power as well as recent sales exceeding $3,000/SF. Smoked oak walls, Austrian oak floors, turn-down service, and everything else under the sun comes standard. You were probably beckoned to stand in front of it and stare at its glassy skin about a year ago, but if you haven't worked your way into the sales office, it's worth a try before the final units are "discreetly sold".

Lucite Makes it (Back) to the Desktop, and Everywhere

A $34 lucite stapler and its sister $32 lucite tape dispenser--finally. I'm unfortunately already happy with my desk accessories, but want to share Homework LA's (Hollywood, of course) website nonetheless. Homework should probably make an appearance as Showroom of the Week, for their ability to make everyday objects feel like little moments. (See, especially, their egg timers and alarm clocks.) Avenue G is featuring William Stranger's reclaimed credenza today too.


Bigger picture, watch coffeetables and desk chairs in sales offices this Summer. Lucite and acrylic are everywhere, with an always-useful credibility injection by Philippe Starck's Louis Ghost Armchair remake of the Kartell classic Louis XVI armchair ($334 at DWR). Please, DWR, make granite go away for good next.

Showroom of the Week: Beck's Fashion Experience

Surely you like Beck, Berlin, or both. Have your Babelfish handy and visit http://www.becks-fashion.de for opening night (March 29th, 2007) and runway shots. Did you know Italian Greyhounds on the runway are the thing? While fashionistas we are not, the store is really a design experience. Beck's Fashion Experience: Alte Schönhauser Str. 4810119 Berlin

Featured Project: The Hollywood

Architect Stephen Kanner goes right ahead and says it: This project was inspired by mid-century modern and the blending of indoor/outdoor living. We love the facade and signage (If you must have signage, this is the kind you want.). Interior design by Pedini (the Pedini, that is) guarantees high ceilings, European kitchens, and other Pedini mainstays that are viewable on the Hollywood's online virtual tours. And while it's not "green", there's a little light green at The Hollywood. 6735 Yucca St., Los Angeles. Online at: http://www.livethehollywood.com/

Kelly Wearstler's Bungalow: For Sale

You may love to hate her, and may hate her more when she nets an easy $1.5 million this month. Kelly Wearstler (KWID), has put her Kings Road 3BR/2BA bungalow on the market for $1.595M. The pictures either don't do it justice, or it just doesn't exactly look like her current form. We're not taking sides,... but we do love what she did for KOR's The Broadway at Hollywood. Thanks to CurbedLA for the MLS link.

'o solo mio

The Swedes, Germans, and Italians (and the Japanese, and the etc.) were country before country was cool, and it's proper to note their contributions to prefab architecture, which came about a decade before popular U.S. designers became serious as a group about modern modular. In Griffner Haus with Mattheo Thun and Partners' 1997 'o solo mio project, we had modular, green (or at least low-consumption), and a wood and glass facade a decade before it became the rage.

Showroom of the Week: The Future Perfect

Store/showroom of the week, and favorite name too: The Future Perfect. Worth bookmarking the site, because e-commerce capabilities are in the works. The Future Perfect: 115 North 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

A Necessary Shout-out to The Parker

There's so much residential to view, that we rarely get to browse the latest in hospitality design, even though the boutiques are usually doing things far more interesting than the average loft designer can do. Segue to an old favorite -- The Parker, Palm Springs. THE Jonathan Adler handled the design, with his signature color bursts and ability to pick the best blues and yellows in the business. Everyone says brunch at The Parker's Norma's is a must, so everyone must like $19 omelettes. We much prefer gawking at Mister Parker's ("A deconstructed formal hangout for fops, flaneurs and assorted cronies.") walls and leather booths. The Parker's a flash site, so we'll leave it to you to find your way to, and then get lost on, the photo tour.

Marketing Crush: Newtown Coffee Co.

The darkest, prettiest coffee labels we've ever seen -- so appropriately haunting for fare as compelling as good, strong coffee. It was too hard to pick a favorite, so please see the rest (prints available for $20, too): Newtown Coffee Co.

Modern Cabana

For your roof, or for your 160 acres in Humboldt County: Modern Cabana. The average cabana measures approximately 100 SF and costs on $22.5K. It's delivered insulated, wired, with operable windows and french doors. And in stark contrast to most pre-fab builders, who don't like talking numbers until you own the land, Modern Cabana lets you do it all online.

BDDW

The most beautiful studio album we've seen lately is online at BDDW. Each wooden piece is hand-carved: "BDDW is known for their heirloom quality solidwood furniture, traditionally joined, in select domestic hardwoods.Their finishes are all hand rubbed with natural oils and lacquers."

While their credenzas are our favorite pieces by far, the captain's mirrors, strung by a mulled leather strap, are such a gorgeous combination of soft curves and distressed texture that we fear the price tag.

Brent Comber

We love his three (sustainably-produced) collections, featured on our green blog, Avenue G, but Vancouver's Brent Comber is of another (even better) planet in his custom work. The 33 fixtures above were carved from solid cedar logs for Dos Caminos in nyc.

See his commercial and residential gallery for more inspiration than you thought possible before 11am.

The Papercuts

Every few days I come across commercial art that I wish could hang logo-free on my wall and this album art fits the bill exactly, logo or not. It might be the Cal bear-ish print; it might be that Amazon tells me the Papercuts are the next Shins, or... ? Their previous album artwork, for Mockingbird, isn't too shabby either.

Jean Prouve's Potence Lamp

We're going through a major bare-bulb-fascination stage right now, and core to that fascination must be French designer Jean Prouve's perfect extended-arm wall sconce for manufacturer vitra. More than its form and simplicity, we absolutely love that the Potence lamp was designed for the Prouve's 1949 Tropical House project (the famous prefabricated metal home designed for tropical climates).

Pre-Fab-Pets

The dogs and I haven't addressed bent-ply or Eames yet, but when we do...

www.pre-fab-pets.com

Alchemy Architects' weeHouse

Our favorite architects in Minnesota make our favorite prefab second-home structures. (We say second-home because we are still waiting for an 1,100SF modern prefab package that can be completed for less than $400/SF.) This model weeHouse clocks in at $45K for materials (though it's heated solely by a woodstove).

And So Now You Want an Eichler

A recent project put us in touch with an Eichler ownership group in San Mateo, CA (232 Eichlers near just one park!) and prompted us to do a little number crunching. Your Bay Area Eichler specialists will have the skinny on new listings (where you will find that you can't afford Palo Alto, and you definitely can't afford an Eichler there). It's so much more gratifying to just tour remotely. Or take a tiny Usonian internet research break here.

Photo credits to Ernie Braun please.

Oh, Walter

Further proof that Really Cool can originate in El Cerrito!: The hubby and wife team at Walter Designs.