Glamorous Nob Hill Highrises

A View from Nob Hill's 1200 California Street

A View from Nob Hill Tower
These glamorous residences provide sweeping views of our most famous landmarks, from classics such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Grace Cathedral and Coit Tower, to the City’s newest icon, Salesforce Tower.

A Residence at the Highly Coveted Nob Hill Tower, $6,000,000

Dazzling Views at 1200 California Street, $2,800,000
- www.1200CaliforniaStreet11C.com -

Light Filled Modernism at The Comstock for $1,925,000

Fantastic Corner Residence at Cathedral Tower for $1,295,000
Speaking of Nob Hill -- the neighborhood now has a
new street,
Tony Bennett Way!
A dedication ceremony was recently held in front of the Fairmont Hotel, with a giant red carpet rolled out for the occasion (covering the entire 900 block of Mason Street).

It was at the Fairmont in 1961 that Bennett first performed his world-famous song celebrating the City, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco" -- widely considered his signature piece. Truly a fitting tribute!
New Additions to Nob Hill
While a whole new San Francisco is rising south of Market, historic areas of the City have remained relatively untouched -- until now.
This year, work begins on two important new additions to Nob Hill which will add a fresh touch of streamlined 21st century design to the neighborhood known for its exquisite Beaux-Arts architecture (reminiscent of Paris), Huntington Park and the iconic Grace Cathedral.

A Rendering of 875 California
Located at the historic intersection of the Stanford Court, Fairmont Hotel and the University Club, the 7-story development has finally broken ground!

Starchitect
Robert A.M. Stern, internationally renowned for some of Manhattan’s most super-luxe developments (such as 15 Central Park West, 30 Park Place, and
220 Central Park South), has designed the classically-inspired, 44-unit building in collaboration with
Champalimaud, an award-winning design firm that's worked on
iconic properties such as the Waldorf Astoria New York and the Fairmont Hotel, among others.
It's Nob Hill’s most important new project since The Montaire in the 1990s, and will be a beautiful presence at one of our most prominent tourist destinations.

The Mark Hopkins Annex in 1943
Next, Leadwell Global Property, the Hong Kong-based investor that bought the
InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel for $206 million last year, is proposing a major change to the drab office space annex behind the hotel (running along Pine Street).
Known as Number One Nob Hill Circle, the annex will be demolished and replaced with a four story building designed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill.

From an underground studio beneath the Mark Hopkins, a Navy
Seabees band entertained troops worldwide by radio during WWII.
The new space will house guest suites, a rooftop terrace, and indoor wellness facilities -- quite a difference from when it was
built in 1943 for the
Office of War Information.
Then, it served as the U.S. government's radio studio, sending news and propaganda to the Pacific during World War II. Why there? Buried beneath the hotel, deep into the side of the hill, it was considered safe from enemy bombs!
Sky High Art and a Sculpted Tower

Jim Campbell's 11,000 LED Light Display atop Salesforce Tower
It's the world's highest work of public art
With
Jim Campbell's brilliant LED art display at the crown of the new 1,070 foot Salesforce Tower (seven feet taller than the Eiffel Tower) now mesmerizing viewers up to 20 miles away, the next milestone of the Transbay Transit Center's development in SF is coming soon -- the opening of
Salesforce Park, complete with restaurant, amphitheater, and
aerial tram!
Speculation has the
ribbon cutting taking place in late July or August.

Salesforce Park is Opening this Summer
In the areas surrounding the Transbay District, development continues at a fierce rate. The newest plan is for a skinny 44-story tower designed by
Ankrom Mosian Architects to rise at
540 Howard Street (currently the site of Temple nightclub.)

The Avery, at 420-488 Folsom Street
Nearby, construction is well underway for The Avery at 420-488 Folsom Street, the 618-foot tower designed by international starchitect Rem Koolhaas OMA (with partners Shohei Shigematsu and Jason Long), in collaboration with San Francisco's Anne Fougeron.

The Avery, at 420-488 Folsom Street
Koolhaas -- the Pritzker Prize-awarded architect known for inventive, gravity-defying projects such as the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, the Fondazione Prada in Milan, and the Seattle Central Library among others -- describes the building as a "sculpted tower" designed to embrace the light and maximize views of the Bay Bridge and skyline.

The Fireplace Lounge at The Avery
Sales have just begun for the 118 ultra-luxe condominiums, designed by New York-based Clodagh Design, that make up the top 14 floors of the 56-story tower.

A Residence at The Avery
Current prices include $1,895,000 for a 964 square foot one-bedroom, $2,875,000 for a two-bedroom, and $4,150,00 for a three-bedroom.
(Please feel free to contact me directly for further details.)

A Penthouse at The Avery
Of course, everyone wants to know about the penthouses.
Located from floors 53 to 56, each half-floor residence takes full advantage of the incredible views with an expansive corner great room (with stone fireplace), an elegant formal dining room, and a corner master bedroom suite with dual walk-in closets and stunning windowed master baths.

A Penthouse Bath at The Avery
And best of all -- the top two penthouses feature a private rooftop that can be turned into the terrace of your dreams, set against a backdrop of endless panoramic views!
Changes Coming to Union Square

A Preview of ONE65 Patisserie at 165 O'Farrell
Changes are also sweeping through the City's shopping mecca, Union Square, in anticipation of the
Central Subway's station opening there
less than a year from now.
One of the most exciting additions is the upcoming opening of a six-story building at
165 O'Farrell dedicated entirely to French cuisine, overseen by the widely regarded chef
Claude Le Tohic.

A Preview of ONE65 Bistro at 165 O'Farrell
Called
ONE65, it will house four different restaurants:
ONE65 Patisserie (a casual dining spot for breakfast and lunch on the second floor), ONE65 Bistro (a 65-to-70-seat restaurant on the third floor),
ONE65 Lounge & Bar on the fourth floor, and a fine dining restaurant on the fifth floor called
O’ by Claude Le Tohic.
With the addition of a
rooftop restaurant atop the former Macy's Men's store, and the long-awaited opening of
Freds Restaurant on the top level of Barney's New York, Union Square may become just important a destination for dining as it is for shopping!

A Preview of ONE5 Lounge at 165 O'Farrell
Speaking of important restaurants -- I was delighted to attend a recent dinner party hosted by
Chef Michael Mina and fashion stylist
Mary Gonsalves Kinney to preview the relaunch of the legendary
Michael Mina restaurant at 252 California Street.
The highlight was the incredible Middle Eastern-inspired tasting menu that pays homage to Mina's heritage. You must check it out!

At the Preview Dinner for Michael Mina's New Menu
Since I wrote about it in
Issue 57, more details are known about
Macy's renovations and plans after the sale of its beautiful
I. Magnin property -- the 240,000-square-foot building connected to its Union Square flagship.

A Preview of Macy's Union Square's Renovations
With the retailer's footprint dropping from about 665,000 square feet of selling space to a little more than 400,000, the store is being redesigned to welcome a more high-end shopper, with upgraded finishes, more windows, better lighting, and a special selection of small shops at mezzanine level for future luxury retailers. It will be interesting to see what new fashion brands will be coming to these spaces.
They've also added a new Wine Bar, and are currently doing construction for a new men's department on the 6th floor.

A Preview of 300 Grant Avenue
A few blocks away, at
300 Grant Avenue, construction has begun on the first new ground-up retail and office development in Union Square since the 1980s. With Grant now the most popular destination for ultra-luxe retailers in SF, it will undoubtedly draw some exciting brands.
Celebrity Homes, from JLo to Blade Runner

An Apartment at 432 Park Avenue
On the celebrity real-estate-go-round, pop diva
Jennifer Lopez and baseball superstar
Alex Rodriguez reportedly closed on a three-bedroom, four and a half bathroom apartment at New York’s newest A+ ultra-luxury development, 432 Park, for $15.3 million.

A San Remo Co-Op for $17.5 Million
Meanwhile, a Pre-War co-op in the architecturally iconic San Remo’s South Tower, formerly owned by Diane Keaton, is now on the market for $17.5 million.

The Western White House is Available for $63.5 Million
In California, the San Clemente beachfront estate known during
Richard Nixon’s presidency as “The Western White House” is now
on the market for $63.5 million.
With 5.45 acres of manicured land and 450 linear feet of pristine beach, the 15,000-square-foot estate an hour south of Los Angeles has had quite the history -- if those walls could talk!

Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House
In Los Angeles, legendary starchitect
Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Ennis House (named after the original owners, Charles and Mabel Ennis) has
just been listed for $23 million.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Ennis House
Located on a Los Feliz hilltop, the landmark property resembles a Mayan temple (having been built from roughly 27,000 concrete blocks.)

Ennis House, as Interpreted for "Blade Runner" (1982)
It also plays a big part in Hollywood history, having appeared in at least 25 movies and TV shows since 1933 -- most famously as Rick Deckard's apartment in Blade Runner (1982).

Ennis House, as Seen in "Day of the Locust" (1975)
It was even the setting for a Ricky Martin video...

Ennis House, as Seen in Ricky Martin's Video, "Vuelve" (1998)
While Wright looked to pre-Columbian Mayan temples for inspiration, fashion designer
Karl Lagerfeld's former home in Germany, which has just been put
on the market for approximately $11 million, was inspired by architecture of another ancient era -- Rome.

Karl Lagerfeld at Villa Jako in 1995
Named "Villa Jako," in honor of the designer's longtime partner, Jacques de Bascher (who died in 1989 before he could move into the home), it resembles a Roman villa -- complete with a grand facade and multiple columns.

Villa Jako
Located at Wilmans Park in the Blankenese suburb of Hamburg, the hillside property has beautiful, unobstructed views of the River Elbe -- which is why Lagerfeld, always the contrarian, sold it in 1998.
'“It’s impossible to live on the Elbe. You spend all your time looking out at the river. You ended up becoming lazy."

Villa Jako
A writer for the New York Times has described it as the most beautiful of the many homes Karl Lagerfeld has ever designed, and the current owner retained much of his decor from the '90s (including a bathroom refitted by French interior designer Andrée Putman.)

Villa Jako, for Approximately $11 Million
Celebrity Homes, from JLo to Bladerunner
The global super-luxury market has been going full steam ahead through the first half of 2018 -- leading to some unexpected opportunities!

Essex House (second from right) at 150 Central Park South
In one of the more unusual cases of real estate development,
an unused attic space atop New York’s legendary
Hampshire House -- an architectural icon of the post-Depression era, recognizable for its steep copper roof, twin chimneys, and glistening white brick on Central Park South --
is being transformed into a major 10,000 square foot triplex penthouse with terrace.

The Incredible Hampshire House Penthouse
The stunning design for the home is conceived by SPAN Architecture, and includes three full floors, 10- to 14-foot ceilings, and five private terraces with panoramic views of the New York City skyline, Hudson and East Rivers, and Central Park. Price? The Sky’s the limit!

Views from the Hampshire House Penthouse
And on the West Coast, the newly remodeled Wallingford Estate in Beverly Hills, originally modeled after Le Petit Trianon at Versailles, is now in an ultra-luxe modernistic re-incarnation that would make Marie Antoinette green with envy.

BEFORE
The Wallingford Estate in 2016
After its renovation by real estate mogul
Gala Asher it's certainly one of the more extraordinary "
before and afters" in real estate!

NOW
The Wallingford Estate today, after an extensive renovation
Sitting on a roughly five-acre promontory, the fully furnished estate -- listed by Coldwell Banker's Ginger Glass for $135 million -- features 46,000 square feet of living space (the master suite alone is 5,300 square feet), including a covered and heated patio, a cinema, wine room, and whisky lounge.

The Wallingford Estate is Offered for $135 Million
Additional amenities include a spa with a hair and nail salon, a sauna, massage room, a stylist area, a boxing ring, gym, two tennis courts, a sports lounge, indoor sports facility for basketball, pickleball and paddle tennis, and parking for 90 cars.
As if that's not enough, it also boasts the largest pool ever built in Beverly Hills!

The Wallingford Estate is Offered for $135 Million
Summer at Apple Park

The New Apple Headquarters in Cupertino
Summertime presents innumerable opportunities to explore the Bay Area's lush natural landscape over weekends in the Marin Headlands, the Napa wine valley, or any of our many beaches and parks.
But if you're an Apple employee, you needn't travel far -- the company's new "Spaceship" headquarters is literally at a park!

The New Apple Headquarters in Cupertino
As this drone video shows, the landscaping in and around the Apple Park campus designed by Foster + Partners -- set on 175 acres in Cupertino with a large artificial pond and a forest of 7,000 drought-resistant trees -- gives the company's headquarters a beautiful park-like atmosphere.

The New Apple Headquarters in Cupertino
The months of July and August are full of interesting cultural, philanthropic, entertainment, sporting, fashion and tech events -- highlights of which you can see in my event calendar below.
This month I'm especially delighted to be supporting the ODC/Dance, which helps innovative artists through commissioning, presenting, mentorship, and providing space access.
I look forward to seeing you soon, and wish you a wonderful summer season!
Joel Goodrich | Global Luxury Real Estate Advisor
Coldwell Banker Previews International
JULY EVENTS