South Beach

Getting back on track with the neighborhood series, South Beach is next on the list. South Beach is another one of San Francisco's newer neighborhoods; it is a section of San Francisco that had been at one time forgotten about. What was once undeveloped land, dilapidated warehouses, storage yards, and old piers is now a collection of luxury condominium buildings, local businesses, and parks. The area is bordered by the Embarcadero and the bay on the east side, the Bay Bridge on the north side, 2nd Street to the West, and King Street to the south. As you can imagine, some of these buildings offer the best views of the San Francisco Bay and the Bay Bridge.

This neighborhood is best known for AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. The ballpark has brought in many new businesses to the area including restaurants, bars, and retail stores. South Beach was the focus of one of San Francisco's redevelopment projects which began in 1981. The focus of the project was to transform this area into a new mixed-use waterfront development. That is exactly what stands there today.

Another wonderful feature of this neighborhood is the Ferry Building. It is filled with wonderful shops and restaurants, not to mention all of the local vendors who set up their stands on Saturdays for the farmer's market. You'd just better get there early; many things are sold out by the afternoon.

There are currently 57 residential properties for sale in South Beach; they are all condominiums. They range in price from a studio for $389,000 to a penthouse with incredible views listed at $2,400,000. The average sales price for poperties sold in the last six months is just under $850,000. What will the average price get you?

There is a new listing in a building called the Portside II. This is a "rarely available corner unit" which consists of 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, gorgeous views, a terrace, parking, storage, and earthquake insurance. It is listed for $849,000 and is just over 1100 square feet. Speaking of luxury living, this building also includes an outdoor heated swimming pool, an outdoor spa, and two gyms.

There are plenty of transportation options in South Beach. If you are commuting to the East Bay, bridge access is right at your doorstep. For an easy commute to the peninsula, there is the CalTrain Station at 4th and Townsend. The muni trains run up and down the Embarcadero, BART is close by at Embarcadero and Market, and buses run all throughout.