Here's what $355K gets you in SF, $70 million record-breaking sale, office-to-housing conversions, best place to watch a movie, and former Salesforce exec selling in Sonoma

Welcome to new subscribers! And thank you for those who upgraded to a paid subscription. It supports this work!

Catch up on why SF is one of the most expensive cities around for housing. Paid subscribers have full access to the archives. It’s only $5 a month!

Upgrade to Paid!

Comments or tips? Want me to cover something? Hit reply or email mustlikefog@substack.com

Follow us on Instagram: @mustlikefog

Want to sponsor Must Like Fog? Reply to this letter and let’s collaborate!

Well, hello there. This weekend we gird our loins for the music festival that takes over Golden Gate Park: Outside Lands is upon us (I’m hearing sound checks as I write this). The fest kicks off Friday afternoon and wraps up on Sunday. Although locals do our fair share of eye rolling and griping about road closures and lack of park access, organizers have done a solid job of encouraging concertgoers to leave their cars at home. Let’s just hope we don’t get a bunch of stalled Waymos like the ones that died while sitting in gridlocked traffic after the foggy fireworks over the Golden Gate Bridge on July 4th.

If you want to hide inside, a movie theater might be your best bet. It’s been a hot film summer! The 1-2 punch of “The Odyssey” driving crowds to the few IMAX 70mm theaters around the country, (SF has one!) along with “Spider-Man: A Brand New Day” breaking box office records to become the highest-grossing film of 2026 in mere days.

I asked my neighbors on Nextdoor where they like to catch a flick. Hands down, the Balboa Theater won out. It’s no wonder: the Outer Richmond mainstay has been around since 1926. The independent cinema has just two screens, and shows a mix of new releases and cult favorites. And if you live nearby, it might be a savvy idea to invest in one of their movie passes. I’m a mite jealous of the Balboa. The Alexandria, which had been within walking distance to me, shut down for good in 2004 and has since been awaiting new life as housing. Other cinephiles voted for Regal Stonestown Galleria (recliner seats!), and Four Star on Clement Street, which despite all odds, lives on as an independent theater by reinventing itself as a performance space/record store. (Plus on August 8 it will be showing the movie “Claudine.”)

Sold! You may recall that Must Like Fog listed the top five most expensive properties in the Bay Area. The massive 12-acre, Villa De Verano came in at the second most expensive listing, asking $78.8 million. And the Hillsborough, CA estate, which originally landed on the market in February for $88 million, then chopped the price by $9.2 million in May, has now sold for a still stratospheric $70 million, Sotheby’s International Realty confirmed. The price tag, although marked down from the original high-flying ask, comes in as Northern California’s highest residential transaction of the year. It also soared past the prior Hillsborough record of $35 million. The lucky new owner will enjoy “resort-style amenities,” including Bellagio-inspired fountains, plus a private amphitheater, sunken tennis court and “expansive” entertaining grounds. Jenn Gilson, the listing agent for Golden Gate Sotheby’s International Realty who represented the property, confirmed that “AI investment fever” is helping fuel the luxury home market.

Strike a pose: Vogue World is headed to San Francisco in 2027. Although “fashion” might not be the first word that comes to mind when describing our foggy metro, the city by the Bay is in some good company. Other cities that have hosted the fashion extravaganza include New York, London, Paris, and Hollywood. “San Francisco is a city like no other,” notes Anna Wintour, Conde Nast’s chief content officer and global editorial director of Vogue. “It’s a place of diverse communities living side by side, a place that loves the arts, loves creativity, and isn’t afraid of change.” Or a Patagonia puffer for that matter.

This week’s letter features one way to shack up. Plus, a look at office-to-housing conversions, and a former Salesforce exec’s Sonoma showstopper (say that one three times fast). Read on.

With median home costs in San Francisco soaring to a new high of $2.2 million in June, and mortgage surging to 6.6 percent, it’s no wonder buyers at the lower end of the “K” economy are feeling sticker shock.

But for those in search of bargain basement prices, how about a Bayview property going for $355,000?

Located at 1279 Gilman, and represented by David Young of Coldwell Banker Realty, it’s sure to sell fast, but not for the home itself. Instead, what we have here is a “land-value opportunity,” the listing notes. Further, this “rare opportunity” is offered “as is.”

And despite the boarded-up structure, the 2,495-square-foot parcel includes water and utility connections, offering a “compelling canvas for builders, developers, investors or end users looking to create a custom residence.”

The area itself has access to transit and neighborhood amenities. Interested buyers should of course do their own research into development potential, zoning, and building requirements with appropriate city agencies.

Prices in SF this low really don’t come around every day. That’s all.

Share

As readers of this space know, SF is in dire need of housing. And, with a state mandate to build over 82,000 units in the city by 2031, new options will flourish. How do we get to the magic number? One avenue is to convert vacant or underused office buildings (Thanks, Covid!) to residential use.

The mayor announced that one such building, the former Nordstrom Rack at 901 Market, will get the conversion treatment, with 136 apartments in the six-floor building. The ground floor will be set aside for retail space, and the historic facade will be preserved.

So-called “adaptive re-use” is a practical way to get housing off the ground faster with developers realizing cost savings on demolition, materials, and labor. According to a Rent Cafe report, 70,000 new units of housing were a result of office-to-housing conversions across the country in 2025, a record-breaking number. While New York City leads the way in these types of building conversions (with some admittedly hair-raising results), San Francisco will see more of these transformations as tax incentives, streamlined approvals, and other reforms make these projects more financially viable.

Of course, adaptive re-use is nothing new. Zooming out for a moment, plenty of warehouses, such as the former Lucky Strike Warehouse on the market in the Mission, along with abandoned factories, train stations, and schools, have been born anew, and not just as housing. London’s Tate Modern sits in a former power station. A former train station now houses the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, and an old elevated train line became the High Line in New York City. The SF waterfront has seen many innovative turns, from the art spaces and restaurants at Fort Mason, to the Exploratorium, to the new Art + Water project at the port.

In other words, potential for housing is all around us. Unsurprisingly, converting an office building into apartments comes with its own set of challenges. “Adaptive re-use is a powerful way to create housing,” notes Kyle Tourjé, Executive Vice President at Alpha Structural, Inc., an engineering and construction firm specializing in foundation repair, seismic retrofitting, hillside stabilization, and structural upgrades. “But developers cannot assume an eligible building is structurally ready for conversion.” His SoCal firm works with property owners to identify hidden structural issues of buildings being considered for re-use.

While empty office buildings are being leased at higher rates now, bringing down what was peak vacancy in 2024, we still sit at a 27 percent vacancy rate. So with thousands of units of housing needed in the next five years, and with downtown office buildings looking for a new lease on life, this seems like an obvious and much-needed solution.

Sponsor Must Like Fog! Get the word out about your business or service with an ad or sponsored post. Reply to this email to collaborate.

Former Salesforce CFO Graham Smith and his wife Elaine Smith, are ready to let go of their sumptuous Sonoma estate. They’re asking $12.9 million.

The 17-acre spread last changed hands in 2012 for $2.3 million, property records show.

The listing, which is held by Holly Bennett with Sotheby’s International Realty - Wine Country – Sonoma Brokerage, offers a 7,370 square-foot main residence, plus a pool, guest house, and even a bocce court.

Designed by Cahill Studio, the main house contains three bedrooms, office spaces, a media room with a 95-inch screen, and an elevator. In addition, the property offers a fitness center, game room, and a detached guest residence.

The outdoor features extend living spaces outside, with a covered outdoor living room, separate covered dining area, and outdoor kitchen. There are a pool and spa for hot days, and heated outdoor spaces for cool nights. Other perks include wide open landscaped grounds and fenced raised garden beds.

Other amenities include AI-enabled surveillance security, a backup generator, owned solar, and a wildfire suppression system.

Smith acted in various roles at Salesforce including CFO, from 2007 to 2015. He currently serves on the board of directors at Axon Enterprise, a public safety technology provider, according to his LinkedIn page.

Must Like Fog is a San Francisco-based newsletter that’s looking at must-see real estate, cool architecture, fun neighborhoods, and more. Come obsess with me, a long-time real estate reporter who wants to keep the party going with a Bay Area twist. If you’re into real estate, the Bay Area, and want to get the inside track on these topics and more, please subscribe.

Huge thanks to editor extraordinaire Erik Gunther.