Mission Terrace | Excelsior | Portola

District 10 

Mission Terrace, Excelsior, Silver Terrace, Crocker Amazon, Portola, Outer Mission, Bayview, Hunters Point, Visitacion Valley

This area is hot! Literally (as it’s the warmest part of the City as it’s furthest from the ocean) and figuratively (prices have gone up a great deal). The price increases elsewhere have forced folks who want more value look in these areas.

Portola (portal-luh, not poor-toll-la). These homes are clustered around a senior home near the reservoirs that is known as University Mound. This is apt as the houses on streets named after colleges (e.g., Harvard and Cambridge) are potentially cute and charming and quiet. You’ll find folks who have lived here all their lives, multiple generations of residents in the archetypal Sunset-style homes that abut McLaren Park which itself has just been renovated. The area is quiet and sleepy but just like other overlooked parts of the City is now getting attention from folks who’ve been priced out of other neighborhoods.

Mission Terrace. You will find surprisingly large homes that have been remodeled on quiet streets with manicured lawns here with the Spanish-Mediterranean theme. There is opportunity here though as more fixers are coming to market but everyone else seems to have discovered the area too. There are lots of little enclaves or clusters of very cute houses (say, 3 or 4 of them) that are well-taken care of and manicured. The homes have character although remodeled ones can vary in quality, finish level and taste. Younger families and same-sex couples have moved here (like they have to Glen Park, Sunnyside and Bernal) because of the opportunity to get more value in a neighborhood that has access to 101, 280 and BART.

Silver Terrace/Excelsior. The homes here look a lot like the homes everywhere else in the City — a lot of marina-style 2- to 3-bed homes with garages mixed in with the occasional Victorian house. The thing different is that you’re likely to see more window bars and front metal gates. You’ll see streets named after world cities and countries (Persia is one of the true tree-lined boulevards in the City) and you’ll see more people parking their cars on the sidewalk, more houses in need of repair and encounter single-family homes that have been carved up into unwarranted rental units. That said, you’re seeing more and more redone homes in the area with finishes and prices that are surprising as developers/flippers are banking on the area being gentrified much like the Mission, Bernal and Sunnyside. The areas off of Carol have some truly winding streets and the sunset-style houses are jammed up against each other. Views are of the Bay, piers and 280 and 101. Time will tell how this area will fare as this last bastion of industrial activity in the City gets bought up.

Bayview. Gaining more than 50 percent value over the past few years, the area is the sunniest in the City and looks like every other part in terms of the mix of marina-style houses, Victorians, 2-unit buildings and everything in between. The area was notoriously rough in the past especially at 3rd Street and Palou. But with the 3rd MUNI extension and the rising prices elsewhere (plus the development of the shipyard) the area has become popular for gentrifiers and developers alike. There are big, large and newer condo developments at 5800 and 5900 3rd Street and the big, big, multibillion developments at the Shipyard at Hunter’s Point as well as the redevelopment at Candlestick. The clearest sign that the area is getting hot is the presence of a Blue Bottle Coffee within garden store favorite Flora Grub at 3rd and Jerrold.