The Burlingame Voice

Hot Houses in B'game

One of our local realtors does a monthly recap of sales in B'game, San Mateo and Hillsborough.  The June 2012 synopsis is illustrative of the heat in the market right now.  35 sales in B'game which is approximately our usual total inventory.  28 of them were above $1 million which is interesting because San Mateo had 25 above $1 million--and it is about four times our size.  At least one of them was a renovation success story as opposed to a tear-down tear jerker.

Average sales price was $1.336 million.  There were two homes on the market for more than 200 days and yet the average for the 35 that sold was only 30 days on the market.  Average price has crept over the listing prices at 101%.  I meet quite a few people who have their retirement savings locked up in their B'game homes, so this is reassuring to them.

Selling the Post Office - Mixed Signals

Tonight four representatives of the U.S. Postal Service held the mandatory meeting, per the Code of Federal Regulations, but it was way more interesting than that sounds.  The Postal Services' business peaked in 2006 and has "fallen off a cliff since then" resulting in the main, downtown Post Office at 220 Park being viewed as a golden egg that is ready for sale.  The building is three times larger than the PO thinks it needs downtown and we are on the short list of "high value" real estate holdings to be liquidated along with Menlo Park, Palo Alto, La Jolla, Venice, etc.  But during the meeting the four reps, lead by Diana Alvarado from Facilities, were adamant that our building was historic!

Here are four direct quotes from them at the meeting:

"we recognize that it's a historic building"

"it cannot be destroyed"

"we will treat it as historic"

"we're not looking to have it torn down"

But there were mixed signals.  Another quote was "nothing is carved in stone" and "a suitable buyer is one who has the money".  So the essence of the exercise is to have the USPS Historical Consultant examine the property and make recommendations to the State Historic Preservation Officer who may then recommend that covenants be added to the title on the property to preserve some or all of it post-sale.  Of course, that could screw up some plans to screw up downtown.

So we are six to nine months from any kind of formal action, but the realtors and potential buyers were there listening and checking their wallets.  The USPS has a nationwide contract with CBRE for this kind of deal and a Foster City broker named Hernan Santos was pointed out in the crowd as the contact for buyers.  Here he is talking with Ms. Alvarado of the USPS after the meeting.

Some Good News about Trains

The Daily Journal is highlighting the restoration of Engine #2472 and the train museum in Millbrae

Vern Bruce, owner of Millbrae Locks and a railroad enthusiast was able to acquire the S.P.’s Millbrae Train Depot after it was declared surplus and no longer needed as a depot. With the aid of the Millbrae History Association, he opened it as a local train museum. Call Vern at (650) 333-1136 for further information.

This is a nice complement to the Burlingame-Hillsborough Historical Society museum in the Burlingame Avenue train depot.  It's funny how the stations have evolved on the Peninula!

Curves - What Happened?

Does anyone know what happened to Curves?  It looks a bit like a fire happened and the sign on the front is a construction company, not a realtor's sign.

 
I hope the building is still sound.

Santa, Will You Bring Me PAC-B'game?

One of the changes that comes with the Mercury News' affiliation with the SM County Times appears to be a bit more editorial support for historic preservation as seen in today's editorial.  Here's hoping the Mercury Times editors and reporters take a bit of the News' point of view in the new year.  They write:

So this year, following our annual holiday tradition of declaring the best civic gift of the past 12 months, we'd like to note two major anniversaries celebrated in 2010 by organizations that have been invaluable to us all over time, although in different ways.

One is PAC-SJ, the Preservation Action Council of San Jose, which 20 years ago began fighting to preserve historic buildings and neighborhoods at a time when architectural transience was in danger of becoming the norm in San Jose.

I like that term "architectural transience" because it has a certain foreboding sound that matches reality.  They go on to note:

But PAC's mission is not just about architecture. Old buildings give us a sense of history and of place. They remind us who we are, where we came from and how our best work can outlive us. A sense of history makes us better at navigating the present and building a future; PAC's work helps us understand that.

Here's the PAC-SJ website and a description of its 20th anniversary celebration.  Clearly B'game is a few years behind San Jose, but perhaps we are catching up as people wake up to the sterile reality of a tear-down, throw-away, McMansion world?

Carolands Carriage House Complete

Hillsborough has completed the renovation and modification of the Carolands Estate carriage house.  We last checked up on it in November, so here is the final view.  Well done!

Good Progress (in Hillsborough)

In just four short months, Hillsborough has rebuilt the Carolands carriage house and added a police sub-station.  It's not done yet, but this appears to be good progress.  Cute light pole, too (not shown).

Carolands Gatehouse

Sometimes buildings cannot be renovated.  In preservation lingo there is a phrase "demolition by neglect" that is self-explanatory.  There are also times when new requirements are incompatible with the old structure like when the California Dr. firehouse's doors were too small for newer trucks.  Burlingame has worked hard to maintain the look-and-feel with new buildings like the firehouse and the library while meeting new needs.

It appears Hillsborough will do the same with the quaint gatehouse that heralded the entry to the Carolands estate.  Some insight from those in the know states that as part of the rebuilding:

The Town was able to save quite a bit of the slate roof, the escutcheon over the door, and the decorative finial on the roof. They will attempt to re-use what they can, provided it's economically feasible to do so. The finished lodge will look almost exactly like the original. (The door has to be made wider to be ADA-compliant, for example.)
 
Re-building will start in about a month with a goal to having a watertight, if unfinished, building by mid-October.  Landscaping and finishing touches should be done by spring.
 
The donations for the re-building were 100% privately funded. We got roughly 150 pledges to donate, and over 99% came through with the funds when it was time to do so.
 
The Hillsborough Police Department will use grants to furnish the interior with communications equipment for their new sub-station.

It will be a ground-up rebuild as you can see here:

 
And here is a picture of it before it was demolished.  Let's see how close the new one comes to it.

What a Pretty Station

The B'game train station may be threatened by High-Speed Rail, but at least it won't be threatened by peeling paint and leaking windows anymore.  In a San Mateo Daily Journal article that quotes our very own Historical Society prez, the paper reports

These current renovations, totaling $127,000, include painting the building and replacing seven windows, said Caltrain spokeswoman Christine Dunn.

The train station and its surroundings have undergone quite a few changes in recent years, with the $20.5 million one-year revamp of its platforms and crossings finished last summer and the transformation from vacant station to history museum. The station is quite easily the most recognizable building in the city and is considered to be a quick-to-find landmark for those heading downtown.

As the home to the still-new Historical museum, more than 1,000 people have visited the station in the last few months.  I liked what the Amtrak conductor had to say as well

Bruce Shelton, an Amtrak conductor assigned to Caltrain passes through the city anywhere from two to four times a day. For him, the station is not just a city landmark but a state one too.

“Just like the Golden Gate Bridge represents San Francisco, Burlingame station represents Burlingame,” said Shelton. “The station looks great, I am sure the work is needed and am delighted that the interior will continue to be used as a museum.”

Here's a view before the latest coat of paint was completed

The Last Race - Bay Meadows

I went to see the horse races Friday afternoon at Bay Meadows as a prelude to going to the county fair that evening. It seemed like the nostalgic thing to do. A sense of finality was in the air as a mostly older crowd watched the races and enjoyed the nice weather. There were a few kids in tow, including my two teenagers, as we parents tried to infuse a little history into the texting and Facebook-obsessed generation it seemed to work as the raw speed and beauty of the beasts made an impression on them--as it did me. Friday was so fun that I went back again today the last day. It was an entirely different feeling. The parking lot was full at 1:30; 15 minutes before the first post time. Once inside, it felt like the county fairs of my youth in Massachusetts with thousands of people basking in the sun and perusing their racing programs. The weather was far better than anything I recall from Great Barrington, Mass. in the 60s. And when does a mile and 1/16th ever go by that fast? The overriding thought was what if the track owners had taken a different approach to marketing?? A bit of paint, smarter placement of the PA speakers and video screens, a cool slogan, a corporate sponsorship and it might all have turned out differently. I never bowled at the lanes on Howard Ave. in Burlingame. I saw a half dozen movies at the Drive-in theatre on Airport Blvd., saw some great bands at Route 66 and thoroughly enjoyed dinner at the Sherman two weeks ago, but I'm sure another mid-sized sea of condos in San Mateo just won't make much of a difference to me except when I have to commute through what is already the worst section of 101.

- Written by Joe