INSIDE SF's #1 HIDDEN GEM Park EVERYONE Wants to Live Near (The Presidio)

This is hands down the single best amenity in all of San Francisco. The longest continuously operated military installation in the United States turned 1,500-acre national park, an epicenter for food, beaches, museums, sports, weddings, and so much more. A destination for millions of people every single year, and most people who visit it barely scratch the surface of all the things there are to do here. This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent in San Francisco and Marin County, and today I'm giving you a tour of my favorite place in all of San Francisco, San Francisco, the world-famous Presidio. It's so much more than just a park and a place that I visit every single week. It is incredibly rich in history, and so many facets of it are bolstering San Francisco's economy as the city comes back. I'm excited to show it to you in this video— the food, all the incredible things to do, some of the awesome commercial spaces— and I'll be talking about some of the new developments coming as soon as next year. So let's get right to it with an overview of where it is in San Francisco and its incredible history, how it turned from a military installation into the Presidio that we know and love today. The Presidio Sits on some of the most valuable land in the entire country, combining temperate weather with iconic views of the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the city skyline. The nearly 1,500-acre space is on the northern tip of San Francisco, positioned between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, just at the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. And it borders some of the most expensive neighborhoods in all of San Francisco, each of which have direct access to the Presidio, Seacliff, Lake Street, The Marina, Cow Hollow, Presidio Heights, and Pacific Heights. Of course, not just available to residents who live in those neighborhoods, it's available to anyone who lives in San Francisco or who visits the city. And even though the Presidio is very much within the boundaries of San Francisco, it actually operates completely independently from both the city and the state of California. It is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government. And its history is fascinating and explains how that came to be. The Presidio was actually first built as a Spanish fort in 1776, and when Mexico gained independence from Spain in 1821, it went under Mexican control. It was eventually seized by the United States during the Mexican-American War in 1846, and since that time, it's been operated as military headquarters for numerous different units and served as officers' quarters. California formally ceded control of the Presidio to the federal government in the late 1800s, and since that time, it's been involved in many significant engagements in the Pacific. For example, the Spanish-American War, World War II, the First Gulf War, and it It even operated as a medical care center in the 1900s for the military. In 1994, after military needs waned, the Presidio was transferred to the National Park Service and the Presidio Trust, which was created by Congress in 1996. And since then, it's been transformed over time into the Presidio that we know and love today. So the trust now manages the park with the National Park Service and has transformed the military site into one of the most self-sustaining, amenity-rich spaces, housing communities, and commercial real estate hubs that we have in the country. It's a nationally registered historic landmark and an absolute treasure of the city of San Francisco. And I'm going to show you all of that in this video. But before I do, would really appreciate it if you did me a huge favor. If you like videos about the city, its parks, neighborhoods, current events, new developments, or all things San Francisco real estate, please subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. And if you're thinking about buying a place in the city or have questions about what's going on in our local market, given all the changes that we've been seeing since the pandemic, reach out to me. I was a lawyer at one of the biggest law firms in the world before getting into real estate. Real estate, and I've helped numerous people relocate both from within the city and from all over the country. I'd be happy to be a resource for you. I'll put my contact info in the description below. Reach out anytime. Now for the really fun stuff, all the incredible things to do in the Presidio and how it's become a model of economic sustainability. From preserved fortresses and historic military buildings to a museum for one of the most famous film companies in the entire world to some of the most beautiful green spaces you can find in the country, I'm going to show you all of that right now. And we're going to start with the newest addition to the Presidio, the Presidio Tunnel Tops and Outpost Meadow. The Presidio Tunnel Tops is a 14-acre park on top of the tunneled portions near the highway leading to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was designed by Field Operations, which is the landscape architect behind New York City's High Line. The space is one of the most visited parks in the city with over 5 million visitors since it opened just a few years ago. There's a beautiful visitor center at the entry of the park with a 3D model of the park and a lot of different informational material about all the incredible things you can do in the park and its rich history. And just past the visitor center, you'll find beautiful landscaping and pathways that take you to the Tunnel Tops Park itself to the Outpost, which is a great children's playground there overlooking the San Francisco Bay. There's a cafe called El Parco serving like pizza, sandwiches, and coffee, also with beautiful views. People love this park. It's been so popular since it opened that shortly after it opened, the Presidio Trust announced an expansion of the park, a 1.5-acre expansion called Outpost Meadow. Outpost Meadow took over a parking lot for a nearby sporting goods store, added more green space, picnic tables, barbecue grills, bike parking, and space for food trucks connecting to the Tunnel Tops Park and the surrounding nature preserve. These two spaces are incredible. They are perfect for kids, perfect for pets, or if you just want to walk around in a beautiful space. And there are obviously many other open green spaces throughout the nearly 1,500-acre park. I think one of the most slept-on spaces is Battery Bluff Park. This spot on the Presidio Promenade is kind of like a little sister park to the Tunnel Tops, but not as many people know about it. This park is the perfect example of how the Presidio blends its militaristic history with modern landscaping, and amenity spaces. There are 4 massive restored historic gun batteries that were used to defend the city during the military days of the Presidio. There's brand new open green space, brand new picnic tables, brand new walking and biking paths, and brand new landscaping with incredible views from them. And you see examples of that blending of old and new with buildings throughout the entire Presidio. The Presidio Officers Club is another perfect example. Foundations for this building date back to when the Presidio was first established in 1776, and what used to be gathering space for army officers is now used as an events venue. Like, you can have weddings here, for example. There's a Mexican restaurant there called Colibri. They host exhibitions there in their Heritage Gallery showcasing the Presidio's history. And I love the architecture of this building. I'm from Southern California, so I have a special place in my heart for Spanish-style architecture. This is a great example of it, and it's nice that all over the Presidio you have so many examples of beautifully preserved Spanish-style architecture. Another must-visit place in the Presidio is the Walt Disney Family Museum. It's a 40,000-square-foot ode to Walt Disney's life and the company he created, and there's a 12-foot 3D model of Disneyland, which is pretty cool to see. There are examples of early hand drawings, early animations and movies, there are music listening stations, there's a theater, all housed in an 1897 building that used to house soldiers back in the day, like so many other buildings in the Presidio. The historic facade remains, but the interiors were stripped down to be turned into the museum space that we know So if you like Disney or you just like film history or you're looking for something unique to do in an afternoon, check that place out. It's pretty close to the Tunnel Tops and it aligns a giant open green space called the Main Parade Lawn where food truck gatherings and festivals happen. There are also multiple restaurants nearby. Another really cool historic site is Fort Point, which is a giant masonry fort at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. You might recognize this site from Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. There's a really famous scene that was filmed right here at Fort Point. Gets really windy there, and if you go there, you can expect waves to crash over the edge and get you a little bit wet, but really great views from there. It's a very unique site. Another fun thing to do in the Presidio, the golf course. One of the most beautiful courses I've ever played. 18 holes, first built in 1910, surrounded by an incredible forest setting. It actually used to be a private course for military officers and club members, but now it's open to the public. There's a driving range, there's a practice facility, there's a full-service restaurant and pro shop. You would never know you're in the middle of a major metropolitan area playing at the Presidio Golf Course. And there are other recreational activities like sports-related activities to do throughout the Presidio. There's a bowling alley, Presidio Bowl. There are tennis courts, pickleball courts, baseball fields, soccer fields. There are 34 miles of roads and 53 miles of sidewalks and trails. There are also a lot of beaches throughout the Presidio. They're not exactly the best for swimming because it can get pretty windy and can be pretty cold in the Presidio because of the Presidio's proximity to both Pacific Ocean and the bay itself. But there are days where the weather is absolutely perfect and you you can definitely go for a swim, and even on days when it's not, great places to walk around and take in the incredible views. You've got Crissy Field, which is on the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge, right across from the Tunnel Tops Park. You've got Baker Beach, which is about a mile stretch of beach below the western side of the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge, right below Seacliff, which is a neighborhood built on the edge of cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. You also have Marshall's Beach, just northeast of Baker Beach. The views from all of these are pretty hard to beat, not just in SF, but frankly anywhere in the country. The rock formations, the bridge views, the— in headlands, the ocean. You go to these places and it's just crazy that these things are in your backyard if you live in San Francisco. Bottom line, there are so many things to do in the Presidio, so many different types of nature-related activities, so many different park spaces, so many different recreational activities. You could visit the Presidio for multiple days and still be left with things to do. And it's not just a destination for recreation and nature. It has an incredible and growing food scene. One of the most popular restaurants in San Francisco, Dolita is in the Presidio. Mediterranean food with an awesome bar area and a patio overlooking the main parade lawn, really close to the Walt Disney Museum. So you could easily couple lunch or dinner at Dolita with a trip to the Disney Museum. And fun fact, the chefs behind the restaurant, it's a couple. They actually live in the Presidio. There is actually housing all throughout the Presidio, around 1,400 units that are available to rent basically from the federal government. So this could actually be your literal backyard. Which is pretty cool. Pecchino, another new restaurant opened there in 2025. It's an Italian restaurant that first opened in the Dogpatch, and it's so popular that the owners decided to open a second spot, and it's right here in the Presidio. Great Italian food, and the setting is idyllic. Outdoor seating is incredible. Beyond Restaurants Off the Grid, which is like a mobile food experience company, has hosted numerous food truck festivals in the Presidio. You'll also routinely find just one-off food trucks, coffee trucks, donut trucks, poke trucks, taco trucks, beer trucks. You can find a ton of different vendors parked throughout the Presidio near the main parade, near the Tunnel Tops, pretty much every single day of the week. There's also a brand new food hall opening at the Presidio right near the Tunnel Tops called the Mess Hall. It was originally supposed to open in 2025, but it's been pushed to 2026. There's going to be multiple food concepts there, a full-service bar, retail market. James Beard Award-winning chef Peter Serpico is handling the culinary development at the site in partnership with Zach Negan, who owns multiple popular bars throughout California. Really excited to see this open. I will be trying everything there, and I'll definitely be giving you a tour of the space when it opens, so make sure to subscribe to my channel if you're interested in that. Beyond food and activities, you can actually vacation in the Presidio. There are two hotels that have been transformed from historic military buildings into temporary lodging, into hotels. The Lodge at the Presidio is in the former Montgomery Street Barracks, originally built in the late 1800s. It used to house artillery companies, cavalry troop, infantry companies, and was used as a hospital ward during wartime, as well as housing for students in officer training programs. Today it houses 42 rooms, and there are incredible views of the Golden Gate Bridge from the rooms at the hotel. The other hotel is the Inn at the Presidio. It's a 22-room hotel built in 1903 that includes 17 suites with fireplaces, plus the 4-room Funston House, which was used as officers' quarters back in the day for unmarried officers. Married officers used to actually stay nearby in a row of Victorian cottages called Officers' Row. It's actually the longest standing, like the oldest intact street in all of San Francisco. The inn is in a bit more of a natural setting than the Lodge. It's kind of near a more forested area, a little bit more off the beaten path, whereas the Lodge is right off the main parade, which is like a very manicured open green space. I've seen corporate retreats and like conferences here. It's great for that corporate stuff, but it's also great for just a recreational vacation or a staycation. You've got so much to do immediately outside your rooms at either of these hotels. Like it's just a really convenient place to be. And Conde Nast Traveler actually ranked both of these hotels as top 10 hotels in the city in 2024. Before. So if you're gonna move to San Francisco, want to feel it out a little bit, and need a place to stay while you're here, both of those places are great options to consider. And people don't just hang out at the Presidio recreationally. Believe it or not, it has one of the most robust commercial real estate scenes in the entire city. There are over 200 companies that lease space within the Presidio, from like small startups to major corporate headquarters for film companies like Lucasfilm and private equity firms to schools to retail and some of the restaurants that I talked about. And what's crazy is that the Presidio's commercial spaces vastly outperform commercial spaces in the rest of San Francisco. At a time when office vacancies were near all-time highs in San Francisco in 2023, the Presidio had 97% commercial occupancy, and the current occupancy rate is about 96%. And commercial leasing in fiscal year 2024 generated about $50 million. Even housing, which I mentioned earlier as being available in the Presidio for rent, has extremely high occupancy rates, also 96%, and rental revenue across those 1,400 units was about $67 million in fiscal year 2024. The golf course and the hotels generate about $23 million in the last year for the Presidio. And what's really cool is that the Presidio actually sustains itself economically from the revenues generated from all its commercial activities. Properties and tourism. So basically 100% of the revenue that it generates actually gets reinvested back into the park. So all the renovations that we see of old spaces, turning them into like ready-to-lease new offices or new restaurant spaces, whatever it may be, that's all funded by revenues from the Presidio's operation. For example, the main post buildings are undergoing rehabilitation right now. Building 2 on Funston Avenue is opening in 2026 as an expansion for a school. Building 40 is becoming like small private offices. They're just constantly updating new buildings and turning them into money-making machines for the park. And when you combine that with the revenue generated from the 9.5 million+ people who visit the park every single year, you have a pretty efficient, incredible economic operation. And hopefully that means the park will remain open and available to the public with these beautiful spaces for many, many decades to come. Well, there you have it. That's probably more than you ever needed to know or even thought there was to know about what I think is San Francisco's single best amenity, the Presidio. It's such a special place. And when you think about all the great things it has to offer, it's not really surprising that the areas immediately surrounding it are some of the most expensive neighborhoods to live in in the entire city. If you're thinking about buying a place in any of those neighborhoods or any other neighborhoods in the city, and you have questions about what's going on in the local markets there, reach out to me. I was a lawyer at one of the biggest law firms in the world before getting into real estate, and I've helped numerous people relocate from within the city and from all over the country. Happy to be a resource for you. I'll put my contact info in the description below. Reach out anytime. And if you like videos about San Francisco, the best parks, neighborhoods, amenities, current events, new developments, or all things San Francisco real estate, make sure to subscribe to my channel because I make videos about that stuff every single week. If you want to learn more about some of my favorite parks, new parks and old, like classic San Francisco parks, I've got a couple videos on those. I'll link them in the description below. Go check them out. I hope you enjoyed the video and I'll see you in the next one.