What to Know Before Relocating to SOMA San Francisco!

If you want the absolute best views of downtown San Francisco and the Bay and the luxury of living in some of the most modern, amenitized buildings in San Francisco, then the SoMa neighborhood is probably for you. In this video, I'm gonna do a deep dive on the SoMa neighborhood, including what it's like to live there and how much it costs. This is Austin Klar, your lawyer turned real estate agent and real estate developer in San Francisco. I've lived in multiple neighborhoods all across the city, giving me in-depth firsthand knowledge of what it's like to both live and work in San Francisco. If you're thinking about relocating or want more information about the market, definitely reach out to me. My contact information's in the description below. I will personally answer every single email call, every email, every text, and I would be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please consider subscribing to my channel, and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video. Alright, so this video is all about the SoMa neighborhood. That stands for South of Market. I lived there for several years before moving to where I live now in Pacific Heights, so I know the neighborhood very well. I lived in one of the more modern, amenitized buildings that, you know, had a pool, had a spa, had a gym, had a doorman. You know, personally, I would describe the neighborhood as more sterile and clean than a lot of other surrounding neighborhoods of downtown San Francisco. I use the word sterile not in a negative way. It's just that there are a ton of modern glass high-rises there. So all of the buildings, while each of them are architecturally different, have kind of the same tone to them. And the whole skyline of the area is just dominated by these high-rise buildings, both residential and commercial. So it is a very unique neighborhood compared to a lot of the other neighborhoods in San Francisco because of the general lack of single-family homes and the largest buildings in San Francisco are all in this area. SoMa is a really large area. It runs from the 101 freeway on the south side all the way to the bay on the east side, and then up to Market Street on the north. SoMa itself is comprised of a few different sections. SoMa is the part closest to the Mission on the west, which has, you know, most of the area's restaurants and nightlife. There is some in the other areas, but mostly the best ones, the most happening ones are going to be in the SoMa area. The part in the middle is called Yerba Buena, which has all of, you know, SoMa's museums, and there are shopping malls there. And then the South Beach side is right next to the bay on the east, and that's where the areas like high-rise condo buildings and very high-end hotels are. It's also where Oracle Park, where the Giants play, is, and a ton of, you know, commercial office buildings as well. All three of those neighborhoods are really under the SoMa umbrella, but each of those areas is unique from the other. Generally speaking, SoMa is a little bit warmer than other parts of San Francisco, and it tends to be sunny year as well. It's farther from the Pacific Ocean, so those fog fronts that come in from the Pacific don't always make their way to SoMa. They definitely do, but not as much as in other neighborhoods of San Francisco. The area was formerly zoned primarily for commercial, and you can see a lot of that, you know, still present in the lofts and apartments that have been converted from warehouses and office space. There are some Victorian homes in the area, but very, very few. It is predominantly large modern condo buildings and modern commercial high-rise buildings, and most of them have been built in the last like 20 years. The area has quickly become the hub for San Francisco's tech scene. LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, you know, all those big tech companies have their offices in the SoMa area. The area is mostly flat. When I lived there, I walked up 3rd Street, which turns into Kearney Street, to work. I did that every day, walked both to and from work. It took about 20 minutes to walk it. There was basically no incline. It is very, very easy to do. And a lot of people who live in SoMa and work downtown do the exact same thing. It's easy to ride your bike, easy to ride a scooter, very easy to walk. It is also very close to the freeway. It takes maybe 1 or 2 minutes if there's no traffic to get right onto the freeway. It's also very convenient for getting to the airport, or whether you're going to the South Bay or the East Bay, it is a very convenient place to live. So a lot of people who work, for example, in tech and work in Cupertino or Palo Alto or Mountain View, or Redwood City, they, you know, a lot of them live in SoMa because the commute is a lot easier. Over the years, there have become a ton of new things to do in SoMa. SoMa is home to a lot of San Francisco's cultural and art museums. The African Diaspora Museum is there, the Contemporary Jewish Museum is there, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is there. Moscone Center is in the area, which is the city's main convention center. Dreamforce, the auto show, and other major conventions are hosted at Moscone throughout the year. Food there, there's actually a lot of really high-end food in SoMa. There are multiple restaurants that have multiple Michelin stars. Benu has 3 stars, Saison has 2 stars. It used to be ranked the number 1 restaurant in the world. There are also like fancy steakhouses and burger places there. Since it's surrounded by all these office buildings, there's also a lot of, you know, very nice fast casual places and then a lot of food trucks in the area as well. Oracle Park is in the SoMa neighborhood, which is where the San Francisco Giants baseball team plays. There are a ton of bars and restaurants immediately around the area, you know, serving all of the patrons of the ballpark. 21st Amendment is one of my favorites. There's also a Lucky Strike bowling alley there, and then, you know, a lot of other local non-chain bars and restaurants as well. SoMa is also right next to some of the best shopping in San Francisco. It is walking distance to Union Square, and the Westfield Mall is actually technically in the SoMa neighborhood. The Westfield has, you know, big department stores like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's and a ton of different shops as well. Union Square obviously has some of the biggest name brands in the world— Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Gucci, all those very high-end brands. Also, it has a Neiman Marcus and a Saks and a Macy's. SoMa is also home to the Metreon, which is my favorite movie theater in the city. Every theater there is super nice. There's also a very large IMAX screen there, which is great for watching, you know, a lot of big premieres that come out. Salesforce Park is also in SoMa. It's a 5.5-acre park that's built 70 feet above the ground, suspended between some of the San Francisco high-rises and residential buildings there. You get to the park by going up a gondola from the bottom of Salesforce Tower, which is pretty cool. And then up there, there's an amphitheater. There are children's play areas. There are walking trails. There are fountains. They do seasonal events there, like music shows, concerts in the park. And it's nearby all the bars and restaurants in downtown. The area also has some of the city's nicest hotels. The Four Seasons, the W, the St. Regis, the Palace, those are all in SoMa. The St. Regis and the Four Seasons have private residences there as well. As I mentioned, there aren't really single-family homes in SoMa. It is mainly high-rise, condo buildings. The average price of a condo across all of SoMa in 2022 was about $1.3 million, which is almost what the average condo costs in all of San Francisco, about $1.4 million. But condos get extremely expensive in the more modern high-rise buildings, especially the ones that have a lot of amenities, things like a gym and conservatories or piano bars or doormen or valet service. When you start putting those things in the building, not only do the prices add up, but the HOA fees add up as well. You know, condos in those high-rise buildings, the higher-end ones can sell for over $10 million, and HOA fees in those buildings alone can be several thousand dollars a month. Average rent for a 2-bedroom in SoMa runs about $4,500, but it can go all the way up into the 5 figures, especially in the newer, more modern, highly amenitized buildings. If you're thinking about relocating and you are working downtown or need an easy commute to the East Bay or the South Bay, you should definitely consider living in SoMa. If you are thinking about relocating or want more information about the market, definitely reach out to me. My contact information is in the description below. I will personally answer every call, every email, every text, and I would be more than happy to help you. And if you like videos just like this, please consider subscribing to my channel and don't forget to click the bell so you're alerted every single time I post a video.