In San Francisco, where development has been nearly non-existent for a year, developers are hanging hopes of an emerging warmer real estate climate as they begin the planning stages for several condo developments in the region.

In various projects combining for 600 condo units, The San Francisco Business Journal reports the Emerald Fund and Martin Builder Company have both announced upcoming developments. Though not as opulent as past developments (glass sealed, high-rise), these new condo projects will be of the garden-style to mid-rise variety.

The developers are surely preparing for the coming thaw in the market rather than taking advantage of a robust sales cycle. Inventory is up 24 percent over a year ago and sales are down 20 percent, according to online real estate watcher Socketsite.

"Instead, the flurry of entitlement activity is an effort to get projects lined up to take advantage of the next cycle, when it does arrive," according to the Journal Even local bloggers are excited about some of the projected development.

Jamie Whitaker of RinconHillsSF.org, writes he's looking forward "to the park space coming to Harrison/Fremont as part of the 333 Harrison project," adding that the park space is finally coming to fruition as a result of the work of community activists – and now being funded (hopefully) by Emerald Fund.

Published: March 30, 2009

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Mr. Carr is an award-winning real estate broker in Northern Virginia and authored "Real Estate Investing Made Simple: a commonsense approach to building wealth." He also contributed to Donald Trump’s book, "The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received," and is an active trainer and coach of top producers in the Washington DC market. As a sought-after expert on real estate, Mr. Carr has been featured on CNN, various broadcast outlets and was the former real estate editor for The Washington Times. He accepts questions at his blog www.RealEstateOlogy.org.