Under $700K Club: Shipyard mini-flip asks $575,000

It’s been too long since we inducted a new member into the Under $700K Club, that hallowed fraternity of San Francisco homes that dare to list for less, even in a time of sky-high everything. The reason for that being that it’s getting harder and harder to find new candidates for membership, as $700,000 just isn’t what it used to be, even as recently as six months ago.

(This of course is the same reason we eventually had to retire the old Under $500K club...)

But don’t despair quite yet, because there are still a few six-figure deals that don’t quite reach seven. In fact, here’s one in the Shipyard, the first of many new developments that promises to remake the city’s southeast side, and a project literally decades in the making. Number 403 at 451 Donahue Street sold once before, almost exactly a year ago, for just $509,000. Now it’s back at $575,000, making it a rare two-time candidate for the Under $700K club.

At one bed, one bath, and under 740 feet it’s not a huge place, but smaller redoubts sell for much more elsewhere in the city, and we tend to like the simple, Spartan designs of these homes, even if they do suggest efficiency a bit more than elegance. The Bayview's bay views certainly don’t hurt either.

Of course, we do have to bring up one extra consideration: The ongoing EPA investigation into the Hunters Point shipyard cleanup, and allegations that not much of the formerly radioactive site was actually cleaned up. Spokespersons for developer Lennar have pointed out to us in the past that the Shipyard is not actually located on any of the land presently within the perimeter of that investigation—it can’t be, since the EPA is focusing on undeveloped parcels.

The two locales are not particularly far away from each other, though, so it’s presumably something to bring up at the open house. We surely do hope that one of the few halfway decent and halfway affordable housing hot spots in the city turns out not to be, well, a hot spot. We’re not sure we could take it.

• 451 Donahue Street [Redfin]
• Radiation Cover-Up Alleged at Shipyard [Curbed SF]