Fire-damaged Outer Richmond triplex asks $1.9 million

In April of 2017, an errant candle set off a fire at 451-453 23rd Avenue in the Outer Richmond that injured four people and spread to two neighboring buildings, putting 25 residents out of their homes in all and rendering the circa 1916 triplex at the center of the incident uninhabitable.

Now the home has popped back onto the market, with realtor Jennifer Jones declaring that “opportunity knocks” for investors and contractors interested in the site. The exterior of the place appears downright perfect from curbside—in fact, even a few weeks after the fire the facade was not so much as singed—but still extant photos of the dramatic April blaze from SFFD reveal the extent of the damage inside.

Jones says that the main house has been “taken down to studs” but does not reveal any images of the interior, which of course usually means there’s still a lot of work to be done to render the place fit for habitation again. October building permits reveal asbestos removal and “soft demoliton”—i.e. removing damaged bits—already completed.

Also affected by the fire were the inhabitants of the rear cottage on the property, also included in the price, which was apparently not damaged and which Jones says is actually permitted for an upgrade into a two-unit structure, and indeed the Department of Building Inspection does have paperwork granting rights to build another two bedrooms and bath at the rear of the parcel.

And the asking price to knock on this opportunity is $1.9 million. This property last traded hands for $870,000 in 2013, and that was of course back when it was a finished and unburnt set of homes to boot.

• 451-453 23rd Avenue [Vanguard Properties]
• 451 23rd, May 2017 [Google]
• Police Say Candle To Blame For Fire [SFist]
• 451-453 Building Permits [DBI]