2 Are Better Than 1

If you love the flat South End walkstreets, your options have been growing in recent months.

About 3 weeks ago, MBC noted the "utter lack of sales activity" in the area (see "Quiet Walkstreets"), and a growing number of listings. (In one of those great ironies, half a day after that story went up, a South End walkstreet listing went into escrow.) There are still some decent offerings, our favorite being 332 10th (at $4m).

Now there's a new kind of option. A new listing answers the question... What could be better than a new home mid-block on a flat walkstreet?

At 412 8th, the answer is: A new home on a double lot on a flat walkstreet. (Click highlighted address for more info via Redfin.)

Yes, this is rare indeed. How rare? Well, the URL "mbdoublelot.com" was available – and now it's taken by 412 8th. (See that site for a little more than the MLS listing provides.)

But grabbing 412 8th is going to take deep pockets. The new home will set you back $8.5 million. The home already designed for the lot provides 6br/8ba and 8000 sq. ft. of living space.

You can make some adjustments, because the new home doesn't actually exist yet. Buy now and tailor the home to your wishes. Maybe you want that front-yard pool featured here, or maybe a sports court instead. Maybe a little ampitheater. The developers encourage you to...

Imagine the luxury of a Manhattan Beach Hill Section sized home just steps to the ocean.

We're imagining it, and we're thinking: There goes the neighborhood.

Don't Hill Section homes belong in the Hill Section? Isn't that what it's for?

MBC supports freedom of development in principle, but a double-lot manse on this sweet, quiet block might ruin the vibe. It depends. Here's hoping the ultimate buyer makes sure the project is sufficiently humble, scaled and, of course, open to the walkstreet lifestyle.

Right now at the future site of 412 8th there are two separate, older buildings (pictured). The legal addresses for these are 413 and 417 7th Place (the alley behind the walkstreet).

Both lots appear to have been purchased simultaneously in February 2006 by a development concern. On one we see a sale price of $2.075m through the County Assessor's website, but PropertyShark.com shows sale documents that expressly bleep out sale price info (transfer tax is "not a public record") and we're truly not certain what the developers paid for both – or how they pulled off this little coup.

We're guessing the dirt under these 2 (current) lots is now worth almost $4m.

For reference, look no further than the end of this same block, where 316 8th, an unusually wide (45-foot) lot sized at 4000 sq. ft. (standard is 2700) sits on a corner at Crest, an alley/street. This listing hung around less than 2 weeks at $2.775m and is now, we hear, in escrow. (Not posted as such as of this writing.)

So take that $4m for the lots, add an 8,000 square foot home, plus an extra mil or so for the novelty and prestige factors, and you get $8.5m, right?