What looked like the ultimateSan Franciscoscore is turning into a bureaucratic nightmare.
Katelin Holloway and Ben Ramirez thought they had found their forever home when they purchased a spacious North Beach property for $4.75 million in 2021 — a four-story residence with five bedrooms,sweeping skyline viewsand room for their growing family.
Instead, the couple is now facing the possibility that the house must be carved back into four separate apartments after city officials determined the building was improperly converted from a multi-unit property years before they bought it, according to theSan Francisco Chronicle.
The home at524-526 Vallejo St.checked nearly every box for the longtime North Beach residents.
The roughly 3,700-square-foot property featured an open kitchen flowing into a sunlit living area, a rooftop deck overlooking Chinatown and the Financial District — and enough bedrooms for their two sons, visiting relatives and home offices.
Single-family houses are exceedingly rare in the historic neighborhood, making the purchase feel like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
But the dream unraveled after city inspectors arrived following an anonymous complaint. As Holloway recalled, the mood changed after planning officials toured the four-floor property.
“They looked at us and were like, ‘You guys are screwed,’” Holloway told The Chronicle in an interview.
According to city officials and tenant advocates, the building had previously been altered from a four-unit apartment complex into a single-family residence without proper permits. That means the structure is still officially classified as a multi-unit property in municipal records — and may have to be restored to that configuration.
Tenant activists argue the issue is bigger than one household. In a city facing a severe housing shortage, they say losing residential units is unacceptable.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
