450 Frederick Street, San Francisco

UPDATE SPRING 2006

After years of intense work, neighbors of 450 Frederick reached a settlement with owner Alexander Gutkin.

Although the 1897 Victorian is to be demolished, neighbors were able to effect an agreement on a new 36 ft design that would integrate better with the neighborhood than the controversial 40 ft stucco-facade building earlier proposed. Details of the Victorian interior are to be preserved including the original banister, ceilings, moldings, and doors.

The Planning Dept. is expected to approve the redesign and neighbors will continue to track the development to ensure the agreement is adhered to.

450 Frederick is a modest Cole Valley home, built in 1897, that has been stripped of most of its Victorian façade but retains almost all of its original interior architectural features. When a local developer bought the building in August 2003, he told the seller and neighbors that he wasn’t certain what he would do with the building, but he might live in it.

Four months later, the developer sent neighbors a letter saying he planned to "upgrade" the property by razing the building and replacing it with a four-story condominium. He maintains that the building is unsound, though he began renting the home to four people almost as soon as he purchased it, and they still are living there.

The drawing of the "upgrade" that he posted on the front of 450 Frederick shows a charmless, flat-surfaced stucco building that is totally out of character with the rest of the street, and with the entire Cole Valley/Haight Ashbury community.

450 Frederick was built by John Stierlen. Among his many other homes in the neighborhood are four that are almost identical to 450, all of them on the same square block. One, at 137 Beulah, has been carefully restored inside and out; two of the three on Shrader Street retain almost all their original Victorian façade features, and the third one’s interior has been beautifully renovated.

Architectural historian Bill Kostura says 450 Frederick is a potential contributor to a neighborhood that could qualify as an historic district because so many of its buildings have historic significance.

The neighbors opposing the demolition of 450 Frederick have gathered more than 300 signatures of support. San Francisco Architectural Heritage is serving as fiscal sponsor for the project, called "A House Worth Saving," and Victorian Alliance, Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council, The Little House Committee, and Friends of 1800 all are officially supporting the project.

The Planning Department found the demolition of 450 Frederick categorically exempt from environmental review. The neighborhood group appealed that exemption.

The full Board of Supervisors heard the appeal April 13. Speakers included neighbors opposed to the demolition as well as the developer and others in favor of the demolition. Three days earlier, however, the Planning Department had decided to rescind its categorical exemption.

At the hearing, environmental review officer Paul Maltzer told the supervisors that the Planning Department had received new information (Bill Kostura's report) regarding the possible historical significance of 450 Frederick and needed time to review it. The supervisors voted unanimously to accept the Planning Department's decison.

As of mid-March 2005, the Environmental Review office at City Planning still have not ruled on 450 Frederick's historic relevance or the need for an EIR. If staff decide the building has no historic merit, it probably will recommend that Planning Commissioners approve the demolition request, thought it may add conditions.

Planning will schedule a discretionary review. Neighbors are still committed to fighting the demolition and would appreciate any support from the public at the hearing.