Home owners angry that their exclusive San Francisco street bought by Asian couple

Google map view of Presidio Terrace.

THE IRONY is hard to miss: An Asian couple bought a street in a neighborhood that had racial covenants limiting the homes for whites only.Tina Lam and Michael Cheng bought one of the ritziest streets in high-priced San Francisco and the residents, some of the most powerfl and influential people in San Francisco are upset.

Lam and Cheng, Silicon Valley engineers and investors, bought one of the most exclusive streets in the city for $90,000. Presidio Terrace is an oval street with 40 multi-million dollar homes.

With San Francisco real estate one of the highest-priced in the nation, Lam and Cheng recognized a bargain when they saw one.

Apparently the $14 annual tax went unpaid for 30 years before, finally, the street was put up for auction to pay for the $994 in unpaid back-taxes, fines and interest.

Residents were completely unaware of the purchase until May, when the couple sent out a letter asking the residents if they were interested in buying their street back. They claimed that the reason the taxes hadn’t been paid was that the accountant’s address that the taxes were being sent to had not been used since the 1980s. 

The residents and homeowners association are now trying to fight the sale in court by suing the new owners.

“Ninety-nine percent of property owners in San Francisco know what they need to do, and they pay their taxes on time — and they keep their mailing address up to date,” Amanda Fried, spokesperson for Treasurer-Tax Collector Jose Cisneros’ office, said. “There is nothing that our office can do.”

The irony of the sale is that the Asian couple now owns a street that was specifically created to keep out “Orientals.” An ad for Presidio Terrace in 1906 reads “There is only one spot in San Francisco where only Caucasians are permitted to buy or lease real estate or where they may reside. That place is Presidio Terrace.”

Curbed SF compiled some interesting factoids about the neighborhood.

• The first of the master-planned communities built in the western part of San Francisco, it’s private and gated. 
• The gates are always open, but there’s a guard at the entrance to keep you out. 
• Presidio Terrace is bordered by Arguello Boulevard, Lake Street, Pacific Avenue, and (ironically) the Little Sisters of the Poor.  
• Building began here in 1905. Most of it survived the great quake. 
• It’s wealthy. Very wealthy. A four-floor mansion at 26 Presidio Terrace hit the market in 2016 for $14.5 million. And 30 Presidio Terrace, a neighbor in the gated community, last sold for $9.5 million. 
• Architecture in the community varies. Beaux-Arts, Mission Revival, and Tudor Revival can all be found here. Most notably, Julia Morgan designed an Italian Renaissance home here in 1909. 
• Up until 2006, Google Street View used to go inside Presidio Terrace. No more. Ever since 2007, most views from the street are no longer viewable. 
• Except this one. Oops. 
• Today it’s the home of notable residents. Current and former Presidio Terrace dwellers include former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband. 
• The plaque on the front gates reads: “Presidio Terrace....private street...authorized parking only.” 

The couple are OK if the residents don't want to rent  the parking spaces on the street. In parking scarce San Francisco, there are plenty of other city residents who would pay for those valuable parking spots.

That would basically open up the street to the commoners who live outside the enclave. There goes the neighborhood.

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