As we outlined back in 2018:

Purchased by Mark and Alison Pincus for $16 million in 2012, the nearly 12,000-square-foot Pacific Heights pad at 2950 Pacific Avenue, the rear facade of which is pictured above, returned to the market in 2014 with plans to add a bunker below the home and an $18 million price tag.

Withdrawn from the MLS and scrubbed from the listing agent’s site in early 2015, the property quietly sold to developer Troon Pacific for $16 million that November, at which point even bigger plans to gut and expand the Albert Farr-designed home were working their way through Planning.

Since then, Snøhetta (yes, that Snøhetta) has further refined their plans for the spec mansion. And in addition to two new basement levels – with a new media room, gallery, (art) storage rooms, a catering kitchen, courtyard, terraces and an all-new (secondary) entrance on Broadway – the latest set of plans now include an all-new interior design and flowing central staircase.

The redeveloped mansion would measure a little over 18,000 square feet, with an elevator running from its lowest level to the home’s remodeled fourth floor, above which the existing attic would be converted into a partial mezzanine level and open roof deck.

As we also noted at the time, a placeholder mailbox for a coveted “2895 Broadway” address, along San Francisco’s Billionaires Row, which the home currently only overlooks, has been hung with plans for its adoption.

With San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection having issued a building permit for the project and an exemption from a formal environmental review having just been secured, the speculative project has been cleared to proceed.  And yes, Troon Pacific was the team behind the redevelopment and sale of 950 Lombard.

26 thoughts on “Permits for a Designer Mega-Mansion Have Been Secured”
  1. Wow, this is a huge project to be done on spec. Maybe Troon has a couple of candidate buyers in their pocket?

    The “art storage” room is kind of funny. Why not just call it “storage” because surely that’s where the golf clubs, skiis, and Christmas decorations will be filed.

      1. Are you under the impression that there aren’t already plenty of houses up there that people paid 8 figures for?

      1. Was 950 that little? Huh; I though they’d only paid a couple mill for the property and still done well on the 27m sale.

  2. Ugh, I wish this were turned into 30 BMR apartments. Those billionaires need some diversity in their neighborhood.

    1. Ha. Though, I still mostly feel like it is what it is about this sort of thing. This stretch of Pacific Heights has always been a ritzy corridor of large mansions perched up on the crest. If a person wants to have an ostentatious home, and they are paying for it, they can have at it. It is not my taste, but then it is also not my home. San Francisco has always had these exclusive enclaves. Rather than worry about whether some billionaire remodeling the luxe interior of their home, which none of us will ever see, I prefer to focus on all the other development occurring in the city that actually impacts the ordinary resident.

  3. Dear preservationists,

    You might want to look away. This is about to be a Grade A example of destruction of historical architecture in favor of a modern, white box. I’ll be on here understanding your POV, but also defending it, because almost no one wants to live in a 1905 period piece. They want to live in 2021.

    1. This is horrible. They are devastating a beautiful old home, stripping it of character. Removing every last piece of individuality. The top floor, as it is today, is a fantastic example of the Dutch home. They apple store interior is garbage. I understand updating. I understand the need to a sub level, I actually support the lower level addition. But…

      1. I hear you. It’s a tough situation. Removing original architecture feels wrong. But money talks, and very few people in 2021 want to live in an original Dutch architecture home from 1905. Original victorian floor plans with period details sell for less, every time, as well.

    2. Stylistically it does not conform to the current West-coast luxury stereotype we see on shows like Million-Dollar Listing Los Angeles, but that does not render it (perhaps with some kitchen and HVAC upgrades) even remotely unlivable in its current form. However, if they insist on going this route I’m unclear why the city doesn’t just let them tear it down and build a totally modern house. It would be more honest that way.

  4. I wish rich people had to pay taxes in this country and that people like us didn’t have to foot the bill. And, another period interior sacrificed for some transplanted, culture-less, tech parasite. I had hoped that Covid would have chased them all away.

  5. And, who the hell would want to live in Pacific Heights? It’d be like living at the Recology facility, with all the mansions getting ripped apart every time they sell. It’s nothing but contractors’ trucks, debris boxes, and heavy equipment going all day.

    Don’t get me started on the obscene carbon footprint of this extravagant wastefulness.

    1. Uh, perhaps, the multi-millionaire and billionaires who have lived in this neighborhood since its inception still want to live there?

      I do not get all this angst over a big mansion. A private home that NO ONE except ultra wealthy people, their friends, and servants will ever go inside of in the first place–this is not a public building.

      This neighborhood has ALWAYS been an ultra-exclusive enclave for the wealthy. Big homes and expensive renovations have pretty much always been a part of life in that area. “Tech” or any of the other tired bogeyman that get thrown out every time anyone wants to complain about life in SF has nothing to do with it. Let’s worry about the many homeless people living in the city or perhaps the gun violence victims who get die in underserved neighborhoods in our city.

      Frankly, I don’t give a damn about what some rich person does with the interior of their mansion, except to say, “Oh, that is a big project!” and then move on. The only thing I do agree with you is that we should have tax reform in this country, but it would not impact mega-renovations such as these, as they occurred even during periods when the tax rate was much higher.

  6. There are many c1900 houses in PacHts and adjacent areas that are still entirely livable in 2021. They were built for the rich who always wanted entry halls, large rooms, libraries, hallways, doors, and comfort. All one needs in an upgrade to the kitchen and (some of) the bathrooms. Small bedrooms become dressing rooms. Often there are no “cans” in the ceilings so normal human-scale lamps and lighting can be used. The original hardwood floors can be refinished. The old elevators can be used or refitted more cheaply than the originals.

    The destruction of this house was not inevitable, if it had been bought by someone with taste for a traditional way of life. This had one of the most interesting arts & crafts interiors in SF.

  7. Now listed at $30mm with Snøhetta’s name misspelled in the listing (link in my name.) Are plans + permits worth a $14mm premium on the 2015 price?

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