Amid a nationwide shortage of veterinarians, animal hospitals and pet owners have at times found themselves in dire straits. Many veterinary practices are critically short-staffed, and pet owners — even in a city as large and pet-friendly as San Francisco — have found that pet care is not always accessible.

In a bid to adapt to the unrelenting vet shortage and boost access to local care, the San Francisco SPCA announced Thursday that it is selling its Pacific Heights animal hospital to a team of local vets and opening a new, low-cost community veterinary clinic in the Excelsior District. The goal, SFSPCA officials said, is to bolster the city’s pet care landscape while further aligning the nonprofit with its mission of serving the neediest pet owners and their companions.

The Pacific Heights animal hospital on Fillmore Street, which sees nearly 16,000 patients annually, is being sold to a group of Bay Area veterinarians who have partnered with Curo Pet Care, a veterinary services company based in San Francisco. With revenue from that sale, SFSPCA will establish a community clinic that will primarily serve the Excelsior, Bayview and Hunters Point neighborhoods — an area of ​​the city that is considered a “vet desert” for its relative lack of care providers, said Jennifer Scarlett, president of SFSPCA.

“It feels like we’re sort of coming home to what is our true calling, and that is thinking about those animals that are not going to get care unless we come up with creative ways to do it, and do it where it’s in the greatest need,” Scarlett told The Chronicle. Selling the Pacific Heights hospital is bittersweet, she said, “but I am absolutely 100% sure it is the right thing to do, for Pac Heights as well as the area that we’re trying to serve.”

The idea is that by selling the Pacific Heights location to a veterinary group, neighborhood residents will not lose the access to pet care that they already have, and that SFSPCA will be able to divert some of its resources to support communities that are currently lacking vet services.

“We didn’t want to leave the Pac Heights neighborhood in a lurch,” Scarlett said. “Our overall mission is to expand access to care, and that’s for everyone.”

Scarlett stressed that the decision to sell the hospital is entirely “mission-driven” and not about saving money. The SFSPCA Mission District campus will continue its current operations.

The need for a community clinic in the Excelsior became apparent a couple of years ago, Scarlett said, when the SFSPCA began taking a closer look at which parts of the city its patients were coming from. A large share of animals that were arriving at the animal hospital or shelter with parvovirus infections, which can be prevented with a vaccine, were coming from San Francisco’s southeastern corner. The SFSPCA set up vaccine clinics in the area and heard from residents that limited transportation and high costs for care were deterrents to seeking out veterinary services.

“San Franciscans love their animals but unfortunately, veterinary care is often available only to those who can pay substantial fees,” Supervisor Ahsha Safaí, who represents the Excelsior, said in a statement to The Chronicle. “The SPCA’s investment in the Excelsior will provide essential low-cost veterinary services. I look forward to working with the SPCA and stakeholders to expand low-cost veterinary services across San Francisco.”

The clinic is expected to be open by the end of the summer and will be modeled after a walk-in clinic that SFSPCA has been piloting for two years on its Mission District campus. The clinic will not be a full-service care center, Scarlett said, but it will provide some low-cost basic vet services that the city’s southeastern corner has been largely missing, such as general wellness check-ups, vaccinations, anti-parasitic medications and treatments for skin and ear issues.

“The whole idea is to keep the overhead low so that we can keep the costs low,” Scarlett said. “We know it’s not a complete answer, but we’re marching along this path of trying to figure this out in real time because there is such a shortage and need.”

The new Pacific Heights hospital — to be named San Francisco Animal Medical Center, or SF AMC — will expand on the services that the SFSPCA hospital there already offers. It will open on Monday for general practice and in the coming months will add specialty care such as oncology and cardiology, as well as 24-hour emergency services — something that SFSPCA officials were forced to end last summer because of the vet shortage.

The incoming veterinary group has said it will honor all existing appointments at the Pacific Heights location, and Curo Pet Care is planning to offer jobs to every SFSPCA employee at the hospital, allowing them to stay at the practice.

“San Francisco can count on us to provide them with the same great, quality care that the SF SPCA has always provided, and Pets Unlimited for generations before,” Margo Mehl, one of the incoming veterinarians, said in a statement. “We’re honored that the SFSPCA has chosen us to take over this renowned facility, carry on its legacy of excellence, and build an unrivaled center for veterinary care.”

Andy Picon (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon

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In the notoriously expensive Bay Area housing market, things got even more pricey during the pandemic.

Now, four Bay Area cities have landed on the list of metro areas with the biggest gap between list and sale prices.

According to an analysis from Better Mortgage, an online lender and homeownership platform, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and San Rafael have some of the highest average ratios between the list price and the sale price of each home sold. The company looked at Nov 2021 housing data from real estate listings website Redfin, the most recently available figures.

Cities with ratios over 100% represent areas where homes sold for over their list prices. The bigger the number, the greater the gap between the house’s listing and sale prices.

“This isn’t the least bit surprising,” wrote Khadeejah Johnson, head of brokerage for Better Mortgage, in an email. “The Bay Area is home to some of the most competitive housing markets in the country, driven by historically low inventory levels and supply chain issues causing new construction delays and higher costs.”

Johnson said there’s scarcity in the Bay Area, especially in San Francisco and San Jose, where “buyers are competing so fiercely that sales prices are far surpassing listing prices.”

San Francisco came in second on the list, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 108.3% and 70.8% of homes sold over asking price. The median sale price was $1,575 million. The Better Mortgage article explains that the city’s “extremely low housing inventory” stayed tight because when interest rates dropped, “savvy buyers capitalized on the cheaper loans by purchasing real estate in this city.”

San Jose was third on the list, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 107.5%, with 75.8% of homes sold about the list price and a median sale price of $1.4 million. The article explains that a lack of new construction and buyers capitalizing on record low interest rates have led to bidding wars and purchase prices to rise.

Oakland followed very closely behind with an average sale-to-list ratio of 107.3% and 76.7% of homes selling above asking price. The median sale price was unavailable. Better’s article points again to not enough inventory: Oakland’s population grew by 13% in the past decade, but new housing grew by only 5.16%, according to the report.

In eighth place, San Rafael’s average sale-to-list ratio was 104.6%, with 56.4% of homes sold above the asking price and a median home sale price of $1,325 million.

Johnson said the pandemic increased remote and hybrid work models, and low interest rates allowed more people to move out from city centers.

“Not everyone opted to move to Idaho, Colorado, Arizona or Florida,” she said. “Many homebuyers bought in the metro areas surrounding their home markets, such is the case in the Bay Area. The markets there have gotten so competitive over the last couple of years that homebuilders in the Bay Area haven’t been able to keep pace.”

Supply chain issues drove up prices higher, and many home buyers have scrambled to purchase homes while interest rates are still low, Johnson explained, which in turn has driven up the average purchase loan size. And, she said there have been even more second-home buyers on the market, adding to the scarcity.

Just outside the Bay Area, Santa Cruz also landed on the list at number 10, with an average sale-to-list ratio of 103.8%, with 62.5% of homes sold over the asking price, and a median sale price of $1.05 million

Johnson does not think the Bay Area housing market will cool anytime soon.

“Home builders are trying to catch up on a backlog of homes that won’t come close to meeting demand,” she said. “All the while, interest rates will continue to rise over the next couple of years, but homebuyers in the Bay Area will happily pay cash or the higher mortgage payments each month if it means landing the dream home they’ve been waiting years for.

In other words, demand will outstrip supply for the foreseeable future, she explained.

So what should prospective home buyers do in this wildly competitive market? Johnson said it really depends on a person’s financial situation. If someone is able to make a bigger offer to compete against other bids, then paying well over asking price might be the best course of action.

“You never want to try and time the market, so waiting on the sidelines isn’t always the best option either,” she said.

If paying over asking isn’t an option, Johnson recommends “making concessions in your search if you’re really determined to buy sooner than later.” She also said to be flexible with the size and location of a home if you plan to stay for fewer than five to seven years. And if you’re looking for the long-term, “make a higher offer if you can afford to or use a cash offer program.”

Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kellie.hwang@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @KellieHwang

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The San Francisco District Attorney on Wednesday sued three online retailers for selling “ghost guns,” undetectable firearms that can be made from do-it-yourself kits, part of an intensified nationwide effort to break the tide of deadly homemade weapons contain American cities.

In a civil lawsuit filed in California Superior Court, District Attorney Chesa Boudin accused the companies – GS Performance, BlackHawk Manufacturing Group, and MDX Corporation – of marketing a range of products in the state that provide buyers with parts and accessories that can be quickly assembled into one working weapon.

The lawsuit alleges that the companies that specifically say their products comply with federal and state laws are targeting buyers who want to bypass criminal background checks and purchase guns without traceable serial numbers. The plaintiffs want to ban the sale of such parts.

Companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

As the popularity of ghost weapons grows nationwide, California has seen a particularly sharp increase in the use of undetectable firearms in shootings, coinciding with an overall increase in gun-related crimes.

“Ghost weapons are a massive problem in San Francisco – they are becoming increasingly implicated in murders, attempted murders and firearm attacks,” said Boudin, who filed the lawsuit in conjunction with the gun control group founded by former MP Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona.

“We know that the rise in gun violence is related to the proliferation of, and easy access to, weapons that cannot be found, weapons that are easier to obtain from people who would otherwise be prohibited by law,” he added.

The number of homicides in California rose about 27 percent from 2019 to 2020 to about 2,300; it was the largest increase in decades, and the increase has continued this year, according to the California Department of Health.

In 2020, 44 percent of guns found in San Francisco murders were ghost weapons, compared to 6 percent in 2019, Police Chief Bill Scott told the city’s board of directors in May.

Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore told reporters earlier this year that ghost weapons – made up of parts that can be bought for hundreds of dollars – now make up a third of all weapons recovered by his department.

In May, Attorney General Merrick Garland proposed closing a state loophole that allowed the sale of gun parts used in homemade kits on the grounds that parts, when sold individually, do not constitute a working “firearm”, which is subject to the same rules as licensed handguns.

“Criminals and others who are denied possession of a weapon should not be able to exploit a loophole to bypass background checks and avoid detection by law enforcement,” Garland said at the time, adding that the change “the Making law enforcement easier “would track down weapons used to commit violent crimes.”

But the process of reviewing the new rule and implementing it takes months, and local governments, gun control groups and crime victims are keen to take immediate action if the crisis deepens.

This month, two Los Angeles County sheriffs seriously wounded in an ambush sued Polymer80, a Nevada-based company that is the largest manufacturer of ghost weapon components, for delivering an “untraceable, homemade ‘ghost gun’ kit” to one Felon who was charged with shooting police officers while they were in a patrol car in Compton last September.

In February, the City of Los Angeles and Everytown for Gun Safety, a group founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, sued Polymer80 after a 16-year-old student used the company’s branded parts in a shootout at Saugus High School, she left three children dead.

The company replied that its products are not “firearms” as defined by the Federal Office for Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and therefore no serial numbers or background checks are required.

“Although the lawsuit cites definitions of ‘firearm’ and ‘handgun’ under federal law, it does not adequately explain how Defendants’ products meet the various technical elements of each of those definitions,” wrote Sean A. Brady, the company’s attorney, in response on the lawsuit in Los Angeles.

Gun rights groups, including the National Rifle Association, have spoken out against Mr Garland’s proposed rule changes, arguing that they will violate the rights of the Second Amendment and restrict the legal trade in gun parts.

But the San Francisco lawsuit and others like it allege that companies selling components used in ghost weapons are engaging in fraudulent business practices and must be stopped.

“All of these players are guilty,” said Hannah Shearer, Giffords Law Center litigator for the prevention of gun violence. “These kits are designed to be undetectable and everyone knows.”

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But one of Elon Musk’s homes – a historic mansion south of San Francisco that the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX calls a “special place” – wasn’t sold when Musk dumped the rest of his $ 100 million real estate portfolio (despite being listed was). on Zillow for a while.)

In the early hours of Monday morning, Musk announced on Twitter (via a reply to an earlier tweet from him) that he had actually decided to “sell my last house. I just have to live with a large family that will live there . It’s a special place. “

Decided to sell my last remaining house. Just have to go to a large family that will live there. It’s a special place.

– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 14, 2021

The “special” home in the Bay Area is likely this historic 100 year old mansion in Hillsborough on the San Francisco Peninsula.

The 16,000 square meter mansion sits on 47 acres of lawns, gardens and private walking trails.

There are 10 bedrooms and nine and a half bathrooms inside, in addition to a ballroom, large formal banquet room, flower arrangement room, and library. Outside there is a detached 3 car garage, an 8 car carport and a truck stop.

In May 2020, we reported that Musk had listed the property on Zillow, although records show the listing was removed in November 2020. The property was re-listed for $ 37.5 million per Zillow yesterday, which coincided with Musk’s tweet. (The previous list price was $ 35 million, down $ 2.5 million. Records show the house was bought for $ 23.4 million in 2017.)

One of the homes Musk sold last year was a Los Angeles mansion previously owned by iconic comic book actor Gene Wilder, whom Musk made a special request to when they sold it. “Only one condition for the sale: I own Gene Wilder’s old house. It can’t be torn down or lose its soul, ”Musk tweeted in May 2020. That house was eventually sold to Wilder’s nephew for $ 7 million.

Musk is currently believed to be living in a property in Boca Chica, Texas that was rented from his aerospace company SpaceX.

In a recent interview with Mathias Döpfner, Musk said that one of his motivations for selling his property is to prove to people that he is serious about bringing people to Mars.

“I’m just trying to make it clear that I’m serious,” said Musk. “And it’s not about personal consumption. Because people attack me and say, oh, he has all these possessions. He has all these houses. Okay, now I don’t have them.”

According to Forbes, Musk is currently worth around $ 154 billion.

Tessa McLean, local editor for SFGATE, contributed to this story.

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A San Francisco skyscraper owned by President Donald Trump launched in June but has still not sold and may cost less than expected, according to a report in the San Francisco Business Times.

Perhaps best known as the former Bank of America Center, the 52-story tower at 555 California St. is the fourth tallest building in the city at 779 feet. In the spring, the value was estimated at $ 1 billion.

Vornado Realty Trust has a 70% interest in the building and manages the property. Trump has a 30% stake in a limited partnership.

The San Francisco Business Times reported that Steven Roth, CEO of Vornado Realty Trust, addressed the sluggish sale during a profit call on Wednesday.

“Investor interest and widespread appreciation for the quality of these assets are active. However, given the caution shown by investors, it does not look like we will hit our original top tick price target,” said Roth. “Nonetheless, we are still actively pursuing a transaction in these assets that may take the form of a sale, partial sale, joint venture, or refinancing.”

In the call, Roth also referred to another property in Manhattan owned by Trump, 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York City, which is also on the market.

RELATED: Top Tech Company Defies Trend, Adding 42,000 Square Feet to SF’s Office Space

San Francisco Chronicle columnist Kathleen Pender pointed out in a 2015 story that Trump got his stake in the building through a passive real estate investment.

“In 2007, Vornado acquired its 70 percent stake in the two buildings owned by US companies controlled by a Hong Kong investment group for $ 1.8 billion,” Pender wrote. “Trump was a limited partner in the investment group and, according to Forbes, had argued with it. The deal gave Trump a 30 percent stake in the two buildings.”

Many SF locals did not realize that Trump owned a portion of 555 California, but when the real estate mogul politician first campaigned and became president in 2016, the news spread and small groups of protesters regularly took the financial district’s address on .

Last month, teachers, nurses and parents gathered in the building to support Proposition 15, which aims to increase business tax to help fund education in the state. A study by 48hills calculated that Vornado Realty Trust and Trump currently pay $ 11.7 million less in local property taxes than if the building’s property tax was calculated based on its current market value.

When it was built in 1969, the building at 555 California Street was the tallest on the West Coast. The Salesforce Tower at 1,070 feet is now SF’s height gainer. The Transamerica pyramid is the second tallest and 181 Fremont the third.

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This is a story that has been common at major technology companies in San Francisco for the past several months. First, a company announces a work-from-home strategy, followed by offloading office space in San Francisco. But this deal is a whopper.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Dropbox’s headquarters at Mission Bay headquarters – a complex of four buildings at 1800 Owens Street – is being sold for $ 1.08 billion.

The sale, which is expected to close before April, marks the second largest single property transaction in city history, falling only behind the $ 1.2 billion sale of the Embarcadero Center in 1998, a lot larger complex.

The 750,000-square-foot lot known as The Exchange will dump at around $ 1,440 per square foot, breaking the San Francisco price-per-square-foot record. The buyer is not yet known.

The amazing sale marks another big tech company pulling out of the San Francisco office space as working from home becomes the new normal. In October, Dropbox announced the office-to-home shift is permanent.

“We believe the data shows that the move to remote working, although abrupt, has been overall successful,” the company said in a blog post at the time. “… In our internal surveys, most employees say they can be productive at home (almost 90%) and don’t want to go back to a strict five-day work week in the office.”

In February it was announced that Uber was planning to unload much of the office space, also in Mission Bay, before it even moved in.

Salesforce, which employs over 9,000 people in the Bay Area, announced its “Work From Anywhere” strategy in February. It is estimated that more than 65% of employees will adopt the new system, based on a company survey.

In January, Digital Realty – a tech support company with approximately 1,500 employees worldwide – announced the move of its headquarters to Austin, Texas’ technology capital.

Yelp’s San Francisco headquarters at 140 New Montgomery Street is also available for rent. “As more employees work remotely, we are reducing some of our footprint in San Francisco, but we will continue to have our headquarters there,” said a statement from the crowd-sourced rating firm.

Last year, Pinterest, the social sharing website known for pinning recipes, home inspiration, and more, canceled its $ 89.5 million office rental in San Francisco.

In another sector, Gap Inc. recently announced to its employees that it would be closing the Old Navy offices in Mission Bay and consolidating those employees into the parent company’s Embarcadero office building.

Dropbox didn’t respond to a request for comment at the time of posting.

(SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are both owned by Hearst, but operate independently.)

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