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1474-1490 California St

Nob Hill, SF 94109 0249014 12 units · 3 fl · 1910

This building has significantly more problems than most nearby buildings. Renters here report frequent, slow-to-fix problems. Get repair promises in writing and check the unit before signing.

NOVs (7y) vs. neighborhood
Compared to a typical building in Nob Hill
Above average
avg 2.4
7
FewerMore

This building has 7 novs (7y), above the Nob Hill average of 2.4.

Rent & eviction protection

Is 1474-1490 California St rent-controlled?

San Francisco's Rent Ordinance caps rent increases and provides eviction protection for most residential units built before 1979 with 2+ units. Here's how this building scores.

Built before 1979
Built 1910
2 or more units
12 units
Property type
Multi-Family Residential
Zoning
POLK
Likely rent-controlled. Building age and unit count suggest this property falls under San Francisco's Rent Ordinance.

Based on SF Assessor records. Not legal advice — confirm with the SF Rent Board.

Building characteristics
Units12
Floors3
Year built1910
Total area12,810 sq ft
Property typeMulti-Family Residential
Tax statusNone
Blocklot0249014
Ownership

Registered owner per SF Assessor-Recorder (secured roll).

Owner name
Lee Living Trust The
Mailing address
Quok Q & Jane B Lee 1550 Clement St San Francisco CA 94118
Last sale
091919

Landlord portfolio

Other SF properties this owner holds, with risk grades for each.

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Multiple entrances & addresses

Included addresses

All street addresses sharing this blocklot that are covered by this report.

1480 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1474 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1476 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1486 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1488 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1482 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1490 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1478 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1478 C California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
1484 California St, San Francisco, CA 94109
Augrented Insights
Initial analysis

The 12-unit, three-story apartment building at 1474-1490 California St in Nob Hill, owned by Lee Living Trust The, is a 1910 multi-family residential property currently classified as non-compliant with San Francisco's Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program (Tier IV). The building has undergone several significant safety and compliance improvements in recent years, with active permits issued in June 2024 for both commercial and residential soft-story retrofitting work, including a $75,000 residential retrofit and a $15,000 commercial retrofit. A comprehensive fire alarm system upgrade was completed in June 2024 at a cost of $61,713 to bring the building into compliance with current fire safety regulations.

The property has a documented history of maintenance and safety improvements, including work on fire safety systems, plumbing repairs, and structural modifications. Notable historical issues include multiple fire code violations in 2017 (now corrected), a series of maintenance complaints in 2016-2017 related to heating and plumbing systems, and past violations regarding window repairs and drainage systems. The building's maintenance history shows attention to both residential and commercial spaces, with recent work including dumpster removal, handling of garbage and debris issues, and various plumbing and electrical upgrades. A series of fire alarm activations and smoke detector incidents have been recorded, though none resulted in fire-related injuries or significant damage. Currently, there is an active complaint (filed March 2023) regarding common areas, and previous concerns about a broken commercial window in 2021, though many earlier complaints and violations have been resolved or dismissed.

AI-generated · may contain errors · check the source data tables below

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Risk rating

How 1474-1490 California St's risk score is calculated

We trained a model on 7 years of SF DBI inspection data — notice of violation filings, complaint history, and owner track records. It estimates the probability that DBI inspectors will issue a Notice of Violation at this address in the next 12 months. Lower % = safer.

What the score means for you

Grade A–B — Low risk

DBI rarely finds violations here. Strong maintenance history and a clean complaint record.

Grade C — Moderate risk

Some past violations or complaints on record. Worth asking the landlord about any open issues before signing.

Grade D–F — High risk

Elevated violation and complaint history. DBI has found issues here before and is statistically likely to again.

Neighborhood percentile
14th percentile

Out of 1125 buildings in this neighborhood, 968 are predicted to be safer.

RiskiestSafest
Predicted 12-month outcome
22%
No DBI
violation
78%
DBI violation
likely
Model explanation

What's driving this score

The three data points that most influenced this building's risk rating — ranked by the weight the model placed on each one.

Building size

Total floor area — a proxy for building scale and the number of systems (plumbing, electrical, HVAC) that can fail.

NOV rate, owner's portfolio

Per-building NOV rate across everything this owner manages — high rates signal pattern neglect.

Number of units

The number of units affects how the model reads complaint and violation totals — more units means more potential sources.

12-Month severity forecast
No violation 17.4%
Moderate concern 63.8%
Severe concern 18.8%
Estimated probability of receiving a DBI Notice of Violation in the next 12 months at each severity level. Model: full_hgb_balanced.
Apartment reviews

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The story over time

1474-1490 California St event timeline

Violations, complaints, fire incidents, permits, and buyouts — most recent records in order.

2026
311 Request Jun 13
Garbage and debris
furniture
311 RequestJun 01
Garbage and debris

See all 21 events

Full history back to 2021 — violations, complaints, permits, buyouts, and fire incidents.

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Every record we have

Full data for 1474-1490 California St apartments

13 SF public datasets for this parcel — permits, violations, complaints, fire records, 311 calls, planning records, and buyouts.

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Cancel anytime · Data sourced from SF Open Data, DBI, SFFD, SF Rent Board & Planning

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