January 29, 2026
San Francisco condo sales jump 11.5% as AI boom reshapes buyer priorities
Alan Mark, real estate strategist and founder of the Alan Mark Co. in San Francisco, said total condo sales in the city rose last year largely because the economics of renting finally reached a tipping point. As more people move to the city with AI-driven hiring and return-to-office momentum, they see that rents have been pushed up dramatically, especially since many of the potential buyers are making greater incomes and have the desire to own a home versus paying higher and higher rents, as evidenced by a recent Zumper report.
"Anecdotally, there have been people from the Northwest moving to San Francisco who are even willing to rent site unseen," he said.
At the same time, Mark said a lack of new residential construction over the past decade has shifted demand toward the newest existing inventory, reinvigorating buildings that have seen softer demand, particularly in neighborhoods like SoMa.— Ted Anderson
November 3, 2025
For the Best Condo Perks, ‘Nobody Does Amenities Better Than Hospitality’ Brands, Says New Dev Consultant
Alan Mark’s first meaningful exposure to real estate was renovating the first home he owned.
After nearly a decade of working on the business side of major New York newspapers (including The Wall Street Journal, which shares the same publisher as Mansion Global), he opted to buy a fixer-upper in Connecticut instead of a small apartment in New York. Mark carried out repairs and updates to the home in his spare time at night and on the weekends.
“I loved it, I found it very gratifying,” he said.
He eventually moved on from the Connecticut home, buying a couple more with friends while still working his full-time job, before realizing he wanted to begin a real estate career. Following the stock market crash of the late 1980s, he moved out to San Francisco and got a job with brokerage Pacific Union (which Compass acquired in 2018) working with developers. He founded his own real estate marketing and sales firm, the Mark Company, in 1997. — Casey Farmer
June 2025
Living Legacy: Real Estate Visionary Alan Mark Sets Sights on What Cities Could Become
When Alan Mark looks at a city block, he doesn’t just see buildings–he sees possibility. The longtime strategist and market-maker has spent more than two decades reshaping how and where people live, work, and build community in the Bay Area and beyond. Now living between San Francisco and the wind-brushed edge of Stinson Beach, Mark balances his time between advising major urban redevelopments and contemplating architechtural reuse in the ruins of Rome.
June 25, 2024
Op-Ed by Alan Mark: What San Francisco can learn from Rome about reinvention
Longtime San Francisco residents will tell you that the city has a long history of reinventing itself. From a haven for Gold Rush miners seeking their riches in the 1840s to an outpost — then epicenter — for modern-day miners seeking their fortunes in Big Tech.
Despite infamous historical events over the past half-century, including the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the AIDS crisis, the dot-com bust and the Great Recession, San Francisco has always come back stronger than it was before.
But in this post-pandemic, perceived doom-loop world, even the faithful are starting to wonder: How will San Francisco reinvent itself once again — or can it?
It can. But the city must first dismantle its self-imposed barriers to do so. And in this next iteration, the City by the Bay can look to the City of Seven Hills as it navigates its way forward.
I recently completed work during my second turn as a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome, and my time there was eye-opening. My research focused on recent adaptive reuses of buildings and contemporary cultural institutions.
January 16, 2024
Exclusive: Historic S.F. office tower could become housing and a ‘poster child’ for conversions
Consultant Alan Mark, who has worked on more than a half-dozen conversion projects in San Francisco, said the project reminds him of 140 New Montgomery, which was slated to be converted to housing before the Great Recession, but ultimately remained office. The ceiling heights, the double-hung windows and the small floors will combine to make for an elegant residential complex, he said.
“It’s hard to think of a building with such character and sense of history that has been converted,” he said. “It reminds me of some of the grand old New York apartment buildings. It’s breathtaking.” —J.K. Dineen
January 17, 2024
Forge wants to turn SF’s historic Humboldt Bank Building into homes
Its ceiling heights, double-hung windows and small floors will combine to make for an elegant residential complex, according to consultant Alan Mark, who has worked on conversion projects in San Francisco.
“It’s hard to think of a building with such character and sense of history that has been converted,” Mark told the Chronicle. “It reminds me of some of the grand old New York apartment buildings. It’s breathtaking.” —The Real Deal Staff