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Lake Street, San Francisco: Homes, Streets & Real Estate Guide

By Matthew Martinez, Founder, CEO & Managing Broker, Diamond Real Estate Group. California DRE #01869679.

Lake Street is the band of the Richmond District between California Street and the Presidio, running west from Arguello Boulevard to about 25th Avenue, where Sea Cliff begins. Its blocks are lined with houses and two-unit flats built mostly between 1906 and 1919, and a large share of those flats are now condominiums. The San Francisco MLS lists the area as neighborhood 1D of SF District 1.

The neighborhood takes its name from Lake Street, the residential street that runs along its north side just below the Presidio. This guide covers its edges, the building stock as the Assessor records it, zoning, the slope along the Presidio, transit, and what to have ready before selling a house, flat or condo here. Current prices are in the market report on this page.

Lake Street homes for sale

Lake Street market report

The blocks between California Street and the Presidio

California Street is the southern edge, with the Inner Richmond and Central Richmond below it. Arguello Boulevard closes the east side; across it are Presidio Heights, which the MLS puts in District 7, and, south of California Street, Jordan Park and Laurel Heights. On the west the blocks meet Sea Cliff; in the Assessor’s map a few Lake Street parcels reach as far as 27th Avenue.

The neighborhood is narrow from north to south.

Most of it is just two rows of lots: those facing California Street and those on Lake Street, with the numbered avenues crossing between them. Lots on the north side of Lake Street back onto the Presidio, where the ground rises toward the park. Park Presidio Boulevard crosses the middle of the neighborhood and continues north through the Presidio as State Route 1.

What the Assessor’s roll shows

We counted parcels in Assessor neighborhood 1D on the 2025 closed roll, published on DataSF. Condo units are counted one by one and an apartment building counts once regardless of size, so the table describes ownership parcels rather than homes.

Assessor class (2025 roll)	Lake Street parcels	What it usually is here
Single-family dwelling	764	Detached and row houses, many from 1906 to 1919
Flats and duplex	414	Two-unit buildings, one flat per floor
Condominium unit	523	Mostly units in converted flats and small apartment buildings
Apartment, 4 units or less	84	Three- and four-unit buildings
Apartment, 5 to 14 units	115	Mid-size apartment buildings; check soft-story status
Apartment, 15 units or more	10	Larger buildings
Tenancy in common	12	Buildings recorded as TIC interests

The age profile is narrow.

About 69% of the single-family parcels carry build dates from 1906 through 1919, with 1911 the single busiest year, and about 18% are dated earlier (some old entries use 1900 as a placeholder). Flats follow the same pattern a little later: about 54% from 1906 to 1919 and 23% from the 1920s. Very little was built after 1930.

Two numbers stand out against the rest of the Richmond.

The median single-family house here has about 2,615 square feet of recorded building area, larger than in the avenues to the south, on the same 3,000-square-foot median lot. And there are more condo units than flat parcels, which tells you how many two-unit and small apartment buildings have been divided into condominiums over the years. Our guide to Edwardian and Victorian homes covers what to inspect in buildings of this age.

Zoning on the Lake Street blocks

In the roll’s zoning field, RH-2 (two-unit residential) is the most common code, on about 950 parcels.

RM-1 low-density apartment zoning covers about 350 parcels, mostly where apartment buildings already stand, and RH-1 single-family zoning about 300, with another 65 in RH-1(D), the detached-house district. Smaller groups of parcels are coded RM-2, RH-3 and RM-3, and about 30 carry NC-1, the small neighborhood-commercial district. Because every condo unit counts as a parcel, these counts lean toward the zones with the most converted buildings.

The Family Zoning Plan, passed by the Supervisors in December 2025, took effect on January 12, 2026 and concentrates mid-rise height on major transit and commercial streets. On the residential blocks behind them, more units are allowed inside today’s height limit (four stories is typical), a property near certain commercial streets may gain a fifth floor, and a corner lot or a site larger than 8,000 square feet may go to six. For a Lake Street parcel, especially one on California Street or a corner, check the adopted height map or the Property Information Map before you pay for development potential.

Rented units in the many pre-1979 buildings here bring their own rules. Under the Rent Board’s new-construction exemption, a unit escapes the increase limits only when it had no residential use before a first certificate of occupancy dated after June 13, 1979. Just-cause eviction protections continue to apply even to those exempt units.

The Presidio edge and St. John’s

The Presidio is the neighborhood’s northern neighbor for its whole length. Inside the park is Mountain Lake; the creek that drains it, called Coyote Gulch, runs west to Baker Beach beside Sea Cliff. From most of these blocks the Presidio’s trails and open space are a short walk away.

The neighborhood’s one designated city landmark is at its eastern corner. St. John’s Presbyterian Church, at 25 Lake Street near Arguello Boulevard, was built in 1905 and is City Landmark No. 83 on SF Planning’s landmark map. Commercial uses are few: errands mostly mean a walk south to Clement Street or Geary Boulevard, or east to Laurel Village on California Street.

The slope along the Presidio

Most of Lake Street is outside the state’s mapped seismic hazard zones.

In SF Planning’s copy of the California Geological Survey maps, no liquefaction zone falls within the neighborhood. Two small earthquake-induced landslide zones do appear on the steep ground at the Presidio edge north of Lake Street, roughly between 16th and 17th Avenues and between 19th and 22nd Avenues. They are narrow slivers, and these street ranges are approximate: the map data is generalized, so it is not possible to say from it which lots they touch. Anyone buying on the north side of Lake Street in those blocks should check the specific parcel on the state’s Seismic Hazard Zone map or SF Planning’s Property Information Map.

A landslide-zone parcel draws extra Planning screening for new buildings, big additions and grading, which matters if you plan to add space at the back of a hillside lot. A zone also has to be disclosed on the Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement when a home sells. Our San Francisco hazard maps guide shows where to look up any address, including the city’s separate storm flood map.

Muni and the drive north

Per published route lists, the neighborhood is served mainly by buses on its edges and on the avenues that cross it:

1 California runs between Clay and Drumm downtown and Geary and 33rd Avenue, along the neighborhood’s southern edge. A weekday peak-hour 1X California Express uses the same western terminal.
28 19th Avenue runs between Fisherman’s Wharf and Daly City BART and serves the Park Presidio corridor through the middle of the neighborhood; the weekday 28R and the 44 O’Shaughnessy start at California and 6th Avenue.
29 Sunset runs into the Presidio in the daytime; evening trips end at 25th Avenue and California, at the western end.
33 Ashbury/18th Street evening trips end at Arguello and California, the eastern corner.
38 Geary and 38R Geary Rapid are two blocks south. The 2 Clement is listed as suspended.

There is no rail station nearby. By car, Park Presidio Boulevard leads north through the Presidio to the Golden Gate Bridge and on toward Marin.

Selling a home on the Lake Street blocks

Buyers here sort homes into three groups and compare within them: whole houses, full-floor condos in converted two-unit buildings, and units in apartment-style buildings on California Street. Position matters too. A house on the north side of Lake Street that backs onto the Presidio is a different product from one on a busy stretch of California Street, even at the same size.

Document the conversion. For a condo in a former flat, have the recorded condominium map, CC&Rs, HOA budget and any shared-cost agreements ready. Buyers and lenders will ask how the building was converted and when. Our San Francisco condo guide and TIC guide cover both ownership forms.
Pull the permit history. Houses from the 1910s have often been raised, extended or finished below. Match rooms and baths to permits; an unpermitted unit is covered in our unwarranted units guide.
Address the slope and drainage. On hillside lots near the Presidio, a drainage or geotechnical letter answers questions the hazard disclosure will raise.
Gather tenancy records. For rented units in older buildings, assemble leases, rent history and Rent Board filings.
Order the city reports early. The 3R report, required inspections and the transfer tax are set out on our San Francisco seller requirements page.

Price against recent sales of the same building type and floor. Current neighborhood figures are in the market report on this page, and our home valuation request turns them into a number for your property.

Questions people ask

Where is the Lake Street neighborhood in San Francisco?

Between California Street and the Presidio, from Arguello Boulevard west to about 25th Avenue, where Sea Cliff begins. It is neighborhood 1D of MLS District 1.

Is Lake Street the same as the Inner Richmond?

No. The MLS treats the blocks north of California Street as their own neighborhood. The Inner and Central Richmond start on the south side of California Street.

Are most Lake Street homes houses or condos?

Both are common. The Assessor’s 2025 roll lists 764 single-family parcels, 414 flat and duplex parcels and 523 condo units, plus about 200 apartment buildings.

When were Lake Street houses built?

Mostly between 1906 and 1919. About 69% of single-family parcels carry build dates in those years, with 1911 the peak; flats are a little later on average.

Is Lake Street in a landslide or liquefaction zone?

Most of it is in neither. Planning’s copy of the state maps shows no liquefaction zone, and two small landslide zones on the slope north of Lake Street, roughly between 16th and 22nd Avenues. The edges are approximate, so check the specific parcel on the official map.

Which Muni lines serve Lake Street?

Per published route lists, the 1 California on the south edge, the 28 on Park Presidio, the 29 Sunset at 25th Avenue, evening 33 trips at Arguello, and the 38 and 38R on Geary two blocks south. There is no rail station nearby.

Is there a city landmark on Lake Street?

Yes. St. John’s Presbyterian Church at 25 Lake Street, built in 1905, is City Landmark No. 83.

If you are weighing a house against a condo flat on these blocks, or getting a Lake Street property ready for market, talk with Diamond Real Estate Group. To compare it with the rest of the city, see our San Francisco neighborhood guide.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.