Potrero Hill, San Francisco: Homes, Views & Real Estate Guide
Potrero Hill is the residential hill on San Francisco’s east side between 16th Street and Cesar Chavez Street, with Potrero Avenue and US 101 on the west and Interstate 280 on the east. Listings place it in subdistrict 9E, where the Assessor’s 2025 roll counts about 4,730 parcels: roughly 1,200 houses, 535 two-unit buildings and nearly 2,000 condominium units.
The hill rises to about 341 feet near 22nd and Wisconsin streets, the former site of a water tower. Below it sit three very different places: the Showplace Square design district to the north, Mission Bay to the northeast, and Dogpatch across the freeway to the east.
Potrero Hill homes for sale
Potrero Hill market report
Views, slopes and the street grid
Wikipedia lists the downtown skyline, Sutro Tower, Twin Peaks and the Bay among the hill’s views. Because the serpentine bedrock is expensive to cut into, many houses follow the grade, with long front stairs, garages at the sidewalk and two to four stories on the downhill side.
The grid predates almost everything on it. In the late 1840s John Townsend and partners laid out lots with north-south streets named for states and east-west streets named for California counties, which is why streets such as Arkansas, Wisconsin and Connecticut cross Mariposa Street. Vermont Street between 20th and 22nd streets is a run of switchbacks with seven sharp turns.
Height limits and the area plan
Potrero Hill falls within the Showplace Square/Potrero Hill plan area, one of the Eastern Neighborhoods plans. The plan is explicit about the hill: “Because Potrero Hill is an established residential area that generally functions well, it is not proposed to be rezoned.” Objective 1.1 keeps the existing controls for the hill’s lower-density residential and neighborhood commercial areas.
Several height policies protect that scale. Policy 3.1.1 asks that heights in Showplace Square respect the residential character of Potrero Hill, Policy 3.1.4 refers to the hill’s lower-scale development, and the text under Policy 3.1.2 suggests lowering heights from the north to the south side of 16th Street to accentuate the hill. Policy 3.1.5 asks new buildings to respect public view corridors, naming north-south views toward downtown and toward Potrero Hill.
On the map, a point check at 20th and Arkansas streets returns RH-2 zoning and a 40-X height district, a 40-foot limit. A box drawn over the hill between about 17th and 25th streets also returns taller districts, from 45-X up to 105-E, on particular sites, so look up the height district for any lot you are considering.
These are policies for public views and neighborhood scale; they do not promise that a particular house keeps its view. What a neighbor can build is set by that lot’s own zoning, height district and rear-yard rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
Houses, flats and newer condos
Styles run from late-19th-century Victorians to 21st-century modern buildings. Wikipedia notes that the hill was largely spared in the 1906 earthquake. On the 2025 roll:
| Property type | Parcels | Median recorded build year |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family houses | about 1,200 | 1913 |
| Flats and two-unit buildings | about 535 | 1908 |
| Condominium units (including about 280 BMR or economic units) | about 1,970 | 1996 |
| Townhouses (including 20 BMR) | about 140 | not retrieved |
| Live/work condominiums | about 175 | not retrieved |
| Apartment buildings, up to 4 units | about 90 | not retrieved |
| Apartment buildings, 5 or more units | about 60 | not retrieved |
The typical house has about 1,440 square feet of recorded building area on a lot of about 2,500 square feet. The condominium stock is much newer, with a median build year of 1996.
On the Assessor’s roll, RH-2 covers about 1,830 parcels, RH-3 about 340 and RH-1 about 120, with RM-1 and RM-2 apartment zoning on about 260 more.
Showplace Square and the South Slope
North of the hill, Showplace Square is a light-industrial and design district. The plan protects production, distribution and repair uses and the arts in the core design and showroom area by prohibiting new housing there (Policy 1.1.1), while creating mixed-use areas in northern Showplace Square and along 16th and 17th streets (Policy 1.1.2).
On the South Slope, the Potrero Terrace and Potrero Annex public housing sites are being rebuilt under Rebuild Potrero, governed by its own Potrero HOPE SF special use district. Wikipedia describes a five-phase project expected to add 1,400 to 1,700 units, 65% of them affordable, with the last phase expected in 2034.
18th Street, parks and landmarks
The 18th Street corridor on the north side holds the main shops and restaurants over about three blocks, and the branch library at 20th and Connecticut streets was renovated in 2010. Parks from Planning’s open space layer:
- Potrero Hill Recreation Center: about 9.6 acres, with a ball field and tennis and basketball courts.
- Jackson Playground: about 4.4 acres on the north slope.
- McKinley Square: about 2.7 acres atop the hill on its west side, with the hill’s official off-leash dog area.
City landmarks include the Potrero Hill Neighborhood House at 953 De Haro Street, a 1922 building by Julia Morgan designated in 1977, and the Kerrigan House at 893 Wisconsin Street, built in 1905. California College of the Arts is at the foot of the hill, and Anchor Brewing operated on Mariposa Street between Carolina and De Haro streets.
Landslide slivers and the low edges
Planning’s copy of the state landslide map shows about 18 small earthquake-induced landslide zones on the hill, mostly on the steep west slope above US 101, along the south slope toward Cesar Chavez Street and on the east slope above Interstate 280. They are narrow strips on the steepest ground, so a parcel check matters more than the neighborhood label.
Liquefaction zones stop at the edges of the hill. The mapped zone covers the low ground along and north of 16th and 17th streets, ground that was once the edge of Mission Bay, and runs down the east side near Pennsylvania Avenue and the freeway; a narrow band also follows Cesar Chavez Street at the south foot. The residential core between is outside them on Planning’s layer. Our hazard maps guide shows how to check a lot.
For the roughly 60 apartment buildings of five or more units, check soft-story status. A wood-frame building of that size falls under DBI’s mandatory program when its construction permit was applied for before 1978 and it stands at least three stories, counting two over a basement or underfloor area.
Caltrain, Muni and two freeways
Caltrain’s 22nd Street station sits on the hill’s eastern edge. US 101 runs down the west side and Interstate 280 down the east, and the T Third light rail runs on Third Street beyond the freeway.
Wikipedia lists the 10 Townsend, 19 Polk, 22 Fillmore and 48 Quintara/24th Street among the buses serving the hill. Per published route lists, the 48 ends at 22nd and Iowa streets in Dogpatch and the 55 Dogpatch links 16th St./Mission BART with 20th and Third streets; the 10 was listed as suspended in 2022, so check SFMTA for current service.
Selling a home on Potrero Hill
View, slope and parking drive comparisons here. Buyers weigh which direction a house faces, whether the lot climbs or falls from the street, and whether the garage is at street level, then compare older hill houses with the hill’s newer condos and townhouses.
- Permits for decks and additions: roof decks, view rooms and lower-level conversions should match the permit record and the 40-foot height district.
- Slope and foundation records: retaining walls, drainage and any engineering reports, especially near the mapped landslide strips.
- BMR status: about 255 of the hill’s condo and townhouse parcels are classed as below-market-rate, and those sales follow program rules; see our BMR homes guide.
- HOA documents for condos and townhouses; our San Francisco condo guide lists them.
- City items: the 3R report, energy rules and transfer tax on our San Francisco selling requirements page.
If your house competes at the upper end of the city’s market, our San Francisco luxury homes guide covers that segment. Diamond may refer you to partners we work with; you’re free to choose any provider. Current Potrero Hill figures are in this page’s market report.
Questions people ask
How high is Potrero Hill?
About 341 feet at its highest point, near 22nd and Wisconsin streets, where a water tower stood until 2006.
Can tall buildings go up on Potrero Hill?
Not at the residential point we checked, which is mapped 40-X. The area plan keeps existing controls on the hill and asks Showplace Square heights to respect its lower scale, but taller height districts do apply on some sites.
Is Potrero Hill in a liquefaction zone?
The residential core is not. Mapped liquefaction zones run along and north of 16th and 17th streets, down the east side near Interstate 280 and along Cesar Chavez Street.
Does Caltrain stop on Potrero Hill?
Yes, at the 22nd Street station on the hill’s eastern edge.
Is Dogpatch part of Potrero Hill?
They are neighbors. Dogpatch lies east of Interstate 280, and the MLS lists it separately as Central Waterfront/Dogpatch (9J).
What is Showplace Square?
The light-industrial and design district north of the hill, where the area plan protects PDR uses in its core and allows mixed use along 16th and 17th streets.
Thinking about selling on Potrero Hill, or comparing it with nearby choices? We can review the lot, the permit record and recent sales for your street. Request a home valuation, compare the Inner Mission and Bernal Heights, or start from the SF District 9 page and our San Francisco guide.
Sources & notes
- DataSF / SF Assessor-Recorder: Assessor Historical Secured Property Tax Rolls, 2025 closed roll (parcel counts by property class, median lot, building area and build year, zoning codes and parcel extents for neighborhood codes 9A-9K, queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning: PlanningData map service (zoning districts, special use districts, height districts, Article 10 historic districts, landmarks, open space, planning areas, FEMA flood hazard and seismic hazard zone layers; queried October 2026)
- San Francisco Planning, General Plan: Showplace Square/Potrero Area Plan (Eastern Neighborhoods)
- Wikipedia: Potrero Hill, San Francisco (boundaries, elevation, street grid, housing, landmarks; background only)
- Wikipedia: List of San Francisco Municipal Railway lines (route names and termini; status as of July 2022)
- Wikipedia: T Third Street (opening dates, Central Subway, stations)
- SF Department of Building Inspection: Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program
Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.
