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Lower Pacific Heights, SF: Homes, Streets & Real Estate Guide

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

Lower Pacific Heights is the band of San Francisco between California Street and Geary Boulevard, running east from Presidio Avenue, with the Fillmore Street shopping corridor at its center. It sits below Pacific Heights on the slope, and most of its housing is condominiums, flats and apartment buildings rather than detached houses. Buyers search it as part of District 6 in the local MLS.

The area was historically part of the Western Addition, and the name “Lower Pacific Heights” came into wide use as values rose in the 1980s and 1990s, replacing the older “Upper Fillmore” label (Wikipedia). This guide covers where the edges fall, what the city’s parcel and assessor data show about the housing, the zoning that governs it, and what to prepare before you buy or sell here. For the wider district, see our SF District 6 guide.

Lower Pacific Heights homes for sale

Lower Pacific Heights market report

Where Lower Pacific Heights starts and stops

Sources draw the edges a little differently. One common definition uses California Street on the north, Geary Boulevard on the south, Presidio Avenue on the west and Van Ness Avenue on the east; another puts the northern line at Pine Street and treats Japantown as the neighbor to the east (Wikipedia). The MLS map has its own lines, so ask your agent to confirm which district and subarea a specific listing is filed under.

North: Pacific Heights, uphill across California Street.
West: Laurel Heights and Jordan Park, across Presidio Avenue.
South: Anza Vista west of Divisadero and the Western Addition to the east, across Geary.
East: Japantown and Cottage Row sit north of Geary and may be counted as part of Lower Pacific Heights or the Western Addition, depending on the map.

Because the assessor’s “Lower Pacific Heights” neighborhood includes theatre and hotel parcels, it appears to take in at least part of the Japantown commercial area. Treat neighborhood totals with that in mind.

That eastern edge carries two sets of special rules. Planning Code Section 721 maps the Japantown Neighborhood Commercial District over the commercial blocks from Geary Boulevard to Post Street between Fillmore and Laguna, and it requires commercial uses on the ground floor. A few blocks north, the Bush Street–Cottage Row Historic District, an Article 10 landmark district designated in 1991, covers a group of 1870s and early-1880s houses on Bush, Sutter and the Cottage Row lane, so exterior work there goes through preservation review.

Fillmore Street and the other commercial edges

Fillmore Street is the neighborhood’s main street, and two different zoning districts govern it. The city’s zoning map places the 2000 block of Fillmore in the Upper Fillmore Neighborhood Commercial District (Planning Code Section 718), and the parcel file shows that district on Fillmore addresses from about 1900 to 2131. South of there, Fillmore addresses from about 1500 to 1850, toward Geary, fall in the Fillmore Street Neighborhood Commercial Transit District (Section 760).

The difference matters if you are buying a mixed-use building or a flat above a storefront. Each district sets its own rules for ground-floor uses, residential density and parking, so read the specific Planning Code section rather than assuming the whole street works the same way.

Commercial zoning also reaches beyond Fillmore. On Sutter Street, parcels numbered from about 2100 to 2476 carry NC-2, NC-3 and the new RTO-C designation in the current parcel file, so a building that looks purely residential from the sidewalk may sit in a mixed-use district.

What the housing stock looks like

The assessor’s 2025 secured roll lists 3,138 parcels in its Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood. Each condominium unit is its own parcel, so condos dominate the count even though many sit in older converted buildings.

Assessor property class	Parcels (2025 roll)
Condominium (plus 21 below-market-rate condos)	1,608
Single-family dwelling	347
Flats and duplex	287
Apartment building, 5 to 14 units	117
Apartment building, 15 or more units	107
Apartment building, 4 units or fewer	61
Flat and store, 4 units or fewer	61

By recorded year built, 1,077 parcels date to 1900 through 1909 and another 199 to before 1900, which places much of the stock in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. A second wave shows up later: 165 parcels from the 1960s, then 589 from the 1980s and 301 from the 1990s, mostly condominium units in newer buildings. Treat the assessor’s year as approximate and confirm it in the building record.

In practice, buyers here usually compare a condo in a converted Victorian or Edwardian building, a condo in a 1980s or later building with an HOA, a full flat in a two- or three-unit building, and the occasional single-family house. Our guide to Victorian and Edwardian homes in San Francisco covers what to inspect in the older buildings.

The area also holds an individual city landmark, the Madame C.J. Walker Home for Girls and Women, a charitable residence that operated from 1921 to 1972 (Wikipedia). On a landmark property, exterior changes need preservation review on top of the usual permits.

Zoning on the residential blocks

Away from the commercial streets, the parcel file shows a mix of house and multifamily districts. On Pine Street west of Fillmore, 147 of the 172 parcels in that stretch are RH-2 (two-unit residential), with smaller numbers of RH-3 and RM-1. On Sutter Street’s western blocks, from about 2480 to 2755, the parcels are mostly RH-3.

San Francisco’s Family Zoning Plan took effect January 12, 2026, after final Board of Supervisors approval on December 9, 2025 (SF Planning). It created a new Residential Transit Oriented – Commercial (RTO-C) district that allows commercial uses on more parcels, and it concentrated on transit routes and commercial streets in the north and west of the city. Some Sutter Street parcels in this area now carry RTO-C, so check the current zoning of any parcel before relying on an older appraisal or listing description.

Getting around

Lower Pacific Heights is a bus neighborhood with no rail line of its own. SFMTA’s route list includes the lines most residents use here:

38 Geary and 38R Geary Rapid on the southern edge, toward downtown and the Richmond.
22 Fillmore along the commercial spine, north to the Marina and south through the Western Addition.
24 Divisadero on the west side.
1 California and 2 Sutter on the east-west streets their names indicate.
43 Masonic, which SFMTA routes along Presidio Avenue and a short stretch of Geary at the western edge.

Building and hazard checks

Many apartment buildings here fall within DBI’s Mandatory Soft Story Program. The program reaches wood-frame apartment buildings with at least five units whose construction permit was applied for before January 1, 1978, if they stand three or more stories tall (or two over a basement or crawl space) and were never strengthened. DBI publishes a list of covered properties, and our seismic retrofit guide for multifamily owners explains what a completed retrofit should look like on paper.

The California Geological Survey maps liquefaction and earthquake-induced landslide zones under the 1990 Seismic Hazards Mapping Act, and a seller whose property lies in a mapped zone must disclose it. In SF Planning’s GIS copy of those state maps, checked in October 2026, no liquefaction or landslide zone falls within Lower Pacific Heights from Presidio Avenue east to about Franklin Street. Still confirm the specific parcel in the CGS Earthquake Zones app; our San Francisco hazard maps guide explains how.

Rentals add their own rules. Units whose first certificate of occupancy was issued after June 13, 1979 are partially exempt from local rent increase limits, but since January 20, 2020 they have been covered by the Rent Ordinance’s just-cause eviction rules (SF Rent Board). That makes the building’s age and the tenancy history part of the price conversation for any occupied unit.

Selling a home in Lower Pacific Heights

Buyers here are usually choosing between a condo, a TIC share and a full flat, often in buildings of similar age on nearby blocks. A seller does best when the listing makes the ownership form and the building’s condition plain from the start.

Pull the 3R report early. It shows the permitted use and number of units, which buyers compare against what they see. Our San Francisco seller requirements page covers the 3R report, transfer tax and the water and energy inspection.
Assemble the HOA or TIC file. For a condo, that means the documents state law requires; see our guide to San Francisco condos. For a TIC, have the agreement, loan terms and any conversion history ready, as described in our TIC guide.
Document seismic work. If the building was on the soft-story list, include the permit and completion record.
Know your zoning. If the parcel is on Fillmore, Sutter or Divisadero, state the current district so a buyer of a mixed-use building is not surprised.

The market report on this page shows current figures for the neighborhood. Our guide to selling in San Francisco covers pricing and marketing.

Questions people ask

Is Lower Pacific Heights the same as Pacific Heights?

No. Pacific Heights is uphill, north of California Street. Lower Pacific Heights lies between California Street and Geary Boulevard, and its housing is more condos, flats and apartment buildings than large single-family houses.

Is Japantown part of Lower Pacific Heights?

It depends on the map. Japantown sits north of Geary, so some sources include it in Lower Pacific Heights and others treat it as part of the Western Addition. Confirm the MLS area for any specific listing.

What zoning applies on Fillmore Street?

The upper blocks, around the 1900 to 2100 addresses, are in the Upper Fillmore Neighborhood Commercial District (Planning Code Section 718). Addresses from about 1500 to 1850, toward Geary, are in the Fillmore Street Neighborhood Commercial Transit District (Section 760).

Are most homes here condos?

By parcel count, yes. The 2025 assessor roll lists 1,608 condominium parcels out of 3,138 in its Lower Pacific Heights neighborhood, alongside 347 single-family dwellings and 287 flats and duplexes.

Did the Family Zoning Plan change anything here?

It took effect January 12, 2026 and created the RTO-C district, which now appears on some Sutter Street parcels in the area. Check the current zoning of a parcel before you rely on older documents.

Is there BART or Muni Metro in Lower Pacific Heights?

No. The neighborhood is served by buses, mainly the 38 Geary and 38R Geary Rapid, 22 Fillmore, 24 Divisadero, 1 California, 2 Sutter and 43 Masonic.

If you own in Lower Pacific Heights and want to know how your building type is selling right now, request a home valuation and we will walk you through the comparable sales.

Sources & notes

Last reviewed October 2026 by Matthew Martinez.