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san francisco neighborhood guide · property nerds® at compass
Marina, San Francisco Homes for sale, recent sales and a Property Nerd’s guide
The flat, filled-land blocks north of Lombard Street, from Fort Mason to the Presidio: 1920s and 1930s houses, flats and apartment buildings, Chestnut Street shops, the Marina Green and the Palace of Fine Arts.
Marina by the numbers
marina by the numbers · live from the mls
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Calculated in your browser from MLS data for Marina (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets). Sales are single-family homes, townhomes and condos.
homes in marina · live from the mls
Homes for sale, for rent and recently sold in Marina
Every active listing, rental and closed sale in Marina from the MLS, updated automatically, with a map of the neighborhood outline.
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Listings come from MLSListings and other MLSs through IDX and show their listing brokerage; confirm details with the listing agent. The map outline is the neighborhood boundary used by our listing search (Marina (approximate outline traced from the boundary streets)); it may not match every local definition.
the story
How Marina came to be
Much of the Marina is made land. The National Park Service notes that the city filled a cove and marsh here for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and the California Geological Survey describes the fill as dune sand and building rubble from the 1906 earthquake, with major filling beginning in 1912. The yacht harbor's West Harbor basin is older: Rec and Park says boats have been berthed there since before 1906. The exposition closed on December 4, 1915. The Park Service counts the Marina Green as a remaining garden element of the fair. The Palace of Fine Arts, designed by Bernard Maybeck to be temporary, was built partly on Presidio land, used by the Army as a warehouse until after World War II, then given to the city and made permanent after a nonprofit formed in 1962; Rec and Park says it is the only exposition structure still on its original site.
By the 1920s, the Park Service says, real estate developers had built a new neighborhood on the fairgrounds. Planning's survey records follow the build-out: the Marina Corporation residential district (1922-39) marks the first wave after the fair, the Baker Street district shows rapid building from 1926 to 1940, a row of period-revival bungalows on the west side of Baker between Bay and Francisco dates from 1927-28, and the blocks between Marina Boulevard, Fillmore, Buchanan and Bay were built almost entirely from 1930 to 1940, the end of the development period. All are California Register-eligible.
The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (magnitude 7.1) was centered about 50 miles away, yet the California Geological Survey reports complete destruction of 35 buildings in the Marina. The loose, wet fill liquefied, broken gas lines started fires and broken water lines hampered firefighting. The state now maps seismic hazard zones to show where ground like this is more likely, and permits in those zones can require a geotechnical investigation.
streets and homes
The streets and the houses
The grid from the south bends as it nears the water. North-south streets from Laguna to Lyon run down to Marina Boulevard, but between Fillmore and Divisadero the plan turns diagonal and curved, with short streets named Cervantes Boulevard, Mallorca Way, Avila Street, Toledo Way, Alhambra Street, Retiro Way, Prado Street, Capra Way, Casa Way and Rico Way. Chestnut Street, zoned for small-scale neighborhood commercial use from about Divisadero to Webster, is the shopping street; Lombard Street at the south edge carries US 101, hotels and more stores.
The house stock is younger and more uniform than its neighbors'. On the Assessor's 2025 roll, about half the single-family houses were recorded as built between 1925 and 1932, on lots of about 2,500 to 3,450 square feet, typically two stories. Houses are 642 of 2,768 residential parcels; the rest are 1,131 condo units, 511 flats buildings and 424 apartment buildings, about 140 of them with 15 or more units. By area sampling, RH-3 three-family zoning covers about a fifth of the guide, RH-1 about a tenth and parks and harbor (zoned public) about a quarter; RTO-C corridor zoning from the 2026 Family Zoning Plan covers about 7%.
Remodels here are as much about the ground as about style. About three-quarters of the Marina's residential parcels sit inside a state-mapped seismic hazard zone on DataSF's layer, so foundation and soil reports matter. The four California Register-eligible districts mean Planning treats many facades as historic resources, so check the parcel's status before changing windows, garage doors or rooflines.
streets in marina
- Marina Boulevard
- Chestnut Street
- Lombard Street
- Bay Street
- Francisco Street
- Beach Street
- Jefferson Street
- North Point Street
- Cervantes Boulevard
- Mallorca Way
- Avila Street
- Toledo Way
- Alhambra Street
- Retiro Way
- Prado Street
- Capra Way
- Casa Way
- Rico Way
- Fillmore Street
- Steiner Street
- Pierce Street
- Scott Street
- Divisadero Street
- Broderick Street
- Baker Street
- Lyon Street
- Laguna Street
- Buchanan Street
- Webster Street
- Octavia Street
- Gough Street
- Franklin Street
parks and places
Parks, shops and landmarks near Marina
- park
Marina Green and the yacht harbor
Rec and Park's 78-acre waterfront parcel holds the Marina Green, with par course stations and big events such as Fleet Week, and the city's small craft harbor of about 35 acres and 727 berths in the West and East (Gashouse Cove) harbors.
- landmark
Palace of Fine Arts
Bernard Maybeck's 1915 exposition building, rebuilt in permanent materials after 1962, on a Rec and Park site of about 19 acres with a lake in front, at Lyon Street and Marina Boulevard. The grounds are open as a park.
- park
Moscone Recreation Center
About 12 acres at 1800 Chestnut Street with one baseball and three softball diamonds, four tennis courts, two basketball courts, a playground and an indoor recreation center.
- shopping
Chestnut Street
The Marina's main shopping street, a small-scale neighborhood commercial district from about Divisadero to Webster; Lombard Street, a block south, is zoned for moderate-scale commercial use.
- park
Crissy Field and Fort Mason
The National Park Service's suggested route runs from Fort Mason across the Great Meadow to the Marina Green and on to the Crissy Field promenade, Fort Point and the Golden Gate Bridge; Crissy Field's restored marsh and dunes show the shoreline before the fill.
schools and commute
School districts and getting around
School districts
The Marina is served by the San Francisco Unified School District, which assigns seats by application rather than by fixed boundaries; an address's attendance-area school is a tiebreaker, not a guarantee. Public schools inside the area include Marina Middle School on Fillmore Street and Claire Lilienthal (listed as K-8) on Divisadero Street; Sherman Elementary is a few blocks south in Cow Hollow. SFUSD is changing its elementary assignment policy and its own pages give different start years, so check the exact address and current rules with SFUSD's Enrollment Center.
Getting around
- Muni: 30 Stockton along Chestnut Street to North Beach and downtown, the 30X Marina Express on weekday peaks, 22 Fillmore, 43 Masonic and 28 19th Avenue (Lombard and Richardson), per SFMTA's current route file.
- The 49 Van Ness/Mission uses the center bus lanes on Van Ness Avenue at the east edge.
- No Muni Metro or BART inside: Chinatown-Rose Pak station (T line) is about 1.0 mi straight-line from the east edge and about 1.8 mi from the middle; Civic Center BART is about 1.6 mi from the southeast corner.
- US 101 runs on Lombard Street and Richardson Avenue into the Presidio Parkway and the Golden Gate Bridge; Lombard is a surface street with heavy traffic.
- On foot or by bike, the Park Service route links Fort Mason, the Marina Green, Crissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge along the shore.
nerd notes
Buying or selling in Marina: what we check
Buying here
- Ground first: about three-quarters of the Marina's residential parcels are in a state-mapped seismic hazard zone. Ask for any geotechnical or foundation reports, look for post-1989 foundation work or retrofits in the permit history, and expect a lender or insurer to ask about it.
- Check the soft-story list. About 225 buildings on the Assessor's Marina blocks appear on the city's soft-story retrofit list, nearly all marked work complete; for a wood-frame building with five or more units, ask for the retrofit permit and certificate of final completion.
- Most listings are condos and flats. Read the CC&Rs, budget, reserve study (note what it says about foundations and seismic work), minutes and assessments, and check current dues; for a TIC, ask about fractional financing.
- Historic status: four California Register-eligible districts cover much of the Marina, so many facades are treated as historic resources. Check the Property Information Map's Preservation tab before planning exterior changes.
- Tenants: units in buildings first built on or before June 13, 1979, which covers most Marina buildings, can carry rent limits and just-cause eviction rules; most single-family homes and condos have eviction protection but not rent control under state Costa-Hawkins law. Confirm with the Rent Board.
Selling here
- Collect foundation, seismic and soft-story paperwork before listing; buyers here will ask for it.
- For condos, order HOA resale documents early and be ready to explain reserves, any seismic or foundation assessments and current dues.
- Describe the block precisely: Marina Boulevard, a curved interior street and a Lombard Street address feel very different, and distance to Chestnut Street and the Marina Green should be given as straight-line figures.
- If the home is in one of the eligible historic districts, say so and note any approved exterior work.
nerd noteCommissions are always negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what's included.
faq
Marina questions, answered
Where does the Marina end and Cow Hollow begin?
At Lombard Street, with Richardson Avenue at the west end. The SFAR 2010 realtor map and the city's SF Find map both draw the line there. MLS sales labeled 'The Marina' sometimes come from south of Lombard, so go by the address.
Is the Marina built on landfill?
Much of it is. The National Park Service and the California Geological Survey describe a cove and marsh filled with dune sand and 1906 rubble, with major filling from 1912, to create the 1915 exposition grounds.
What happened in the Marina in the 1989 earthquake?
The California Geological Survey reports complete destruction of 35 buildings in the Marina, ground failure from liquefaction, fires from broken gas lines and broken water lines that hampered firefighting.
Is the Marina mostly single-family homes?
No. The Assessor's 2025 roll counts 642 single-family dwellings out of 2,768 residential parcels, about 23%. Condo units, flats and apartment buildings make up the rest.
Is Fort Mason part of the Marina?
Fort Mason sits just east of Laguna Street and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. This guide's outline stops at Laguna Street, so Fort Mason is a neighbor, not part of it.
How far is BART?
There is no BART or Muni Metro in the Marina. Civic Center BART is about 1.6 mi straight-line from the southeast corner; the T line's Chinatown-Rose Pak station is about 1.0 mi from the east edge.
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