S.F. official’s home up for sale

SAN FRANCISCO (Map, News) - A San Francisco personality is bringing an updated Hillsborough home to the market.

Wilfred Hsu, The City’s former Port Commission president and a former member of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, purchased the home at 25 Verbalee Lane for $2.25 million in October 2000, according to San Mateo County court records. Since then, he’s had the property expanded and remodeled, his agent Deborah Chelini said.

“It was meant for a family member” who lives in Asia and Europe, Hsu said. But he added, “They changed their plans. As people get older they don’t get as mobile.”

So Hsu, 48, put his design skills to work turning the house from a family remodel to a spec house, he said. The old house they’d purchased had some very dated lava-rock accents of the late 1960s or early 1970s, along with a dearth of bathrooms and a lack of space. So he opened up the rooms, added more bathrooms, lifted up the ceilings and installed new systems, from electricity and climate control to security.

“One of my favorite rooms in the house is the kitchen. I took the ceiling all the way to the roof rafters,” Hsu said. “It was kind of a release of my creative side. It goes from a dinner conversation to pouring over drawings and being on the job site.”

The home is listed as “European contemporary,” with large glass windows and ranch styling.

Hsu doesn’t typically get to work on single-family residential homes, because his company, Group Azure, focuses on condominiums and commercial properties. Currently, he’s building condos in the Hayes Valley called The Hayes. It was development that first brought the Hong Kong native to San Francisco, in the mid-1990s. He’d been working on local projects while living in Beverly Hills — too long a commute, he said.

“I’ve always loved San Francisco, and moving to The City was a great thing,” Hsu said.

Where: Hillsborough

Asking price: $2,999,000

Property tax: $39,000*

What: 4 bedrooms, 5 baths, approximately 3,910 square feet

Amenities: Approximately half-acre lot, privacy, new electrical wiring and plumbing, three-car garage, whole-house security system, wiring for audio system, walnut floors.

Agent: Deborah Chelini, Coldwell Banker, (650) 596-5422, www.deborahchelini.com

*Estimate based on 1.3% of asking price.

kwilliamson@examiner.com