This 1,474-square-foot home at Bosa’s Bayside is priced at $1.335 million for a 14th floor model. Two bedrooms, a den and views.

As in all real estate markets, a million dollars Downtown is a magical figure, even if it won’t deliver a palace. For palace perspectives, consider the 3,714-square-foot, one-bedroom penthouse at The Harbor Club that sold for $7.25 million and its many pricey peers. On the other hand, plenty of urban homes are available for about a third that million dollar price, including a big selection at Smart Corner. But they’re not so fun to dream about.

Clearly aware of what a million-dollar view looks like in America’s Finest City is Cheri Jessup, a real estate agent with Prudential Realty. Standing inside a three-bedroom, 17th floor home in The Renaissance Building, she shows off the Marina District in the southwest corner of Downtown, with the Columbia District to the north and the Gaslamp Quarter to the east. “The worst mistake in my life was not putting a deposit down on Park Place,” sighs Jessup, pointing out one of the towers visible through the window.

A Downtown home with a million-dollar price tag comes with more than just upper-floor views. Owners also enjoy a 24-hour concierge, dry cleaning services, security, two parking spaces, at least one pool, an exercise room and even an OK for up to two pets. “If you sit in the lobby of Park Place long enough, you will see every kind of dog breed in existence,” says Jessup.

Jan and Roseanna Stovall, along with their two Dalmatians, became urban owners last December. After 20 years of commuting from Carlsbad, the Stovalls have stopped listening to traffic reports. “I wasted so many years of my life,” says Roseanna Stovall who works Downtown for a federal judge. “We could have been living like this all along. When you’re younger there’s so much time to spend you get frivolous with it. We’ve reclaimed our lives; they no longer belong to the freeway or upkeep of a house.” The couple traded life in a 2,200-square-foot house with a basement for a 1,400-square-foot condo. “We don’t miss anything,” Roseanna says. Nor do their dogs. “By the time we got home from work before, who wanted to walk the dogs?” she says. Now Conner and Dottie are walked four times daily.

While increasing foreclosures and decreasing home prices are the norm in many San Diego neighborhoods, premier view property remains largely untouched by those trends.

“Baby boomers are wanting a change,” Jessup says of some of her clients. “People want to walk to dinner.” Trading the responsibilities of home ownership in the suburbs for city life, many empty nesters find convenient theater and fine dining attractive. “When we lived in Carlsbad, we’d come here to do stuff,” says Roseanna Stovall, who in her mid-50s fits Jessup’s profile. But as traffic continued to worsen and commute times increased, weekends were spent recovering rather than enjoying.

Other buyers hot for a piece of Downtown are those who live outside the county, including a strong helping of Canadians. “Why not?” Stovall asks, “There’s nothing you need to worry about while you’re gone.”

Building hopping is among the newest trends.

Pets are welcome in most Downtown housing units, including Flash, the lucky cat who lives with Danny Chan and his fiancée, Charlene Wang, in a 2,400-square-foot home at Electra.

“Many of my clients already live here and want the newest and best,” says Jessup. “They building hop.” A Downtown resident herself, Jessup has her name on what she calls the “no list yet” list for Bosa’s future project on the Office Depot land, sparing herself from more non-buyer’s remorse.

Farther north on Pacific Highway, and slated to open in 2009, is Bayside which promises to be one of San Diego’s swankiest towers and Bosa’s seventh in San Diego. For a condo there in the $941,000 to $1.1 million price range, one can expect a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1,400-square-foot home with a den, balcony and access to an entertainment lounge complete with a full kitchen loaded with top-of-the-line stainless steel Viking and Miele appliances, plasma screen televisions, a pool table, and a screening room with cinema seating. If that’s not enough, Bayside also boasts an Entocea, (an exclusive wine-tasting lounge) and wine bottle storage. A dining room, a fitness center with both a sauna and steam room, and a lap pool also come standard. Electric car charging stations satisfy the environmentally minded.

Jessup often steers clients in the million dollar range to higher floor units, calling it a way to retain a view as future developments inevitably sprout. “The views will change and some people are getting scared,” says Jessup. She recently sold a penthouse for an owner worried about view intrusion from the proposed Pacific Gateway project slated to replace the old Navy Broadway Complex. Most times, however, change for those with million dollar homes doesn’t necessarily mean worse views, just different views, she says.

Downtown’s most prolific builder, Bosa has steadily increased the quality and price of its homes since kicking off the condo boom with Horizons. Among its newest, and most exciting to Padres’ fans, is The Legend, the only residential tower within the gates of Petco Park. For $1.1 million, buyers can obtain a 1,600-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bathroom home with a den and balcony. Full-height windows frame the views. With the price tag in this East Village tower comes a fitness center with steam and sauna, as well as an outdoor pool and spa with barbecues overlooking the ballpark.

Those seeking to feel a part of San Diego history can move into new condos at Electra, a renovation and expansion of a steam power building. Retaining the original architecture of the old turbine and boiler plant, Electra finished construction behind schedule, losing a number of buyers and leaving about 50 new units move-in ready. Danny Chan, 30, and his fiancée Charlene Wang, 27, bought a 2,400-square-foot, three-level ground floor condo in 2005. They are turning their windowless, first-floor space into a movie theater.

The couple own a tech company in Mira Mesa and carpool to work. When home, Wang says it is great to be able to walk wherever she needs to go. “The weather is breezy and you can smell the ocean,” says the Bay Area native.

Jessup says the average Downtown condo remains on the market for about 90 days. Downtown’s real estate agents are a close-knit group, she says, and anyone interested in buying should be sure to consult someone familiar with the different neighborhoods and their distinct personalities.

With average HOA fees creeping toward four figures, the move-in math can seem daunting. But after decades of underestimating the cost of commuting, oil prices are demanding homeowners recalculate the numbers.

A billion dollar view from a million dollar condo.

Based on a 30-mile round-trip commute five days a week, getting 17 miles per gallon at $4.75 a gallon, the total (which includes cost per mile for repairs, registration, maintenance, taxes, financing, insurance and depreciation) is a monthly expense of about $500. Tack on another $180 for parking and the HOA seems more manageable.

In San Diego, urban living used to mean suffering with limited access to grocery stores and healthy food. Not so today. Horton Square Farmer’s Market on Thursdays, East Village’s Farmer’s Market on Saturdays, and Third Avenue’s Market on Sundays offer locally grown fruits and vegetables. Last month Little Italy’s Mercato opened. The Ralphs on First Avenue and the Albertsons on G Street are full-service grocery stores with large selections of healthy and gourmet foods.

So, here’s about what that million-dollar view will cost: A sales price of $1 million with 20 percent down ($200,000) leaves an $800,000 mortgage. With 1.125 percent in property taxes and financing at 7 percent, the monthly costs will be about $6,400. Add $800 in HOA fees and the nut exceeds $7,000. If a couple who both work Downtown move in, commuting cost savings approach $16,000, or about two and a half months of mortgage payments. The gym membership can be canceled, as each of these properties come with fitness centers, saving another grand a year or so.

Finally consider the health benefits of walking around a gorgeous bayfront, drinking and dining without parking or driving hassles, no landscaping to maintain and a wealth of entertainment venues. All are a nice return on that $1 million investment.