466-472 Atlantic Ave
466-472 Atlantic Ave is a 15-story building in Downtown Boston with 77% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 308 homes and scores it 80 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
MA-7 & MA-8 · Screened 2026-10-04 · Strong candidate
Where 466-472 Atlantic Ave is
Its block in Downtown Boston, drawn from Boston's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 466-472 Atlantic Ave
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Across its 14 residential floors this building carries 86,807 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment.
Modeled conversion metrics for 466-472 Atlantic Ave, 2026-10-04.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 80 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 183 ft aerial-survey height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 15 |
| Height bandsfloor plate by floor range, from the city's roof outlines | Floors 1–13: 28,712 sq ft · Floor 14: 24,267 sq ft · Floor 15: 7,232 sq ft |
| Floor platetypical floor, from the city outlines | 28,712 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 77% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 54 ft |
| Windowless coretypical floor; the building-wide total is in the text above | 6,915 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 308 |
| Conversion cost$360/sq ft all-in on 376,045 sq ft | $135.4M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$610K |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltBoston's own record of the construction year | 1924 |
| ZoningDowntown Boston | M-4 |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
34 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 770 ft of exterior wall, and across 14 residential floors the building carries 10,344 ft of it in total, divided among the 308 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.61: a squarish plan, with enough perimeter for a conventional double-loaded corridor. How window line and plate shape are measured.
At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 22.0 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 466-472 Atlantic Ave scores 80 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 74, Interior depth 65, Scale 100, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 466-472 Atlantic Ave. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency77% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 74 | 45% | 33.2 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 54 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 65 | 25% | 16.3 |
| Scale308 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 8% to spare, which tops out the component | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 65 out of 100: deepest interior point 54 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
Built in 1924
Boston records this building as going up in 1924, which puts it in the interwar stock.
As a rule, steel or concrete frames with punched windows and plates still narrow enough for daylight to reach the middle, often with high ceilings. Among the most convertible stock there is, and the reason so many early conversions were of buildings this age. That is the era’s general tendency rather than a finding about this building — the model reads an outline and a height, and can see nothing inside — but it is the first thing an architect would want to know, and it colours how much confidence the 77% daylight figure above deserves.
What the conversion would cost
$360 per square foot all-in across 376,045 sq ft of converted floor, or $135.4M in total — about $440K for each of the 308 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 466-472 Atlantic Ave: base cost plus the code work a change of use triggers.
| Base conversion cost | $260/sq ft |
|---|---|
| Plumbing risers to every unit | $40/sq ft |
| Operable windows and glazing | $30/sq ft |
| Additional egress stair | $18/sq ft |
| Fire sprinklers (NFPA 13R) | $12/sq ft |
| All-in | $360/sq ft |
That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 86,807 sq ft of windowless core, which has to be gutted, re-plumbed and sprinklered like the rest of the building and then earns nothing. Against it the model sets a completed value of $442K a home, which for 308 homes is $136.0M.
What would have to be true
This one already clears the bar. The question is how much room it has before it stops.
At $442K a home, completed value covers the $135.4M of work with $610K to spare. Value per home would have to fall to $440K — 0% below the assumption — before the conversion stopped penciling, or all-in cost would have to rise from $360 to $362 per square foot. Neither is a wide margin in a market that moves, but this building does not need a grant to work.
Each of these, moved on its own, would be enough to undo that for 466-472 Atlantic Ave:
Single-assumption flip points for 466-472 Atlantic Ave, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Completed value per homethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 8% downto $407K |
|---|---|
| Circulation efficiency | 8% downto 74% |
| Average unit size | 9% upto 815 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 11% upto $288/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 466-472 Atlantic Ave re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown Boston
466-472 Atlantic Ave ranks 66th of the 96 buildings screened here, against a median score of 89.
Its floor plate is better lit than 26% of them, and shallower than 39% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 32nd largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 96 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.
Its nearest match in size: 69-81 Tremont St
The screened building closest to 466-472 Atlantic Ave in converted floor area is 69-81 Tremont St: 335,026 sq ft over 14 stories, against 376,045 sq ft over 15 here.
466-472 Atlantic Ave scores 80 to its 64, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 65 out of 100 here, 20 there (deepest interior point 72 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 69-81 Tremont St pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant, while 466-472 Atlantic Ave pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 2,900 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 466-472 Atlantic Ave $10.0M, on the assumption it qualifies. Whether it does, no published dataset can say.
That figure assumes the building meets the Act’s vacant-and-abandoned test, which turns on code-enforcement and receivership records no city publishes.
It does not sit in a 2018 designated Opportunity Zone, so it would not draw that Section 201 priority.
Other buildings screened near 466-472 Atlantic Ave
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 460 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 518-540 Atlantic Ave35 stories · 66% daylit · 1,214 estimated homes · scores 52/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 460 ft away
- 390-400R Atlantic Ave7 stories · 79% daylit · 85 estimated homes · scores 71/100 (Strong candidate)about 580 ft away
- 150 Oliver St50 stories · 80% daylit · 986 estimated homes · scores 70/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 630 ft away
- 218-230 Congress St12 stories · 82% daylit · 202 estimated homes · scores 85/100 (Strong candidate)about 760 ft away
A screen, not a feasibility study, from outlines and heights rather than plans: the method and how to correct a figure. If you know this building’s interior, you know what this model cannot see.