101 California St

Where 101 California St is

Its block in Downtown San Francisco, drawn from San Francisco's own building outlines and street centerlines.

The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm

36 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.

The typical floor has 1,383 ft of exterior wall, and across 47 residential floors the building carries 65,022 ft of it in total, divided among the 1,787 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is elongated at 0.29: a slab or an L, which is why so much of the floor lies within reach of a window: the outline buys daylight that a square plan of the same area would not. How window line and plate shape are measured.

At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 38.0 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 101 California St scores 35 out of 100

The weighted components add to 61, but the score is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 81 ft from a facade, past the 80 ft threshold beyond which conversion requires carving a light well.

Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 0 out of 100: deepest interior point 81 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 1983

San Francisco records this building as going up in 1983, which puts it in the late-modern stock.

As a rule, typically the hardest to convert: the deepest plates of any era, large central cores, and floor-to-floor heights tight enough that running residential drainage under a ceiling can be the thing that ends a project. 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 80% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 2,094,832 sq ft of converted floor, or $848.4M in total — about $475K for each of the 1,787 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 418,943 sq ft of windowless core, which has to be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered like the rest of the building and then earns nothing. Against it the model sets a completed value of $366K a home, which for 1,787 homes is $654.0M.

What would have to be true

A $194.4M gap before any grant, $184.4M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 22% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $194.4M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 1,787 homes finishing at $475K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 30% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $312 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $469K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $184.4M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 101 California St, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 101 California St re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

101 California St ranks 196th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.

Its floor plate is better lit than 32% of them, and shallower than 4% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 205 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.

Within Financial District/South Beach and the C-3-O zone

160th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 87th of 88 zoned C-3-O — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.

San Francisco places 165 of the screened buildings in Financial District/South Beach. 101 California St ranks 160th of them against a median score of 88. 121 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 47 ft from a facade against this building’s 81 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 40,456 homes. The group’s top scorer is 870 Market St, at 100.

88 of the screened buildings are zoned C-3-O. 101 California St ranks 87th of them against a median score of 89. 76 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 44 ft from a facade against this building’s 81 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 21,444 homes. The group’s top scorer is 266 Bush St, at 100.

Its nearest match in size: 101 1st St

The screened building closest to 101 California St in converted floor area is 101 1st St: 2,296,587 sq ft over 63 stories, against 2,094,832 sq ft over 48 here.

The two land within a few points of each other — 35 here, 35 there — so at this size the screen reads them as much the same prospect. On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 1,200 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 101 California St $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 101 California St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 260 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 100 Pine St
  33 stories · 83% daylit · 396 estimated homes · scores 81/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 260 ft away
• 201 California St
  17 stories · 83% daylit · 211 estimated homes · scores 83/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 260 ft away
• 1 California St
  32 stories · 75% daylit · 477 estimated homes · scores 62/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 300 ft away
• 150 California St
  23 stories · 96% daylit · 336 estimated homes · scores 99/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 310 ft away