150 California St

Where 150 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

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

The typical floor has 617 ft of exterior wall, and across 22 residential floors the building carries 13,568 ft of it in total, divided among the 336 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.49: 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 15.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 150 California St scores 99 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 94, Scale 100, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.

Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 94 out of 100: deepest interior point 42 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 2000

San Francisco records this building as going up in 2000, which puts it in the modern stock.

As a rule, newer systems and better structure, but usually built deep and sealed for office use, and rarely cheap enough to buy at a price that lets a conversion pencil. 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 96% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 328,336 sq ft of converted floor, or $133.0M in total — about $396K for each of the 336 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 12,692 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 336 homes is $123.0M.

What would have to be true

A $10.0M gap before any grant, which the modeled $10.0M closes. What would reopen it soonest: completed value per home under 1% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $10.0M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 336 homes finishing at $396K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 8% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $375 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $366K a home. That is below the assumed value, which is why this building counts as unlocked by the grant — subject to it qualifying under the law's vacant-and-abandoned test, which this data cannot show.

Each of these, moved on its own, would be enough to undo that for 150 California St:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 150 California St re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

150 California St ranks 28th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.

Its floor plate is better lit than 62% of them, and shallower than 57% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 45th 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

26th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 21st 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. 150 California St ranks 26th 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 42 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. 150 California St ranks 21st 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 42 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: 21 1st St

The screened building closest to 150 California St in converted floor area is 21 1st St: 329,687 sq ft over 23 stories, against 328,336 sq ft over 23 here.

150 California St scores 99 to its 81, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 94 out of 100 here, 60 there (deepest interior point 56 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 21 1st St falls short even with the modeled grant, while 150 California St pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant. The two stand about 1,100 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 150 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 150 California St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 180 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 201 Sacramento St
  13 stories · 90% daylit · 217 estimated homes · scores 99/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 180 ft away
• 248 Front St
  8 stories · 87% daylit · 87 estimated homes · scores 85/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 180 ft away
• 220 California St
  6 stories · 100% daylit · 39 estimated homes · scores 89/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 250 ft away
• 201 California St
  17 stories · 83% daylit · 211 estimated homes · scores 83/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 280 ft away