150 Drumm St

Where 150 Drumm 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

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 769 ft of exterior wall, and across 44 residential floors the building carries 33,844 ft of it in total, divided among the 997 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.72: 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 22.7 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 150 Drumm St scores 35 out of 100

The weighted components add to 41, but the score is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 80 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 80 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 1979

San Francisco records this building as going up in 1979, 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 63% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 1,488,570 sq ft of converted floor, or $602.9M in total — about $605K for each of the 997 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 552,988 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 997 homes is $364.9M.

What would have to be true

A $238.0M gap before any grant, $228.0M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 38% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $238.0M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 997 homes finishing at $605K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 65% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $245 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $595K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $228.0M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 150 Drumm St, one alone would close the gap at:

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

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

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

Its floor plate is better lit than 3% of them, and shallower than 5% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 3rd 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. 150 Drumm 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 80 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 Drumm 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 80 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 California St

The screened building closest to 150 Drumm St in converted floor area is 101 California St: 2,094,832 sq ft over 48 stories, against 1,488,570 sq ft over 45 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 1,000 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 150 Drumm 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 Drumm St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 560 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 50 California St
  37 stories · 73% daylit · 704 estimated homes · scores 61/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 560 ft away
• 20 California St
  7 stories · 100% daylit · 58 estimated homes · scores 91/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 570 ft away
• 1 Market St
  11 stories · 84% daylit · 373 estimated homes · scores 83/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 640 ft away
• 201 Sacramento St
  13 stories · 90% daylit · 217 estimated homes · scores 99/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 710 ft away