350 California St

Where 350 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

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

The typical floor has 553 ft of exterior wall, and across 21 residential floors the building carries 11,616 ft of it in total, divided among the 303 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.68: 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 14.4 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 350 California St scores 77 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 84, Interior depth 48, Scale 100, Finance 77 — 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 48 out of 100: deepest interior point 61 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 1976

San Francisco records this building as going up in 1976, 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 82% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 345,855 sq ft of converted floor, or $140.1M in total — about $462K for each of the 303 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 61,682 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 303 homes is $110.9M.

What would have to be true

A $29.2M gap before any grant, $19.2M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 15% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $29.2M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 303 homes finishing at $462K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 26% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $321 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $429K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $19.2M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 350 California St, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 350 California St re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

350 California St ranks 130th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.

Its floor plate is better lit than 36% of them, and shallower than 28% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 52nd 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

108th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 68th 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. 350 California St ranks 108th 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 61 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. 350 California St ranks 68th 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 61 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: 280 Battery St

The screened building closest to 350 California St in converted floor area is 280 Battery St: 346,681 sq ft over 23 stories, against 345,855 sq ft over 22 here.

350 California St scores 77 to its 83, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from interior depth: 48 out of 100 here, 62 there (deepest interior point 55 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 400 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 350 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 350 California St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 140 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 255 Battery St
  8 stories · 83% daylit · 88 estimated homes · scores 73/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 140 ft away
• 483 Sacramento St
  10 stories · 89% daylit · 98 estimated homes · scores 90/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 150 ft away
• 351 California St
  16 stories · 100% daylit · 162 estimated homes · scores 100/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 180 ft away
• 241 Battery St
  30 stories · 79% daylit · 408 estimated homes · scores 72/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 210 ft away