400 Howard St

Where 400 Howard 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

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

The typical floor has 881 ft of exterior wall, and across 9 residential floors the building carries 7,931 ft of it in total, divided among the 237 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.65: 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 26.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 400 Howard St scores 35 out of 100

The weighted components add to 42, but the score is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 82 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 82 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 2008

San Francisco records this building as going up in 2008, 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 62% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 358,927 sq ft of converted floor, or $145.4M in total — about $613K for each of the 237 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 135,908 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 237 homes is $86.7M.

What would have to be true

A $58.6M gap before any grant, $48.6M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 36% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $58.6M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 237 homes finishing at $613K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 68% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $242 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $571K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $48.6M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 400 Howard St, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 400 Howard St re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

400 Howard 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 4% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 75th 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(SD) zone

160th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 63rd of 66 zoned C-3-O(SD) — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.

San Francisco places 165 of the screened buildings in Financial District/South Beach. 400 Howard 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 82 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 40,456 homes. The group’s top scorer is 870 Market St, at 100.

66 of the screened buildings are zoned C-3-O(SD). 400 Howard St ranks 63rd of them against a median score of 72. 37 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 59 ft from a facade against this building’s 82 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 18,546 homes. The group’s top scorer is 140 New Montgomery St, at 100.

Its nearest match in size: 464 California St

The screened building closest to 400 Howard St in converted floor area is 464 California St: 342,046 sq ft over 12 stories, against 358,927 sq ft over 10 here.

464 California St scores 82 and 400 Howard St only 35, and the difference is a hard fail rather than a matter of degree: the lower one is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 82 ft from a facade, past the 80 ft threshold beyond which conversion requires carving a light well. On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 2,400 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 400 Howard 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 400 Howard St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 310 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 235 1st St
  10 stories · 54% daylit · 347 estimated homes · scores 32/100 (Marginal)
  about 310 ft away
• 500 Howard St
  10 stories · 69% daylit · 187 estimated homes · scores 52/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 340 ft away
• 101 1st St
  63 stories · 59% daylit · 1,457 estimated homes · scores 35/100 (Marginal)
  about 380 ft away
• 199 Fremont St
  25 stories · 75% daylit · 414 estimated homes · scores 67/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 420 ft away