430 California St
430 California St is a 21-story building in Downtown San Francisco with 88% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 215 homes and scores it 91 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-11 · Screened 2026-10-12 · Strong candidate
Also addressed as 432 California St and 444 California St: San Francisco’s address records place all 3 on this one footprint.
Where 430 California St is
Its block in Downtown San Francisco, drawn from San Francisco's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 430 California St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Every floor carries 1,335 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 20 residential floors that is 26,705 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 430 California St, 2026-10-12.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 91 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 291 ft LiDAR (2010) height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 21 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 11,450 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 88% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 51 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 1,335 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 215 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 228,999 sq ft | $92.7M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $14.1M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltSan Francisco's own record of the construction year | 1968 |
| ZoningFinancial District/South Beach | C-3-O |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
42 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 455 ft of exterior wall, and across 20 residential floors the building carries 9,103 ft of it in total, divided among the 215 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.69: 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 10.8 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 430 California St scores 91 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 97, Interior depth 72, Scale 100, Finance 93 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 430 California St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency88% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 97 | 45% | 43.5 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 51 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 72 | 25% | 18.1 |
| Scale215 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 4% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 93 | 15% | 13.9 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 72 out of 100: deepest interior point 51 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
Built in 1968
San Francisco records this building as going up in 1968, which puts it in the post-war stock.
As a rule, the period when plates got deep and facades became curtain wall: sealed glazing, lower floor-to-floor heights, and mechanical systems designed around a sealed box. Conversions here usually turn on whether the windows can be made to open and whether ceilings survive new plumbing. 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 88% daylight figure above deserves.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 228,999 sq ft of converted floor, or $92.7M in total — about $431K for each of the 215 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 430 California St: base cost plus the code work a change of use triggers.
| Base conversion cost | $260/sq ft |
|---|---|
| Seismic retrofit (change of use) | $45/sq ft |
| Plumbing risers to every unit | $40/sq ft |
| Operable windows and glazing | $30/sq ft |
| Additional egress stair | $18/sq ft |
| Fire sprinklers (NFPA 13R) | $12/sq ft |
| All-in | $405/sq ft |
That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 26,705 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 215 homes is $78.7M.
What would have to be true
A $14.1M gap before any grant, $4.1M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 5% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $14.1M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 215 homes finishing at $431K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 18% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $344 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $385K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $4.1M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 430 California St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 430 California St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 5% downto 713 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 5% upto $385K |
| Circulation efficiency | 5% upto 84% |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 7% downto $242/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 430 California St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Francisco
430 California St ranks 66th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.
Its floor plate is better lit than 50% of them, and shallower than 46% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 83rd 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
54th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 38th 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. 430 California St ranks 54th 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 51 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. 430 California St ranks 38th 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 51 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 Mission St
The screened building closest to 430 California St in converted floor area is 101 Mission St: 222,557 sq ft over 21 stories, against 228,999 sq ft over 21 here.
430 California St scores 91 to its 99, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from interior depth: 72 out of 100 here, 97 there (deepest interior point 41 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 101 Mission St pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant, while 430 California St falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 2,300 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 430 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 430 California St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 160 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 537 Sacramento St15 stories · 73% daylit · 272 estimated homes · scores 64/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 160 ft away
- 464 California St12 stories · 82% daylit · 299 estimated homes · scores 82/100 (Strong candidate)about 160 ft away
- 433 California St11 stories · 85% daylit · 129 estimated homes · scores 84/100 (Strong candidate)about 210 ft away
- 401 California St26 stories · 97% daylit · 181 estimated homes · scores 100/100 (Strong candidate)about 210 ft away
A screen, not a feasibility study, from outlines and heights rather than plans: the method and how to correct a figure. If you know this building’s interior, you know what this model cannot see.