505 Howard St
505 Howard St is a 10-story building in Downtown San Francisco with 65% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 213 homes and scores it 35 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-11 · Screened 2026-10-12 · Marginal
Where 505 Howard St is
Its block in Downtown San Francisco, drawn from San Francisco's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 505 Howard St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Every floor carries 12,143 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 9 residential floors that is 109,287 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 505 Howard St, 2026-10-12.
| Suitability scoreMarginal | 35 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 146 ft LiDAR (2010) height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 10 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 34,434 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 65% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 82 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 12,143 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 213 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 309,910 sq ft | $125.5M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $47.6M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltSan Francisco's own record of the construction year | 2014 |
| ZoningFinancial District/South Beach | C-3-O(SD) |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
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 786 ft of exterior wall, and across 9 residential floors the building carries 7,072 ft of it in total, divided among the 213 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.70: 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 23.7 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 505 Howard St scores 35 out of 100
The weighted components add to 45, 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.
Score components for 505 Howard St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency65% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 49 | 45% | 22.3 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 82 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 0 | 25% | 0.0 |
| Scale213 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 30% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 50 | 15% | 7.5 |
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 2014
San Francisco records this building as going up in 2014, 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 65% daylight figure above deserves.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 309,910 sq ft of converted floor, or $125.5M in total — about $589K for each of the 213 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 505 Howard 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 109,287 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 213 homes is $78.0M.
What would have to be true
A $47.6M gap before any grant, $37.6M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 32% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $47.6M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 213 homes finishing at $589K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 61% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $252 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $542K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $37.6M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 505 Howard St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 505 Howard St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 32% downto 508 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 47% downto $139/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 48% upto $542K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 505 Howard St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Francisco
505 Howard St ranks 196th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.
Its floor plate is better lit than 4% of them, and shallower than 3% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 84th 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. 505 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). 505 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: 875 Stevenson St
The screened building closest to 505 Howard St in converted floor area is 875 Stevenson St: 321,074 sq ft over 10 stories, against 309,910 sq ft over 10 here.
875 Stevenson St scores 58 and 505 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 7,200 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 505 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 505 Howard St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 150 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 234 1st St7 stories · 96% daylit · 83 estimated homes · scores 93/100 (Strong candidate)about 150 ft away
- 543 Howard St5 stories · 93% daylit · 56 estimated homes · scores 87/100 (Strong candidate)about 200 ft away
- 500 Howard St10 stories · 69% daylit · 187 estimated homes · scores 52/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 250 ft away
- 235 1st St10 stories · 54% daylit · 347 estimated homes · scores 32/100 (Marginal)about 360 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.