55 2nd St

Where 55 2nd 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

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

The typical floor has 635 ft of exterior wall, and across 23 residential floors the building carries 14,609 ft of it in total, divided among the 404 homes this screen estimates.

Its plate is moderately compact at 0.67: 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 17.6 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.

Why 55 2nd St scores 70 out of 100

Daylight efficiency 73, Interior depth 50, Scale 100, Finance 65 — 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 50 out of 100: deepest interior point 60 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.

Built in 2002

San Francisco records this building as going up in 2002, 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 77% daylight figure above deserves.

What the conversion would cost

$405 per square foot all-in across 495,268 sq ft of converted floor, or $200.6M in total — about $496K for each of the 404 homes.

That cost is charged across every converted square foot, including the 116,285 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 404 homes is $147.9M.

What would have to be true

A $52.7M gap before any grant, $42.7M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 22% down.

The shortfall before any grant is $52.7M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 404 homes finishing at $496K rather than the $366K the model assumes — 36% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $299 per square foot.

A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $472K a home. That is still above the $366K assumed, leaving $42.7M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.

Nor do all four levers have to move. For 55 2nd St, one alone would close the gap at:

All four are sliders in the survey, where 55 2nd St re-scores against your own numbers.

How it compares in Downtown San Francisco

55 2nd St ranks 148th of the 205 buildings screened here, against a median score of 87.

Its floor plate is better lit than 24% of them, and shallower than 29% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 33rd 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

120th of 165 in Financial District/South Beach, 36th 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. 55 2nd St ranks 120th 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 60 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). 55 2nd St ranks 36th 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 60 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: 71 Stevenson St

The screened building closest to 55 2nd St in converted floor area is 71 Stevenson St: 473,447 sq ft over 23 stories, against 495,268 sq ft over 24 here.

The two land within a few points of each other — 70 here, 72 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 300 ft apart.

Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?

The model awards 55 2nd 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 55 2nd St

The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 190 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.

• 71 2nd St
  8 stories · 77% daylit · 111 estimated homes · scores 69/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 190 ft away
• 1 2nd St
  31 stories · 75% daylit · 470 estimated homes · scores 63/100 (Worth a feasibility study)
  about 210 ft away
• 560 Mission St
  31 stories · 77% daylit · 504 estimated homes · scores 73/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 250 ft away
• 71 Stevenson St
  23 stories · 80% daylit · 403 estimated homes · scores 72/100 (Strong candidate)
  about 270 ft away