111 W St John St
111 W St John St is a 12-story building in Downtown San Jose with 92% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 168 homes and scores it 98 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-10-20 · Strong candidate
Where 111 W St John St is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 111 W St John St
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Every floor carries 1,190 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 11 residential floors that is 13,085 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 111 W St John St, 2026-10-20.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 98 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom Bisnow, “Swift Real Estate Partners Sells San Jose Office Complex”, in place of the 167 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 12 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 15,566 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 92% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 44 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 1,190 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 168 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 171,222 sq ft | $69.3M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$2.1M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltSan Jose does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningDowntown San Jose | DC |
| Opportunity Zonecensus tract 06085500800, 2018 designation | Yes |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
37 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 569 ft of exterior wall, and across 11 residential floors the building carries 6,260 ft of it in total, divided among the 168 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.60: 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 15.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 111 W St John St scores 98 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 91, Scale 100, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 111 W St John St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency92% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 100 | 45% | 45.0 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 44 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 91 | 25% | 22.7 |
| Scale168 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 17% to spare, which tops out the component | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 91 out of 100: deepest interior point 44 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 171,222 sq ft of converted floor, or $69.3M in total — about $413K for each of the 168 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 111 W St John 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 13,085 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 $425K a home, which for 168 homes is $71.4M.
What would have to be true
This one already clears the bar. The question is how much room it has before it stops.
At $425K a home, completed value covers the $69.3M of work with $2.1M to spare. Value per home would have to fall to $413K — 3% below the assumption — before the conversion stopped penciling, or all-in cost would have to rise from $405 to $417 per square foot. Neither is a wide margin in a market that moves, but this building does not need a grant to work.
Each of these, moved on its own, would be enough to undo that for 111 W St John St:
Single-assumption flip points for 111 W St John St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Circulation efficiencythe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 15% downto 68% |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 17% downto $353K |
| Average unit size | 18% upto 885 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 27% upto $330/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 111 W St John St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
111 W St John St ranks 2nd of the 47 buildings screened here, against a median score of 77.
Its floor plate is better lit than 81% of them, and shallower than 77% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 24th largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 47 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.
Within the DC zone
2nd of 40 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
40 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 111 W St John St ranks 2nd of them against a median score of 78. 24 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 59 ft from a facade against this building’s 44 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 8,653 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1 Almaden Blvd, at 100.
Its nearest match in size: 111 N Market St
The screened building closest to 111 W St John St in converted floor area is 111 N Market St: 175,173 sq ft over 10 stories, against 171,222 sq ft over 12 here.
111 W St John St scores 98 to its 85, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from daylight efficiency: 100 out of 100 here, 82 there (81% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90%). On the money they part ways: 111 N Market St pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant, while 111 W St John St pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 200 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 111 W St John 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.
This building does sit in census tract 06085500800, a 2018 designated Opportunity Zone, which Section 201 lets HUD favor — one of the few statutory priorities this screen can actually check.
Other buildings screened near 111 W St John St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 170 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 111 N Market St10 stories · 81% daylit · 151 estimated homes · scores 85/100 (Strong candidate)about 170 ft away
- 188 W St James St20 stories · 47% daylit · already a condominium buildingabout 360 ft away
- 43 N Market St5 stories · 50% daylit · 177 estimated homes · scores 29/100 (Unlikely)about 390 ft away
- 201 N 1st St9 stories · 69% daylit · 237 estimated homes · scores 54/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 610 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.