233 W Santa Clara St
233 W Santa Clara St is a 10-story building in Downtown San Jose with 84% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 126 homes and scores it 81 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-10-20 · Strong candidate
Where 233 W Santa Clara St is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 233 W Santa Clara St
This building does not pencil on its own, but a modeled RESIDE Act grant would close the gap if the building qualified for one.
Every floor carries 2,487 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 22,383 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 233 W Santa Clara St, 2026-10-20.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 81 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom OpenStreetMap, “Hotel De Anza, way 39018269”, in place of the 123 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 10 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 15,612 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 84% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 58 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 2,487 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 126 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 140,510 sq ft | $56.9M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $3.4M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantbelow the statutory cap | $7.6M |
| 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
40 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 557 ft of exterior wall, and across 9 residential floors the building carries 5,010 ft of it in total, divided among the 126 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.63: 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 14.0 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 233 W Santa Clara St scores 81 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 88, Interior depth 56, Scale 84, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 233 W Santa Clara St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency84% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 88 | 45% | 39.7 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 58 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 56 | 25% | 13.9 |
| Scale126 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 84 | 15% | 12.6 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 7% 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 56 out of 100: deepest interior point 58 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 140,510 sq ft of converted floor, or $56.9M in total — about $452K for each of the 126 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 233 W Santa Clara 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 22,383 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 126 homes is $53.5M.
What would have to be true
A $3.4M gap before any grant, which the modeled $7.6M closes. What would reopen it soonest: circulation efficiency 6% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $3.4M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 126 homes finishing at $452K rather than the $425K the model assumes — 6% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $381 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $7.6M moves that threshold to $392K a home. That is below the assumed value, which is why this building counts as penciling with the grant, at market rents — subject to it qualifying under the law's vacant-and-abandoned test, which this data cannot show.
Each of these, moved on its own, would be enough to undo that for 233 W Santa Clara St:
Single-assumption flip points for 233 W Santa Clara St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Circulation efficiencythe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 6% downto 75% |
|---|---|
| Average unit size | 7% upto 801 sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 8% downto $392K |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 12% upto $290/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 233 W Santa Clara St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
233 W Santa Clara St ranks 17th of the 47 buildings screened here, against a median score of 77.
Its floor plate is better lit than 68% of them, and shallower than 57% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 29th 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
16th of 40 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
40 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 233 W Santa Clara St ranks 16th 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 58 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: 1 Almaden Blvd
The screened building closest to 233 W Santa Clara St in converted floor area is 1 Almaden Blvd: 148,774 sq ft over 12 stories, against 140,510 sq ft over 10 here.
233 W Santa Clara St scores 81 to its 100, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from interior depth: 56 out of 100 here, 100 there (deepest interior point 40 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 1 Almaden Blvd pencils without a subsidy, while 233 W Santa Clara St pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant. The two stand about 300 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 233 W Santa Clara St $7.6M, 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 233 W Santa Clara St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 230 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 38 N Almaden Blvd22 stories · 95% daylit · already a condominium buildingabout 230 ft away
- 225 W Santa Clara St15 stories · 51% daylit · 515 estimated homes · scores 29/100 (Unlikely)about 260 ft away
- 333 W Santa Clara St11 stories · 70% daylit · 218 estimated homes · scores 63/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 340 ft away
- 1 Almaden Blvd12 stories · 94% daylit · 149 estimated homes · scores 100/100 (Strong candidate)about 350 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.