255 W Julian St
255 W Julian St is a 8-story building in Downtown San Jose with 92% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 79 homes and scores it 92 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-09-12 · Strong candidate
Where 255 W Julian St is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 255 W Julian St
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Every floor carries 924 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 7 residential floors that is 6,471 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 255 W Julian St, 2026-09-12.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 92 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 99 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 8 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 11,628 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 92% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 42 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 924 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 79 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 81,396 sq ft | $33.0M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$609K |
| Modeled RESIDE grantbelow the statutory cap | $4.7M |
| 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
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 472 ft of exterior wall, and across 7 residential floors the building carries 3,307 ft of it in total, divided among the 79 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.65: 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 11.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 255 W Julian St scores 92 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 94, Scale 53, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 255 W Julian 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 42 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 94 | 25% | 23.6 |
| Scale79 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 53 | 15% | 7.9 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 16% 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 scale, at 53 out of 100: 79 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 81,396 sq ft of converted floor, or $33.0M in total — about $417K for each of the 79 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 255 W Julian 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 6,471 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 79 homes is $33.6M.
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 $33.0M of work with $609K to spare. Value per home would have to fall to $417K — 2% below the assumption — before the conversion stopped penciling, or all-in cost would have to rise from $405 to $412 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 255 W Julian St:
Single-assumption flip points for 255 W Julian 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 | 16% downto $357K |
| Average unit size | 18% upto 881 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 25% upto $326/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 255 W Julian St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
255 W Julian St ranks 11th of the 82 buildings screened here, against a median score of 64.
Its floor plate is better lit than 84% of them, and shallower than 89% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 73rd largest by estimated homes. The full survey of all 82 buildings ranks and maps every one of them, and the list by address links each to its own page.
Within the DC zone
9th of 72 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 255 W Julian St ranks 9th of them against a median score of 61. 31 score 70 or more, their median deepest interior point is 68 ft from a facade against this building’s 42 ft, and together they would hold an estimated 23,276 homes. The group’s top scorer is 1 Almaden Blvd, at 100.
Its nearest match in size: 33 E San Fernando St
The screened building closest to 255 W Julian St in converted floor area is 33 E San Fernando St: 81,377 sq ft over 5 stories, against 81,396 sq ft over 8 here.
255 W Julian St scores 92 to its 60, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 94 out of 100 here, 31 there (deepest interior point 67 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 33 E San Fernando St falls short even with the modeled grant, while 255 W Julian St pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 2,600 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 255 W Julian St $4.7M, 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 255 W Julian St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 440 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 188 W St James St20 stories · 47% daylit · 640 estimated homes · scores 25/100 (Unlikely)about 440 ft away
- 199 Bassett St6 stories · 42% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 710 ft away
- 111 N Market St12 stories · 81% daylit · 185 estimated homes · scores 85/100 (Strong candidate)about 730 ft away
- 192 W St John St18 stories · 54% daylit · already a condominium buildingabout 790 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.