303 Almaden Blvd
303 Almaden Blvd is a 13-story building in Downtown San Jose with 59% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 292 homes and scores it 35 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-09-12 · Marginal
Where 303 Almaden Blvd is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 303 Almaden Blvd
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Every floor carries 15,550 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 12 residential floors that is 186,594 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 303 Almaden Blvd, 2026-09-12.
| Suitability scoreMarginal | 35 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 152 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 13 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 38,384 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 59% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 89 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 15,550 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 292 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 460,603 sq ft | $186.5M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $62.4M |
| 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 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 802 ft of exterior wall, and across 12 residential floors the building carries 9,619 ft of it in total, divided among the 292 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is compact at 0.75: close to a square or a circle, the most efficient envelope an office can have and the least generous one for apartments: little perimeter to divide among homes. How window line and plate shape are measured.
At the model’s 750 sq ft average, the plan works out at about 24.3 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 303 Almaden Blvd scores 35 out of 100
The weighted components add to 41, but the score is capped at 35 because its deepest interior point is 89 ft from a facade, past the 80 ft threshold beyond which conversion requires carving a light well.
Score components for 303 Almaden Blvd. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency59% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 39 | 45% | 17.5 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 89 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 0 | 25% | 0.0 |
| Scale292 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 28% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 53 | 15% | 8.0 |
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 89 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 460,603 sq ft of converted floor, or $186.5M in total — about $639K for each of the 292 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 303 Almaden Blvd: 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 186,594 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 292 homes is $124.1M.
What would have to be true
A $62.4M gap before any grant, $52.4M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 30% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $62.4M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 292 homes finishing at $639K rather than the $425K the model assumes — 50% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $269 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $605K a home. That is still above the $425K assumed, leaving $52.4M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 303 Almaden Blvd, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 303 Almaden Blvd, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 30% downto 527 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 42% upto $605K |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 44% downto $146/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 303 Almaden Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
303 Almaden Blvd ranks 59th of the 82 buildings screened here, against a median score of 64.
Its floor plate is better lit than 24% of them, and shallower than 27% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 26th 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
50th of 72 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 303 Almaden Blvd ranks 50th 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 89 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: 201 N 1st St
The screened building closest to 303 Almaden Blvd in converted floor area is 201 N 1st St: 481,582 sq ft over 13 stories, against 460,603 sq ft over 13 here.
201 N 1st St scores 53 and 303 Almaden Blvd 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 89 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 3,800 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 303 Almaden Blvd $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 303 Almaden Blvd
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 510 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 282 Almaden Blvd9 stories · 65% daylit · 201 estimated homes · scores 48/100 (Marginal)about 510 ft away
- 220 Almaden Blvd25 stories · 50% daylit · 776 estimated homes · scores 28/100 (Unlikely)about 700 ft away
- 300 Park Ave19 stories · 60% daylit · 1,117 estimated homes · scores 35/100 (Marginal)about 730 ft away
- 488 Almaden Blvd23 stories · 52% daylit · 701 estimated homes · scores 31/100 (Marginal)about 940 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.