488 Almaden Blvd
488 Almaden Blvd is a 23-story building in Downtown San Jose with 52% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 701 homes and scores it 31 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-09-12 · Marginal
Where 488 Almaden Blvd is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 488 Almaden Blvd
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Every floor carries 27,112 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 22 residential floors that is 596,468 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 488 Almaden Blvd, 2026-09-12.
| Suitability scoreMarginal | 31 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 277 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 23 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 56,994 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 52% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 97 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 27,112 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 701 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 1,253,862 sq ft | $507.8M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $209.9M |
| 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
32 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 1,016 ft of exterior wall, and across 22 residential floors the building carries 22,346 ft of it in total, divided among the 701 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.69: 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 31.9 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 488 Almaden Blvd scores 31 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 25, Interior depth 0, Scale 100, Finance 34 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 488 Almaden Blvd. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency52% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 25 | 45% | 11.2 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 97 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 0 | 25% | 0.0 |
| Scale701 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 39% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 34 | 15% | 5.2 |
Most of what it earns comes from scale, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 0 out of 100: deepest interior point 97 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 1,253,862 sq ft of converted floor, or $507.8M in total — about $724K for each of the 701 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 488 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 596,468 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 701 homes is $297.9M.
What would have to be true
A $209.9M gap before any grant, $199.9M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 40% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $209.9M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 701 homes finishing at $724K rather than the $425K the model assumes — 70% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $238 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $710K a home. That is still above the $425K assumed, leaving $199.9M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 488 Almaden Blvd, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 488 Almaden Blvd, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 40% downto 449 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Conversion cost per square foot | 61% downto $101/sq ft |
| Completed value per home | 67% upto $710K |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 488 Almaden Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
488 Almaden Blvd ranks 71st of the 82 buildings screened here, against a median score of 64.
Its floor plate is better lit than 15% of them, and shallower than 17% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 9th 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
61st of 72 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
72 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 488 Almaden Blvd ranks 61st 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 97 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: 188 W St James St
The screened building closest to 488 Almaden Blvd in converted floor area is 188 W St James St: 1,279,266 sq ft over 20 stories, against 1,253,862 sq ft over 23 here.
488 Almaden Blvd scores 31 to its 25, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from daylight efficiency: 25 out of 100 here, 14 there (47% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90%). On the money they sit in the same place: each falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 4,100 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 488 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 488 Almaden Blvd
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 320 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 500 Almaden Blvd8 stories · 91% daylit · 170 estimated homes · scores 94/100 (Strong candidate)about 320 ft away
- 477 S Market St7 stories · 97% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 920 ft away
- 303 Almaden Blvd13 stories · 59% daylit · 292 estimated homes · scores 35/100 (Marginal)about 940 ft away
- 282 Almaden Blvd9 stories · 65% daylit · 201 estimated homes · scores 48/100 (Marginal)about 1,180 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.