500 Almaden Blvd
500 Almaden Blvd is a 8-story building in Downtown San Jose with 91% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 170 homes and scores it 94 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-09-12 · Strong candidate
Where 500 Almaden Blvd is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 500 Almaden Blvd
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Every floor carries 2,232 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 15,625 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 500 Almaden Blvd, 2026-09-12.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 94 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 97 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 8 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 25,021 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 91% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 49 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 2,232 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 170 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 175,144 sq ft | $70.9M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$1.3M |
| 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-NT1 |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
39 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 947 ft of exterior wall, and across 7 residential floors the building carries 6,632 ft of it in total, divided among the 170 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is elongated at 0.35: a slab or an L, which is why so much of the floor lies within reach of a window: the outline buys daylight that a square plan of the same area would not. 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 500 Almaden Blvd scores 94 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 77, Scale 100, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 500 Almaden Blvd. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency91% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 100 | 45% | 45.0 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 49 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 77 | 25% | 19.2 |
| Scale170 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| 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 interior depth, at 77 out of 100: deepest interior point 49 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 175,144 sq ft of converted floor, or $70.9M in total — about $417K for each of the 170 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 500 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 15,625 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 170 homes is $72.3M.
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 $70.9M of work with $1.3M 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 $413 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 500 Almaden Blvd:
Single-assumption flip points for 500 Almaden Blvd, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Circulation efficiencythe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 14% downto 69% |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 16% downto $358K |
| Average unit size | 16% upto 868 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 25% upto $325/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 500 Almaden Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
500 Almaden Blvd ranks 8th of the 82 buildings screened here, against a median score of 64.
Its floor plate is better lit than 83% of them, and shallower than 83% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 50th 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.
Its nearest match in size: 101 Paseo De San Antonio
The screened building closest to 500 Almaden Blvd in converted floor area is 101 Paseo De San Antonio: 174,868 sq ft over 7 stories, against 175,144 sq ft over 8 here.
500 Almaden Blvd scores 94 to its 52, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from daylight efficiency: 100 out of 100 here, 58 there (69% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90%). On the money they part ways: 101 Paseo De San Antonio falls short even with the modeled grant, while 500 Almaden Blvd pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 2,700 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 500 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 500 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.
- 488 Almaden Blvd23 stories · 52% daylit · 701 estimated homes · scores 31/100 (Marginal)about 320 ft away
- 477 S Market St7 stories · 97% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 980 ft away
- 2 Pierce Ave7 stories · 80% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 1,150 ft away
- 303 Almaden Blvd13 stories · 59% daylit · 292 estimated homes · scores 35/100 (Marginal)about 1,240 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.