55 Almaden Blvd
55 Almaden Blvd is a 8-story building in Downtown San Jose with 94% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 125 homes and scores it 97 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-10-20 · Strong candidate
Where 55 Almaden Blvd is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 55 Almaden Blvd
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Every floor carries 1,154 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 8,079 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 55 Almaden Blvd, 2026-10-20.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 97 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom OpenStreetMap, “Building, way 39018264”, in place of the 128 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 8 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 18,010 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 94% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 41 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 1,154 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 125 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 126,071 sq ft | $51.1M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$2.1M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantbelow the statutory cap | $7.5M |
| 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
36 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 639 ft of exterior wall, and across 7 residential floors the building carries 4,472 ft of it in total, divided among the 125 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.55: 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 17.9 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 55 Almaden Blvd scores 97 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 96, Scale 83, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 55 Almaden Blvd. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency94% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 100 | 45% | 45.0 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 41 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 96 | 25% | 24.1 |
| Scale125 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 83 | 15% | 12.5 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 19% 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 83 out of 100: 125 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 126,071 sq ft of converted floor, or $51.1M in total — about $408K for each of the 125 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 55 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 8,079 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 125 homes is $53.1M.
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 $51.1M of work with $2.1M to spare. Value per home would have to fall to $408K — 4% below the assumption — before the conversion stopped penciling, or all-in cost would have to rise from $405 to $421 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 55 Almaden Blvd:
Single-assumption flip points for 55 Almaden Blvd, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Circulation efficiencythe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 16% downto 67% |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 18% downto $348K |
| Average unit size | 19% upto 891 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 29% upto $336/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 55 Almaden Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
55 Almaden Blvd ranks 4th of the 47 buildings screened here, against a median score of 77.
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 30th 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
4th of 40 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
40 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 55 Almaden Blvd ranks 4th 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 41 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: 111 Almaden Blvd
The screened building closest to 55 Almaden Blvd in converted floor area is 111 Almaden Blvd: 127,704 sq ft over 8 stories, against 126,071 sq ft over 8 here.
55 Almaden Blvd scores 97 to its 77, and with the size held roughly equal most of that lead comes from interior depth: 96 out of 100 here, 51 there (deepest interior point 59 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft). On the money they part ways: 111 Almaden Blvd pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant, while 55 Almaden Blvd pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 500 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 55 Almaden Blvd $7.5M, 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 55 Almaden Blvd
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 240 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 99 Almaden Blvd10 stories · 98% daylit · 117 estimated homes · scores 97/100 (Strong candidate)about 240 ft away
- 1 Almaden Blvd12 stories · 94% daylit · 149 estimated homes · scores 100/100 (Strong candidate)about 240 ft away
- 350 W Santa Clara St7 stories · 96% daylit · 115 estimated homes · scores 94/100 (Strong candidate)about 360 ft away
- 333 W San Fernando St18 stories · 46% daylit · 680 estimated homes · scores 23/100 (Unlikely)about 380 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.