601 E Santa Clara St
601 E Santa Clara St is a 11-story building in Downtown San Jose with 75% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 217 homes and scores it 72 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-09-12 · Strong candidate
No address point in San Jose’s records falls inside this footprint, so it is named by the closest one that no other screened building claims — usually a site entrance, but check the outline on the plan below before relying on the street number.
Where 601 E Santa Clara St is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 601 E Santa Clara St
This building does not pencil at default assumptions, even with a modeled RESIDE Act grant.
Every floor carries 6,686 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 10 residential floors that is 66,861 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 601 E Santa Clara St, 2026-09-12.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 72 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom 133 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 11 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 27,067 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 75% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 61 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 6,686 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 217 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 270,674 sq ft | $109.6M |
| Gap before grantshortfall against completed value | $17.4M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantat the statutory per-award cap | $10.0M |
| BuiltSan Jose does not publish a construction year with this data | — |
| ZoningDowntown San Jose | CG |
| Opportunity Zonenot in a 2018 designated tract | No |
The plan: window line, shape and floor rhythm
34 ft of exterior wall for each home the screen estimates — enough for two- and three-bedroom homes across the plan.
The typical floor has 746 ft of exterior wall, and across 10 residential floors the building carries 7,462 ft of it in total, divided among the 217 homes this screen estimates.
Its plate is moderately compact at 0.61: 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 21.7 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 601 E Santa Clara St scores 72 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 71, Interior depth 47, Scale 100, Finance 89 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 601 E Santa Clara St. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency75% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 71 | 45% | 31.8 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 61 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 47 | 25% | 11.6 |
| Scale217 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 100 | 15% | 15.0 |
| Financeremaining gap is 7% of conversion cost, scored from 60% down to 0% | 89 | 15% | 13.3 |
Most of what it earns comes from daylight efficiency, and what holds it back most is interior depth, at 47 out of 100: deepest interior point 61 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 270,674 sq ft of converted floor, or $109.6M in total — about $505K for each of the 217 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 601 E Santa Clara 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 66,861 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 217 homes is $92.2M.
What would have to be true
A $17.4M gap before any grant, $7.4M after the modeled one. The smallest single change that would close it: average unit size 7% down.
The shortfall before any grant is $17.4M. Closing it from the value side means each of the 217 homes finishing at $505K rather than the $425K the model assumes — 19% more. Closing it from the cost side means getting all-in cost down from $405 to $341 per square foot.
A modeled RESIDE grant of $10.0M moves that threshold to $459K a home. That is still above the $425K assumed, leaving $7.4M uncovered, which is why the grant does not unlock this one.
Nor do all four levers have to move. For 601 E Santa Clara St, one alone would close the gap at:
Single-assumption flip points for 601 E Santa Clara St, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Average unit sizethe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 7% downto 694 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 8% upto $459K |
| Circulation efficiency | 8% upto 86% |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 11% downto $233/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 601 E Santa Clara St re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
601 E Santa Clara St ranks 36th of the 82 buildings screened here, against a median score of 64.
Its floor plate is better lit than 54% of them, and shallower than 56% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 37th 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: 225 E Santa Clara St (south)
The screened building closest to 601 E Santa Clara St in converted floor area is 225 E Santa Clara St (south): 275,984 sq ft over 13 stories, against 270,674 sq ft over 11 here.
601 E Santa Clara St scores 72 to its 90, and with the size held roughly equal most of that shortfall comes from daylight efficiency: 71 out of 100 here, 95 there (87% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90%). On the money they part ways: 225 E Santa Clara St (south) pencils only with the modeled RESIDE grant, while 601 E Santa Clara St falls short even with the modeled grant. The two stand about 2,800 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 601 E Santa Clara St $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 601 E Santa Clara St
The 4 closest the screen also covers, from 720 ft away. They are the colored outlines on the plan at the top of this page.
- 505 E Santa Clara St8 stories · 89% daylit · 192 estimated homes · scores 89/100 (Strong candidate)about 720 ft away
- 225 E Santa Clara St (north)8 stories · 98% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 2,730 ft away
- 225 E Santa Clara St (south)13 stories · 87% daylit · 257 estimated homes · scores 90/100 (Strong candidate)about 2,840 ft away
- 26 N 5th St7 stories · 80% daylit · already an apartment buildingabout 2,880 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.