99 Almaden Blvd
99 Almaden Blvd is a 10-story building in Downtown San Jose with 98% of its floor area within daylight reach of a facade. This screen estimates 117 homes and scores it 97 out of 100 for office-to-residential conversion suitability.
CA-18 · Screened 2026-10-20 · Strong candidate
Where 99 Almaden Blvd is
Its block in Downtown San Jose, drawn from San Jose's own building outlines and street centerlines.
- Already housing
- Not screened
- 99 Almaden Blvd
This building's conversion pencils at default assumptions without any subsidy.
Every floor carries 308 sq ft of windowless core — area that must be gutted, seismically braced and sprinklered but can never be rented as an apartment. Across 9 residential floors that is 2,775 sq ft of cost carrying no revenue.
Modeled conversion metrics for 99 Almaden Blvd, 2026-10-20.
| Suitability scoreStrong candidate | 97 / 100 |
|---|---|
| Storiesfrom Wolff Urban, “99 Almaden”, in place of the 153 ft LiDAR height ÷ 12 ft floor-to-floor | 10 |
| Floor plateper floor, from the city footprint | 12,569 sq ft |
| Daylight efficiencyshare within 35 ft of a facade | 98% |
| Deepest interior pointviability threshold is 80 ft | 37 ft |
| Windowless coreper floor — renovated but never rentable | 308 sq ft |
| Estimated homesat 750 sq ft average | 117 |
| Conversion cost$405/sq ft all-in on 113,118 sq ft | $45.8M |
| Gap before grantpencils unsubsidized | -$3.9M |
| Modeled RESIDE grantbelow the statutory cap | $7.0M |
| 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
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 509 ft of exterior wall, and across 9 residential floors the building carries 4,581 ft of it in total, divided among the 117 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 13.0 homes per floor, repeated on every residential floor, since this building's outline does not change as it rises.
Why 99 Almaden Blvd scores 97 out of 100
Daylight efficiency 100, Interior depth 100, Scale 78, Finance 100 — each out of 100, then weighted.
Score components for 99 Almaden Blvd. Points are the subscore times its weight.
| Component | Subscore | Weight | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight efficiency98% of the floor area within 35 ft of a facade, scored from 40% up to 90% | 100 | 45% | 45.0 |
| Interior depthdeepest interior point 37 ft from a facade, scored from 80 ft down to 40 ft | 100 | 25% | 25.0 |
| Scale117 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150 | 78 | 15% | 11.7 |
| Financecompleted value covers conversion cost with 24% 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 78 out of 100: 117 estimated homes, scored from 0 up to 150.
What the conversion would cost
$405 per square foot all-in across 113,118 sq ft of converted floor, or $45.8M in total — about $392K for each of the 117 homes.
All-in cost per square foot for 99 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 2,775 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 117 homes is $49.7M.
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 $45.8M of work with $3.9M to spare. Value per home would have to fall to $392K — 8% below the assumption — before the conversion stopped penciling, or all-in cost would have to rise from $405 to $440 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 99 Almaden Blvd:
Single-assumption flip points for 99 Almaden Blvd, each holding the other three at their defaults.
| Circulation efficiencythe binding constraint — the least this building would need | 19% downto 65% |
|---|---|
| Completed value per home | 22% downto $332K |
| Average unit size | 24% upto 929 sq ft |
| Conversion cost per square foot | 37% upto $357/sq ft |
All four are sliders in the survey, where 99 Almaden Blvd re-scores against your own numbers.
How it compares in Downtown San Jose
99 Almaden Blvd ranks 3rd of the 47 buildings screened here, against a median score of 77.
Its floor plate is better lit than 89% of them, and shallower than 89% of them at its deepest interior point. On size it is the 31st 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
3rd of 40 zoned DC — the comparison that shares its rules, rents and streets.
40 of the screened buildings are zoned DC. 99 Almaden Blvd ranks 3rd 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 37 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: 350 W Santa Clara St
The screened building closest to 99 Almaden Blvd in converted floor area is 350 W Santa Clara St: 112,430 sq ft over 7 stories, against 113,118 sq ft over 10 here.
The two land within a few points of each other — 97 here, 94 there — so at this size the screen reads them as much the same prospect. On the money they sit in the same place: each pencils without a subsidy. The two stand about 600 ft apart.
Would it qualify for a RESIDE Act grant?
The model awards 99 Almaden Blvd $7.0M, 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.
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 99 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.
- 55 Almaden Blvd8 stories · 94% daylit · 125 estimated homes · scores 97/100 (Strong candidate)about 240 ft away
- 111 Almaden Blvd8 stories · 82% daylit · 111 estimated homes · scores 77/100 (Strong candidate)about 280 ft away
- 333 W San Fernando St18 stories · 46% daylit · 680 estimated homes · scores 23/100 (Unlikely)about 370 ft away
- 95 S Almaden Ave10 stories · 70% daylit · 199 estimated homes · scores 66/100 (Worth a feasibility study)about 370 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.