The Millennium Tower in San Francisco has sunk another inch in the past seven months, but on the brighter side, engineers have found a potential fix, according to SFGate.
The residential tower has been plagued with issues since last year when news got out that it had sunk 16 inches since its opening in 2008 (make it 17 now). It’s not just sinking, either—the tower is settling unevenly and leaning more towards the northern side in a 14-inch tilt from the building’s roof.
Millennium Partners, the developers behind the Handel Architects–designed building, hired a team of engineers, who believe they have a solution that will prop the tower back up. According to LERA and DeSimone Consulting Engineers, drilling 50 to 100 new piles down to bedrock from the building’s basement will rectify the problem. This fix could cost up to $150 million.
The building’s million-dollar apartments have attracted big-name buyers, including San Francisco Giants outfielder Hunter Pence and former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. But when it was revealed that the tower had sunk more than its predicted six inches, residents filed individual lawsuits. The tower’s homeowners association (HOA) also filed a case against both Millennium Partners and Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the firm behind the adjacent Transbay Transit Center.
The gravity of the situation is increasing as a new report by Arup, which has conducted previous reports on the tower, reveals that the rate of sinking remains constant with no sign of let up. “This accelerated movement highlights the need to retrofit the foundation as soon as possible,” Daniel Petrocelli, who is the lead attorney against the developer, said in a statement in NBC Bay Area.
A statement released by the developers in response to the report continued to pin the blame on construction of nearby developments, which they claim destabilize the soil under the tower. “We are hopeful that the HOA will take steps to protect the building from further harm from adjacent construction at the Transbay Transit Center and Salesforce Tower projects,” the statement read. “Our top priority has always been getting to a fix.”
