A 58-story Millennium Tower high-rise in San Francisco has sunk “16 inches” since its completion seven years ago. Moreover, it is not sinking evenly; therefore, it is tilting more and more as weight pushes it down.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Millennium Tower contains luxury condos that were advertised as homes for the rich and famous but now tilt “an estimated two to four inches at [its] base and 14 inches at the top.”
Seventy-six-year-old Pamela Buttery–a former real estate agent and current Millennium Tower resident–said she began noticing that her floors were tilting about “six years ago.” The Associated Press reports that Buttery was practicing golf and noticed “the ball kept veering to the same corner of her living room.” Buttery’s condo is on the 57th story and she said, “What concerns me most is the tilting. Is it safe to stay here? For how long?”
Buttery is not the only one with questions. And the fact that the Millennium Tower sits in “a major earthquake zone” does not help matters in the least.
Documents have been leaked that show “exchanges between the city’s Department of Building Inspection and Millennium Partners, the developer.” Those exchanges appear to show that “both sides knew the building was sinking more than anticipated before it opened in late 2009, but neither made that information public.”
Finger pointing has begun, with “city officials…developers and politicians arguing over who is to blame.” All the while, geotechnical engineer Pat Shires says the luxury high rise could sink another 8 to 15 inches.
Residents just want answers. Attorney Jerry Dodson “paid $2.1 million in 2009 for his two-bedroom apartment on the 42nd floor,” and he is simply asking, “When is this building going to stop sinking?”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of “Bullets with AWR Hawkins,” a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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