On Friday, city inspectors went down the Millennium Tower to carry out an inspection in the sinking building following a halt in the $100-million construction work to address the stability concerns.
A team of building, electrical and plumbing inspectors has taken a close look at the 60-story luxury residential skyscraper.
“We confirmed that the life-safety systems are operational, and that the building is functioning properly and remains habitable,” communication director for the Department of Building Inspections, Patrick Hannan, said. “We documented visible signs that settlement has occurred but saw no obvious variations from previous inspections and did not issue any code violations.”
The scrutiny was launched following the announcement of the building’s homeowners association that the recent monitoring of the tower has “indicated an increased rate of settlement associated with pile installation.”
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have placed a two- to four-week moratorium on pile installation while we try to better understand the mechanisms associated with the increased settlement rate and available means of mitigating this,” building spokesman, Doug Elmets, said. “There has been no material harm to the building and it remains fully safe.”
Finished in 2009, the skyscraper located at 301 Mission St. is included in the city’s most luxurious residential undertakings. Several high-profile residents were enticed by the building and among them is former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana.
The building, however, became famed for another reason after five years. This, as engineers supervising its settlement, said that the building is leaning 14 inches and had sunk 18 inches.
Speaking on its shifting foundation, experts said that the tower’s piles should have been pushed to bedrock.
Lawyer Tyler Berding, who has been handling lawsuits of building owners on defect concerns, said that the recent instability is a headache for the residents, San Francisco Chronicle reported.
“Whether this represents a true safety hazard nobody is saying, but it is causing a lot of concern in the short term, especially since owners thought they were out of the woods,” he said. “Everybody is taking a deep breath right now and wondering what this means.”
