New crack found on San Francisco’s sinking Millennium Tower

Daily Mail

Another crack has been found on a notorious San Francisco skyscraper that is slowly sinking into the Earth.

 Inspectors have issued a violation to management of a sinking building after a large crack formed in a 36th-floor window.

The high-rise condominium building called the Millennium Tower- dubbed by locals as the Leaning Tower of San Francisco – is the tallest residential building in the city. It has sunk 16 inches into its foundations since it was completed in 2009.  

Residents heard creaking sounds, then heard a popping noise around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

Later, a homeowner found the crack in a window of his home on the 36th floor at the corner of the 58-story high-rise.

City officials have blocked off part of the Mission Street sidewalk as a precaution and ordered management to report back on the extent of the problem and soundness of the building’s facade by Friday.

An inspector was sent to the building as soon as the issue was known, but he wasn’t able to enter the unit because the resident was not there, according to William Strawn of the SF Building Inspection Department.

San Francisco City Supervisor Aaron Peskin told NBC: ‘When you have a window at the 36th floor that cracks in the middle of the night that is a big wake up call.’

He also added that the broken window was supposed to withstand hurricane force winds.

‘If a window failed entirely it would rain shards of glass hundreds of feet below down onto one of the busiest, most congested parts of the city,’ Mr Peskin told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The downtown tower has settled about 16 inches (51 centimeters) into landfill and is tilting.

 Residents have filed multiple lawsuits against the developers and the city since the structural problems started after building completion in 2009.

Millennium Towers homeowner and President of the Homeowners Association, Steven Mayer told Fox2 KTVU: ‘Immediately we went over and inspected the unit personally and we arranged for our experts to come in.

‘What our structural engineer preliminary has to say as well as our administration or window expert is that this is a one off issue right now

‘But we are continuing to address the problem and we will have a more definitive answer in the next 24 to 72 hours from our expert.’

In January San Francisco city building inspectors issued a citation against the tilting 58-story tower for an apparent fire safety risk.

KNTV of San Jose reported the Department of Building Inspection issued the violation notice against Millennium Tower after consultants found the tilting building had gaps between the facade its concrete and steel core.

Experts say smoke and flames can shoot through such gaps, making it easier for a fire to jump to a higher floor.

The fire safety hazard warning was part of a December 2016 report commissioned by the Millennium Homeowners Association after a condo owner complained of a mysterious odor.

Attorneys for the Millennium homeowners association (HOA) said in July 2017 that the building’s foundation needed to be rebuilt as soon as possible after it was discovered that the tower had sunk nearly 17 inches.

The luxury building where penthouses have sold for more than $13million, has a sprawling indoor lap-pool, a health club and spa, an in-house cinema, and a restaurant and wine bar run by celebrity chef Michael Mina.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6136069/New-crack-San-Franciscos-sinking-Millennium-Tower.html