Regardless of Warnings, Repairs on San Francisco’s Millennium Tower Brought on Further Sinking – CBS San Francisco

By Abigail Sterling and Max Darrow

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – Construction work on the leaning Millennium Tower in San Francisco came to a standstill at the end of August because it caused the tower to sink even further. Now it seems that some of this damage could have been avoided.

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Construction is partially back on track with some test drilling underway this week. Engineers plan to drill just two housings using a modified technique that they say causes less vibration.

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“Millennium Partners wanted to finish it off,” said Robert Pyke, a geotechnician and early critic of the current so-called “perimeter pile upgrade.” He says the $ 100 million plan to prop up the sinking tower should have been halted months earlier.

“Of course, it was clear by the end of June that the laying of the pipes and piles would result in additional settlement,” said Pyke.

KPIX asked him to review the engineering logs and internal emails received from KPIX 5. A graph created by the team shows that the accelerated sinking began in mid-May, but work on the project continued through June and July.

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In an email dated July 29th, the city’s Engineering Design Review Team (EDRT), tasked with overseeing the project, warned construction officials, “The design team has proposed to the 301 Mission Homeowners Association that they install 36 Customs along Mission Street “, but …” this proposal was not implemented and the project is progressing. “

On August 4th, chief engineer Ron Hamburger finally confirmed that “the project has imposed a voluntary moratorium” on the installation of 36-inch enclosures.

But the wells continued in smaller 24-inch piles until August 23, when the Millennium Tower’s general manager announced a two to four week break in construction.

“I owe the EDRT for putting the pressure on, but they shouldn’t have. As I said, any responsible engineer should have stopped by the end of June, ”said Pyke.

Pyke believes the two-month construction work did more damage.

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“Another half to three-quarters of an inch settlement,” said Pyke.

He says the continued drilling may have exacerbated a sewage problem in the luxury skyscraper, described in an August 26 email as “clogged third-floor kitchens.”

“Even a small change in the slope can disrupt the piping for both sewage and sewage,” said Pyke.

In a statement to KPIX, chief engineer Ron Hamburger admitted that some of the sinking and tipping could have been avoided by an earlier construction freeze. In a letter to building authorities, he also admitted that the new test wells that began this week could cause even more subsidence. However, he insists that this does not affect the security of the building.

But one thing is certain: all of the problems on 301 Mission Street appear to be affecting property values. We found ten 10 condos available for sale, all at discounted prices. Zillow estimates that a luxury home priced at $ 1.75 million was worth about $ 1 million more just five years ago.

Some devices have been on the market for months. Unit 14H for a bargain of $ 899,000 has been on sale for almost a year.

Pyke believes concerns about property value could be a reason why the Millennium Tower Association pushed for it to continue.

“That would benefit the existing homeowners and the homeowners association, because after completion and construction there is no question that property values ​​will rise again,” says Pyke.

The Millennium Tower Association, which represents homeowners, still doesn’t comment. Interestingly, however, we found an online presentation Hamburger made to students at the University of Minnesota in February that appears to confirm that real estate values ​​are at the fore. In it Hamburger points out: “There is no structural reason why the building needs to be upgraded. Homeowners needed extensive retrofitting to “upgrade” their units.

No real estate expert wanted to be on record for this story. But one of them pulled up current data for us showing that 13 advertisements in the building have either expired or been taken off the market since January.

Ron Hamburger full statement on KPIX 5:

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“While part of the subsidence and tilting of the last few months could have been avoided by an earlier construction stop, neither the safety nor the functionality of the building was impaired and the project team gained valuable knowledge about the causes of this subsidence as construction progressed. This puts us in a better position to mitigate these effects as the project progresses. The day I recommended stopping the 36-inch pile installation, the Millennium Tower HOA instructed the contractor to stop as recommended. ”