Millennium Tower in San Francisco is still leaning. We called it the Leaning Tower of San Francisco in an earlier post when we explained that the tower, completed in 2011, has sunk about 16 inches after six years, two times the amount expected over the 50 year life of the project. It is leaning 2 inches.
It is built over landfill, and in an apparent effort to reduce development costs, the piers under the building do not reach bedrock. Additionally, an adjacent transit station being developed has been accused of contributing, if not causing, Millennium tower to lean.
In another post and reports in Construction Dive, one of the residents, an attorney, filed a civil suit against the developer claiming that they knew that the tower was leaning and continued to market units for sale.
Now, according to Construction Dive, the Homeowners Association representing the 20 owners of the high end condominiums has retained Daniel Petrocelli, a high powered attorney, and is considering filing another civil suit against both the developer and the Transit Agency claiming that the construction of the transit station destabilized the foundation of Millennium Tower.
The Homeowners Association had previously voted not to file a suit, but has seemingly changed its strategy. According to sources, “The letter does not explain the apparent shift in strategy, which comes as the Association has hired a high profile lawyer, Daniel Petrocelli, to lead its legal battles. Petrocelli won a civil court case against O.J. Simpson over the death of Ronald Goldman and more recently, has defended Donald Trump over Trump University and Jeffrey Skilling, the CEO of Enron.”
The Homeowners have scheduled a meeting with their attorneys on March 6 to evaluate the potential case.
In a new twist to an already twisted case, the homeowners have discovered that the combined insurance of the developers and the transit authority will not cover the repairs for the tower should they win the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, as we reported in the earlier post, the developers have redesigned the foundation on another residential tower they are developing several blocks away.
We will update you as this case develops.
