4 ms·

San Francisco’s Millennium Tower is still sinking

33 points by geophile 5y ago

neom 5y ago
"Work calls for transferring a portion of the building’s weight to bedrock from its existing foundation system. The fix, likened to putting a bumper jack next to a flat tire, relies on drilling and jacking 52 concrete piles—socketed more than 30 ft into the bedrock that starts 220 ft below grade—under the north and west sidewalks. Piles would support a new mat section, known as a collar, tied into the existing mat." - The fix they've halted. https://www.enr.com/ext/resources/Issues/National_Issues/2018/12-December/17-December/S1002.jpg https://www.enr.com/ext/resources/Issues/National_Issues/201... https://www.enr.com/articles/50287-foundation-fix-to-start-next-month-on-san-franciscos-troubled-millennium-tower https://www.enr.com/articles/50287-foundation-fix-to-start-n...
therockspush 5y ago
After the surfside collapse, its gotta be 10x harder to keep any rational discussions about this building going. I wouldn't live there, unless there was a nice fat discount. Is tearing the thing down an option? I haven't seen it discussed anywhere.
- miked85 5y ago
  How much of a discount does it take to live in a potentially unsafe building?
  - NotSammyHagar 5y ago
    How many people have much of their finances invested in a probably useless home there? Hard to see how this works out to anything other than a tear down.
- France_is_bacon 5y ago
  A nice fat discount? You could knock 50% off and the units would still be multimillion condos. Unit #502 is asking $3.8 million in 2016. It is San Francisco's most expensive one bedroom home. 27E is $2.3 million. Unit 34# is $2.59 million. The penthouse asking price was $37.5 million. So, Mr Moneybags, you can just pull out your credit card and buy the $37.5 million penthouse at a 50% discount for a total of $18 million? Must be nice to be you.
- fragmede 5y ago
  given that Salesforce tower is diagonally adjacent to the millennium tower, and is located in a dense urban core, it seems impossibly expensive to take it down safely, given the risk taking it down would also pose
  - coolgeek 5y ago
    Expensive. But not impossibly so. I witnessed the duration of this deconstruction, as well as the erection of its replacement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza#Deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza#Deconstruct... Both processes were fascinating
unearth3d 5y ago
Is the building still occupied? I hunted for 10 mins not finding anything definitive.
- redis_mlc 5y ago
  There's a coverup by both the city and real estate agents (most will not go on the record about the bldg), hence little news. You can find a few Youtube videos. Last time I checked, owners still live there. Some units are for rent for a negotiable discount. Because of liquefaction, I wouldn't live there. An earthquake around 7.5 could shake for a few minutes, and it's built on landfill.
- SmellyPotato22 5y ago
  If you search on Zillow for 301 Mission St, San Francisco, you will still find condos for sale.

33 points by geophile 5y ago

neom 5y ago

"Work calls for transferring a portion of the building’s weight to bedrock from its existing foundation system. The fix, likened to putting a bumper jack next to a flat tire, relies on drilling and jacking 52 concrete piles—socketed more than 30 ft into the bedrock that starts 220 ft below grade—under the north and west sidewalks. Piles would support a new mat section, known as a collar, tied into the existing mat." - The fix they've halted. https://www.enr.com/ext/resources/Issues/National_Issues/2018/12-December/17-December/S1002.jpg https://www.enr.com/ext/resources/Issues/National_Issues/201... https://www.enr.com/articles/50287-foundation-fix-to-start-next-month-on-san-franciscos-troubled-millennium-tower https://www.enr.com/articles/50287-foundation-fix-to-start-n...

therockspush 5y ago

After the surfside collapse, its gotta be 10x harder to keep any rational discussions about this building going. I wouldn't live there, unless there was a nice fat discount. Is tearing the thing down an option? I haven't seen it discussed anywhere.

miked85 5y ago
How much of a discount does it take to live in a potentially unsafe building?
- NotSammyHagar 5y ago
  How many people have much of their finances invested in a probably useless home there? Hard to see how this works out to anything other than a tear down.
France_is_bacon 5y ago
A nice fat discount? You could knock 50% off and the units would still be multimillion condos. Unit #502 is asking $3.8 million in 2016. It is San Francisco's most expensive one bedroom home. 27E is $2.3 million. Unit 34# is $2.59 million. The penthouse asking price was $37.5 million. So, Mr Moneybags, you can just pull out your credit card and buy the $37.5 million penthouse at a 50% discount for a total of $18 million? Must be nice to be you.
fragmede 5y ago
given that Salesforce tower is diagonally adjacent to the millennium tower, and is located in a dense urban core, it seems impossibly expensive to take it down safely, given the risk taking it down would also pose
- coolgeek 5y ago
  Expensive. But not impossibly so. I witnessed the duration of this deconstruction, as well as the erection of its replacement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza#Deconstruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Meridian_Plaza#Deconstruct... Both processes were fascinating

unearth3d 5y ago

Is the building still occupied? I hunted for 10 mins not finding anything definitive.

redis_mlc 5y ago
There's a coverup by both the city and real estate agents (most will not go on the record about the bldg), hence little news. You can find a few Youtube videos. Last time I checked, owners still live there. Some units are for rent for a negotiable discount. Because of liquefaction, I wouldn't live there. An earthquake around 7.5 could shake for a few minutes, and it's built on landfill.
SmellyPotato22 5y ago
If you search on Zillow for 301 Mission St, San Francisco, you will still find condos for sale.