Looking around at all the cracks in the garage of San Francisco’s Millennium Tower one would be flabbergasted at the extent of the rifts and the array of stress gauges attached.
Back in May of 2016, these problems started to arise in the iconic, high-end condo. The news made it official; the Millennium Tower was starting to fall. The structure had begun to tilt and slowly sink, and blame began to fly. As the accusations were thrown, all involved wondered who would pay the bill.
If this news was not bad enough, Bloomberg has recently reported that the tower is most likely underinsured and if that is the case, the homeowners would be the ones ultimately responsible.
The building initially opened its doors back in 2008, and the tower is now 16 inches further below the ground and 15 inches tilted from the top, as reads the current lawsuits that the homeowners have filed.
The property was developed by the Millennium Partners but is now owned by the residents.
According to accounts, Millennium Partners’ liability policy does state coverage for construction defects, but the same sources feel that the coverage, as well as Millennium Partners assets, are far below what is needed to foot this bill.
Adding insult to injury is that the liability coverage might be void due to the nature of the flaws in the building.
If that was not enough, Millennium Partners has a lawsuit against the city’s Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which has been building a transit site across from to the tower. It might be the TJPA who is responsible for causing the foundation of the tower to be disturbed. If that is the case, the taxpayers of San Francisco will be on the hook for fixing this mess.
