In honor of the anniversary of the Great Quake yesterday, Mayor Ed Lee signed some legislation that mandates that all owners of apartment buildings of five units or more that have soft stories i.e. a large amount of open ground-floor space that has not been retrofitted must get them retrofitted in the next few years.
Soft-story buildings sustained some of the most damage in the Marina during the Loma Prieta quake, which is our most recent example of how the city's existing architecture will withstand severe shaking.
They estimate that such retrofitting will cost building owners between $60,000 and $130,000, and the legislation allows them to pass those costs on to tenants in a "spread-out way," says Lee. Plus, "We are giving some support to the low income tenants." Whatever that means.
