Soft-Story Buildings

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Pacific Bay Financial is dedicated toEarthquake Safety Implementation Program
helping our clients identify and address the issues with their "soft-story" buildings.
 
San Francisco, CA—Mayor Edwin M. Lee today (Oct 17, 2010) released the first draft of the San Francisco’s Earthquake Safety Implementation Program (ESIP), a 30-year plan to update building codes, retrofit privately-owned buildings, and prepare for post-disaster recovery that encompasses 50 objectives, all with the goal of making San Francisco as safe as it can be before the next earthquake hits.
 

The Community Action Plan for Seismic Safety (CAPPS) reports: "There are approximately 4,400 wood-frame buildings built before May 21, 1973 in San Francisco with three or more stories and five or more residential units. All of these  buildings may have a soft story condition."

 

The benefits of working with Pacific Bay Financial to finance your retrofit:

  • We are reaching out to our lending partners to secure financing for this work
  • We will review your assets and existing debts to find the best source of money
  • Borrowed money for this type of work allows you to use tax-free money (consult a CPA)
  • You may be able to write off the interest expense of this money (consult a CPA)

Easy Steps to Retrofitting for the Owner of a Soft Story Building:

  • If your property is on the list, come to a seminar to learn more about what this means and how you can address it
  • Schedule an appointment for an engineer and contractor to inspect your property to determine if it is in need of retrofitting and to what extent
  • Get an estimate of the cost of performing the retrofit (the engineer you choose will provide this)
  • Have drawings and reports done by architects and engineers
  • Receive city approval for the proposed work
  • Commence retrofit work
  • Finish construction and get final inspection
  • Petition rent board for capital expenditure pass-through to tenants to recoup cost


Additional Resources:

 

 

Main Office:

1375 Sutter Street #205, San Francisco, CA 94109
Main: 415.242.0730 / Fax: 415.561.9579