There’s good news for the West Hollywood building owners.

The City of West Hollywood announced on Monday that they will pursue a number of options to reduce the cost to landlords of retrofitting distressed apartment buildings in the area.

The city has recently joined in Los Angeles, Santa Monica and more communities throughout Southern California to recognize and update all vulnerable multi-unit structures to protect residents and neighbourhoods from major earthquake damage.

In WeHo, the Hollywood fault line runs through the famous Sunset Strip and some of the buildings on the list include historic landmarks such as Andaz West Hollywood, Mondrian, Standard and Sunset Tower.

In 2018, the City Council adopted a law requiring the inspection and refurbishment of all at-risk residential buildings in the area. To date, 705 residential buildings in West Hollywood have been listed as fragile structures and more prone to earthquake damage and collapse.

“A successful shaker without seismic upgrades could cause many of these buildings to be red-tagged and demolished — thus wiping out a good portion of our affordable housing stock,” said Mayor Pro Tempore John Duran (via the L.A. Times) last year regarding their compulsory retrofit. “For me, this is about repair and maintenance of facilities.

The city also voted against passing on the cost of these retrofits–especially in rent-stabilized units–to their tenants.

In an attempt to alleviate concerns and keep the town’s rent-stabilized apartment buildings available in the area, West Hollywood is working to secure funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to help cover some of the costs of these retrofits, thereby lowering the city’s fees for building permits and changing the way in which owners of these rent-stabilized buildings will increase the cost of these retrofits.

As it stands, West Hollywood is applying for a $5 million grant from the FEMA program to help communities create systems that reduce the risk of death and destruction in the face of future natural disasters.

If the grant is approved, the city will begin offering rebates for retrofit design and construction costs to owners of Soft Story structures. West Hollywood has submitted a second application for a $10 million FEMA grant that would extend to all damaged buildings in the city’s compulsory seismic retrofit program.

If you own a wood-frame apartment building, better known as a soft-frame home, please contact Weinstein Construction and we’ll give you a free inspection.

It is now more necessary than ever to be vigilant in the planning and protection of earthquakes.

Weinstein Construction is a Los Angeles Foundation survey, foundation contractor and foundation repair specialist. Weinstein Construction Company, Weinstein Construction, has surveyed more than 15,000 buildings, collaborating with engineering firms and local construction and safety authorities. Over the last five years, the company has done more ground repair and earthquake retrofitting in Los Angeles than any other company in the area.