How much does a Los Angeles Soft Story retrofit cost
The City of Los Angeles mandatory Soft Story retrofitting program identifies buildings vulnerable to structural failure from the effects of an earthquake. Because so many of our clients want to know the potential cost of Soft Story retrofitting, we decided this helpful blog about Soft Story buildings and the City’s retrofit program!
What is considered a Soft Story building?
In case you are wondering what are Soft Story buildings, they are multi-story structures that have one or more floors with large windows, wide doors, large unobstructed commercial spaces, or other openings in places where walls are typically required as part of a stable earthquake engineering design.
What is the problem with Soft Story buildings
Soft Story buildings with open floors are far less rigid than the floors that were built above them. A good example is an apartment building’s “tuck-under” parking garage structure, which is susceptible to damage during seismic activity. Such structures became popular in the 1940s and 50s, as the City of Los Angeles spread West toward the Pacific Ocean and North into the San Fernando Valley. As such, many of the most vulnerable apartment buildings are located right here in the Greater Los Angeles area!
How much does a Soft Story retrofit cost
The cost of a Los Angeles Soft Story retrofit will vary depending on the type of building involved, as well as its size. There are various cost calculations at play here. For example, for the most common of such buildings — a multi-story structure with a second story over a garage or carport — one should first determine how many “Soft Lines” such a structure has. A “Soft Line” describes the soft open, or weak wall lines of a structure. This typically refers to building sections that are supported by thin columns with tuck-under parking at the ground level, which are most at risk during an earthquake event. A parking area that is open from three sides would be considered as having 3-Soft-Lines, where each Soft Line must be reinforced against earthquake forces.
And so, when trying to determine a Los Angeles Soft Story cost, one should take into consideration the size of the structure and the number of its “Soft Lines”, with the following rule-of-thumb: for a “tuck-under” parking garage, one must design and build one reinforcing structure (either a “moment frame” or a “cantilever column”) for every six parking stalls. Each such reinforcing structure will cost about $35,000 to $40,000. Following this math, if a building has under-tuck parking for 12 cars, the cost of Soft Story retrofitting will range from $70,000 to $80,000.
Are there additional considerations for the cost of a Soft Story retrofit
As we described above, the cost of a Los Angeles Soft Story retrofitting project may vary depending on many factors. Some of these factors also include the type and location of the building: can heavy equipment access the building easily? Can a full-size truck (or just a small car) get onto the property? Is the parking area uphill, or downhill? What is the distance from the parking lot to the street? All these questions factor into cost considerations. Moreover, other concealed and/or unforeseen site conditions may affect pricing, for example, the existence of any of the following (which may need to be disconnected, removed, or altered): concrete footing below ground, water/electric or gas pipes, plumbing or sewer lines, fire sprinkler lines, landscaping/irrigation lines, large tree roots, low voltage lines (e.g. communication), etc.
Can a property owner recover the costs of a Soft Story retrofit
If you are a commercial property owner and/or landlord, you may be wondering whether or not you can recover from the building’s tenants the cost of a Soft Story retrofit? The answer is a resounding yes! Indeed, the City of Los Angeles’ Tenant Habitability Program (“THP”), as administered by the Housing and Community Investment Department (“HCIDLA”), can approve a rent increase if a property owner and/or landlord submits a temporary rent increase request within one year of completing the Soft Story retrofit. The HCIDLA will notify tenants of the increase and the tenants will have the opportunity to submit any objections in writing. If the rent increase is approved by the HCILDA, the property owner and/or landlord can typically recover up to 50% of the Soft Story retrofit costs in a rent increase which is spread out over 10 years.
Top seismologists and building scientists all agree that there is an urgent need to retrofit residential and commercial properties in Los Angeles and safeguard them from the destructive forces of earthquakes. Property owners should prepare today for the real and very imminent threat of seismic activity. If you wish to discuss or schedule a free inspection of your home or Soft-Story structure, call Weinstein Construction at (888) 412-8363.
