A worry apartment owners may face when doing earthquake retrofits, major renovations or repairs is the impact that construction could have on their tenants — and whether their Tenant Habitability Plan will add significant expenses to their project.
Extra costs might include precautions to minimize impacts, such as establishing alternative parking […]
Seven thousand.
That’s how many buildings have been retrofitted for earthquake safety since Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2015 signed a historic law requiring seismic fortification for 12,558 older soft-story structures in the city.
I joined the mayor at an apartment building retrofitted by Optimum Seismic to celebrate this milestone, which […]
Anyone who has lived through a major earthquake knows the event is unforgettable.
“The sound of the rumbling of the 1994 Northridge Earthquake was something I never experienced before,” Assemblyman Adrin Nazarian said recently, recalling his time in college just before transferring from Cal State Northridge to UCLA. […]
Rising concern with the threat of earthquakes in Southern California communities has many new companies trying to break into the seismic retrofit industry.
Be careful not to let a poor job done by an inexperienced company become a costly lesson for you.
Plumbers, handymen, kitchen and bathroom remodelers: many of these outfits […]
Let’s talk business.
When the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys suffered significant damage in the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, the company invested $11 million in retrofitting structures on site to withstand the next major temblor – which came in 1994 with the Northridge quake.
Even though the brewery was located just a few […]
How much worse would a major earthquake make California’s already serious housing crisis?
It could destroy much of the existing affordable housing in Los Angeles County — older apartment buildings, many of which are at risk of severe damage in a major earthquake.
In 2016, voters in the city overwhelmingly approved Proposition […]
Earthquakes are a constant threat in California. “The Big One” can hit anytime, and bring severe damage to vulnerable apartment buildings, along with death and injuries.
Apartment buildings with a “soft-story” are particularly at-risk of earthquake damage. Soft-story buildings usually have a large, open ground floor space like a parking area, […]
Imagine you’re back in 2018, but with knowledge of the COVID-19 pandemic. What investment in readiness would you have made?
Now translate that to earthquakes and the opportunities you have now to guard against adversity:
California’s homeless population grew by more than 21,300 people in 2019. That’s an increase of 16.4% — more than all other states in the nation combined, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
No matter where you stand on this very complex and controversial issue, the fact […]
If a major earthquake were to strike today, would you rather have ample food and water for your family, or a job?
Ideally, you would want both. One is for short-term survival, the other for long-term sustainability.
That’s why, as millions of Californians took part in the recent Great Shakeout earthquake drill […]
