SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco officials shut down the city's celebrated new $2.2 billion transit terminal Tuesday after discovering a crack in a support beam under the center's public roof garden.
Coined the "Grand Central of the West," the Salesforce Transit Center opened in August near the heart of downtown after nearly a decade of construction. It was expected to accommodate 100,000 passengers each weekday, and up to 45 million people a year.
The center is operated by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority and its executive director Mark Zabaneh said workers discovered the crack around 10 a.m. while replacing roofing tiles. Zabaneh said engineers spent the day inspecting the damage and decided to shut the station around 5 p.m., just as the afternoon rush hour started.
"The beam is cracked," Zabaneh said. "The behavior of the beam is unpredictable."
Zabaneh said the crack was found near a weld on a stress-bearing horizontal beam. He said he did not know how long the crack was, but he told reporters that American steel was used in the center's construction.
Zabaneh said the cause and the extent of the damage were unknown and the decision to close the terminal was made out of an "abundance of caution."
He said structural engineers would be working at the building Tuesday night to assess whether it is safe for people to return.
Buses were rerouted to a temporary transit center about two blocks away that was used during the center's construction. A downtown street that runs under the beam was also ordered closed indefinitely, causing traffic chaos at the same time some streets were closed for a conference sponsored by Salesforce that was expected to draw 170,000 attendees.
Enveloped in wavy white sheets of metal veil, the five-level center includes a bus deck, a towering sky-lit central entrance hall and a rooftop park with an outdoor amphitheater.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the complex faced delays in putting out contracts to bid, and the winning bids were ultimately higher than expected. The terminal's cost rose from $1.6 billion at its 2010 groundbreaking to more than $2 billion in 2016 because of what one analyst called "optimistic assumptions," according to the Chronicle.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/ar...rminal-shuts-down-13257924.php#photo-16230514
AND THIS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FORM THE TERMINAL
A 58-story skyscraper in San Francisco is tilting and sinking — and residents say their multimillion-dollar condos are 'nearly worthless'
Pedestrians inspect cracks near the sinking Millennium Tower in San Francisco, California
Millennium Tower in San Francisco is still sinking and leaning.
But there's finally a bit of good news for residents of the luxury building at 301 Mission Street, which has sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches since it was completed in 2008.
Engineers have proposed a fix for the tower's troubles. They want to drill hundreds of steel and concrete "micro piles" (a type of foundation shaped like a pillar) into bedrock, in order to stabilize the tower and prop it back upright, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The retrofit could cost between $200 million and $500 million, which is more than it cost to build the $350 million skyscraper more than 10 years ago.
Though an inspection by the city in 2017 showed that Millennium Tower is safe to occupy, the situation has motivated some people to bail out. Residents say they're selling their homes short of what they paid for them, with about 100 condos falling $320,000 in value on average.
Here's what we know about Millennium Tower.
Millennium Tower rises 58 stories above San Francisco's Financial District.
Millennium Tower. Vanguard Properties
The city's fourth-tallest skyscraper contains over 400 multimillion-dollar condo units. It soars 645 feet, giving residents panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay Area.
A view of San Francisco from the grand penthouse at Millennium Tower.
Completed in 2008, Millennium Tower includes top-notch amenities, such as a pool, fitness center, wine cellar and tasting room, movie theater, and concierge service.
In the first five weeks of sales, Millennium Tower sold $100 million worth of condos, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The units ranged in price from $1.6 million to $10 million.
The grand penthouse at Millennium Tower sold for $9.4 million in 2009.
Famous tenants have called Millennium Tower home, including Joe Montana, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, and Tom Perkins, the late venture capitalist.
Joe Montana warms up before the start of the 1985 Super Bowl.
But residents weren't happy after learning in 2015 that the building is sinking. By 2018, the building sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches.
Millennium Partners, the real-estate developers behind Millennium Tower, have claimed that construction on a massive transit center nearby is to blame for any sinking or tilting.
CONTINUED:
https://www.businessinsider.com/is-millennium-tower-safe-still-leaning-sinking-2017-9
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Coined the "Grand Central of the West," the Salesforce Transit Center opened in August near the heart of downtown after nearly a decade of construction. It was expected to accommodate 100,000 passengers each weekday, and up to 45 million people a year.
The center is operated by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority and its executive director Mark Zabaneh said workers discovered the crack around 10 a.m. while replacing roofing tiles. Zabaneh said engineers spent the day inspecting the damage and decided to shut the station around 5 p.m., just as the afternoon rush hour started.
"The beam is cracked," Zabaneh said. "The behavior of the beam is unpredictable."
Zabaneh said the crack was found near a weld on a stress-bearing horizontal beam. He said he did not know how long the crack was, but he told reporters that American steel was used in the center's construction.
Zabaneh said the cause and the extent of the damage were unknown and the decision to close the terminal was made out of an "abundance of caution."
He said structural engineers would be working at the building Tuesday night to assess whether it is safe for people to return.
Buses were rerouted to a temporary transit center about two blocks away that was used during the center's construction. A downtown street that runs under the beam was also ordered closed indefinitely, causing traffic chaos at the same time some streets were closed for a conference sponsored by Salesforce that was expected to draw 170,000 attendees.
Enveloped in wavy white sheets of metal veil, the five-level center includes a bus deck, a towering sky-lit central entrance hall and a rooftop park with an outdoor amphitheater.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that the complex faced delays in putting out contracts to bid, and the winning bids were ultimately higher than expected. The terminal's cost rose from $1.6 billion at its 2010 groundbreaking to more than $2 billion in 2016 because of what one analyst called "optimistic assumptions," according to the Chronicle.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/ar...rminal-shuts-down-13257924.php#photo-16230514
AND THIS RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET FORM THE TERMINAL
A 58-story skyscraper in San Francisco is tilting and sinking — and residents say their multimillion-dollar condos are 'nearly worthless'

Millennium Tower in San Francisco is still sinking and leaning.
But there's finally a bit of good news for residents of the luxury building at 301 Mission Street, which has sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches since it was completed in 2008.
Engineers have proposed a fix for the tower's troubles. They want to drill hundreds of steel and concrete "micro piles" (a type of foundation shaped like a pillar) into bedrock, in order to stabilize the tower and prop it back upright, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The retrofit could cost between $200 million and $500 million, which is more than it cost to build the $350 million skyscraper more than 10 years ago.
Though an inspection by the city in 2017 showed that Millennium Tower is safe to occupy, the situation has motivated some people to bail out. Residents say they're selling their homes short of what they paid for them, with about 100 condos falling $320,000 in value on average.
Here's what we know about Millennium Tower.
Millennium Tower rises 58 stories above San Francisco's Financial District.

The city's fourth-tallest skyscraper contains over 400 multimillion-dollar condo units. It soars 645 feet, giving residents panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Completed in 2008, Millennium Tower includes top-notch amenities, such as a pool, fitness center, wine cellar and tasting room, movie theater, and concierge service.


Famous tenants have called Millennium Tower home, including Joe Montana, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, and Tom Perkins, the late venture capitalist.

But residents weren't happy after learning in 2015 that the building is sinking. By 2018, the building sunk 17 inches and tilted 14 inches.

CONTINUED:
https://www.businessinsider.com/is-millennium-tower-safe-still-leaning-sinking-2017-9
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