The tilt of the Millennium Tower became noticeable around six years ago, one year after the high rise was completed, as residents began to notice that items would roll toward one corner of a room.
Engineers hired to study the structure found that the building has sunk 16 inches into the soft soil and landfill it was built on and, even worse, it has been doing so unevenly. The uneven sinking has caused a 2” tilt at the base, and a roughly 6” lean at the top, the Associated Press reports.
"What concerns me most is the tilting," resident Pamela Buttery, 76, a retired real estate developer, told AP. "Is it safe to stay here? For how long?"
While the 6-inch lean is insignificant compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, which leans some 16 feet, the problem is that the skyscraper sits in one of the most active seismic zones in the country.
The leaked documents revealed that chief building inspector Raymond Lui was asking in 2009 about what was being done to address the issue, and also expressing concerns about "larger than expected settlements” to the tower’s engineering firm, DeSimone Consulting Engineers.
The firm responded by saying that the building had already sunk 8.3 inches, but it had been decided that the structure was safe.
While everyone squabbles about who is to blame, the residents want answers about what to expect with their extremely expensive property. Penthouses in the building have sold for upwards of $10 million.
"When is this building going to stop sinking?" Jerry Dodson, an attorney and engineer who paid $2.1 million in 2009 for his two-bedroom apartment on the 42nd floor, asked AP. "That's something that no one has been able to answer."
