SF Mayor Pushes Required Earthquake Retrofits

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco’s mayor wants to require owners to retrofit buildings most vulnerable to collapse during an earthquake while easing the cost of the upgrades.

Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed mandatory retrofits Friday for 2,800 of the city’s so-called soft-story buildings – older wooden structures built with homes perched above a garage or store.

A city-commissioned report found that the total cost of the retrofits would come to about $260 million. The report estimated damage to the buildings after a major quake without retrofits would total $1.5 billion.

The mayor’s plan would help property owners pay for the fixes by enabling them to borrow money at a reduced rate. It would also repurpose some city bond money now designated for retrofitting unreinforced masonry buildings.