'Catastrophic' flooding at San Francisco high rise may keep tenants out until early 2023
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hundreds of residents of a luxury San Francisco high rise who were forced out of their units because of flooding from a June water main break recently learned it will be at least several months before they can return home.
Almost two months have past since the catastrophic flooding from a broken pipe at 33 Tehama Street drove angry tenants out of their apartments in the high-rise building.
The broken pipe sent water streaming down 35 floors of elevator shafts and did major damage to the building's electrical system. Residents were evacuated and have been staying in hotels around San Francisco ever since.
In a July 18 notice to residents, the property management team revealed there is still extensive repair work that needs to be done, including work on the electrical systems, elevators, life safety and communications systems, walls, corridors and more.
Now, Houston-based property management company Hines estimates people won't be able to re-occupy 33 Tehama "until late 2022 at the earliest."
"I'm trying to be positive about the situation, because it's not easy to be displaced," said 33 Tehama resident Chance Hill.
He has bounced around from one location to another since he had to leave his apartment on June 3.
"For me right now it's a matter of getting my stuff. I just need my stuff so I can get back to my quality of life," he said. "I just need my stuff out of there so I don't have to keep going back there during the small amount of time that we have in there."
However, he says that hasn't been easy, as communication has been a struggle since the flood.
"I'm not upset with them. It's just an unfortunate situation. I'm not mad about the situation. It is life. I'm really trying to work it out, but communication has been so hard," Hill said.
There are around 400 units at 33 Tehama, some of which are reserved for low-income tenants. Hines has provided financial assistance for tenants seeking short-term living accommodations. However, according to a spokesperson, that assistance will end on August 17.
That change isn't sitting well with residents, Hill told KPIX.
"It's hard being displaced, and everybody needs help in this moment," he said. "Lots of our insurances are telling us, because it's not in your unit we can't help you. So for them to be able to say, 'Oh, we're not going to be able to help you anymore,' it's so disheartening."
The city is now getting involved. San Francisco District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey issued the following statement after residents learned of the new timeline:
"This is a bad situation that has caused very serious upheaval in the lives of hundreds of residents at 33 Tehama, none more so than the low- and moderate-income renters who are least able to afford near-term housing arrangements on their own. Given the short timeframe left for hotel accommodations or housing stipends, I'm asking the Mayor's Office of Housing and Community Development to accelerate alternative or temporary placements for 33 Tehama's BMR residents. I'm also asking for MOHCD's assistance in identifying resources to help market-rate renters cope with their extended displacements as well."
"I'm separately asking City Attorney David Chiu's office to assess the adequacy of the 33 Tehama landlord's handling of its displaced residents and to work with the Department of Building Inspection to determine if a civil cause of action exists under California's Unfair Competition Law for the underlying water main failure. My request isn't intended to accuse anyone of specific wrongdoing, but rather to provide the fullest assurance possible to 33 Tehama residents and to all San Franciscans that a months-long housing displacement of this magnitude will be rigorously and independently investigated."
KPIX 5 asked Mayor London Breed about the situation on Tuesday.
"My goal is to have a conversation with Supervisor Dorsey. It's my understanding that there are people who fall within the low-income category where there are challenges," Breed said. "I know my office of housing is already working to find alternatives, so, we'll do everything we can to be as supportive as possible in this situation."
Hill says he will be patient and positive as he awaits a resolution.
"While it has definitely been overwhelming, I've tried to just keep my peace," he said. "My heart goes out to everyone who is a person in this building that needs their safe space back."
A Hines spokesperson provided KPIX 5 with the following statement:
The June 3rd flooding at 33 Tehama was a catastrophic incident and we know it has completely upended the lives of our residents. We understand how frustrating the past several weeks have been and we sincerely apologize for this. Our focus has been to move as quickly as possible to provide for the safety and well-being of our residents.
We have worked diligently with engineering and construction crews, city officials, and inspectors to examine the extent of the damage. While we were initially hopeful that some residents could return to their homes this summer, the damage was far worse than imagined. We have discovered substantial water damage to the elevator shaft serving the building's fire safety elevators. The San Francisco Fire Department will not allow re-occupancy of the building until we complete repair of the damage to the fire safety elevator shaft and our elevator repair vendors cannot give us a date of work completion. The best estimate we currently have for completion of this work and the reopening of the building for residents is between late 2022 and early 2023.
Since the flooding and forced evacuation of the building, we have worked to ensure our more than 500 residents had temporary housing. We offered residents the option of staying in hotels or taking a $300 per diem (up to $300 per bedroom in their 33 Tehama unit) for residents who made their own arrangements. This is in addition to a $125 per diem for incidentals. We are pleased to have provided our valued residents with temporary housing assistance, for which a number of residents have expressed their thanks.
However, due to the extended repair and re-occupancy timeline, we are unable to continue to provide this support as of August 17. With such an extended and indefinite repair schedule, ownership and residents now need to turn to long term solutions. Those solutions include stopping all rent, returning security deposits to any residents wishing to terminate, waiving early lease termination fees, and allowing re-occupancy whenever we can re-open the building.
Each resident has an ambassador so they can connect directly, one-to-one, to someone for answers to their questions. We will continue to communicate updates to everyone as soon as new information is available. We know this has been a traumatic time for our residents and want to assure you we are doing all we can to make repairs and allow for the re-occupancy of 33 Tehama.