Residents in the San Francisco high-rise SOMA Grand building filed a lawsuit in the state’s Supreme Court alleging a number of construction defects and building standard violations. 

The residence is a 22-story, 246-unit residential community completed back in 2009. Owners of units are claiming damages in excess of $4 million as a result of the construction defects. 

SOMA Grand is notorious for selling out all of its units despite the economic downturn of the housing market.

The lawsuit states that by 2011 the development began to experience significant waterproofing issues in the exterior concrete masonry walls, subterranean garage walls and the expansive podium deck. The suit also identified exterior sealant joint failures of the pre-cast concrete walls and window defects.

Several units flooded during rainstorms in December 2012. According to The Miller Law Firm, all of the defects were identified by independent forensic architects and consultants retained by the homeowners association via counsel.

Hoping to resolve the claims outside of litigation, the Association put the builder and general contractor on notice of building standard violations through the SB 800, or Title 7 pre-litigation process, in December 2011. AGI Capital Group President Eric Tao participated in several unsuccessful mediation sessions, attorneys claim. 

Thomas E. Miller, CEO of The Miller Law Firm states, “Modern high rise residential construction is not immune to design and construction defects. Water leakage, sealant failure, condensation, mechanical issues, engineered wall systems and siding defects are commonly identified in today’s high rise buildings. All of these issues can be repaired and these buildings can be restored within a matter of a few months.”