Builders to pay millions to fix mold, seepage at seniors tower

July 5, 2002

By Onell R. Soto

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

July 4, 2002

Developers and contractors of a University City retirement tower will have

to pay $18.7 million dollars to make up for shoddy construction that allowed

moisture to seep into the building and foster mold growth.

All but one of the 22 companies sued by the owners in the Pacific Regent La

Jolla Residential Condominium Tower settled for a total of $18 million

before the case went to trial. Many of the settlement agreements were

finalized last week.

An engineering company fought the suit before a jury and lost in April. The

jury ordered Law/Crandall, which oversaw an attempt to repair the tower, to

pay $674,520.

" In 1991, the day the building was built, it leaked, " said lawyer

Garrie, who represented the condo association. The tower has 148 units,

which sell for $500,000 to $1 million.

The problems were three-fold, Garrie said.

The windows leaked. The balconies curved upward, so that when it rained, the

water flowed toward the building. And the building was covered with a

new-style product that allowed the water to seep into the walls.

The product, called Exterior Insulation Finish System, was supposed to be an

alternative to stucco. It is lightweight, energy-efficient and easy to

install. Workers essentially glue it to the outside of the building.

" It all sounds good, " Garrie said.

But the product didn't deliver. It was designed without a drainage system;

water flowed through it, quickly reaching paper-covered wallboard, he said.

" Then the building becomes enveloped in mold, " he said.

A new generation of EIFS has a drainage system, he said, but didn't appear

soon enough to save other buildings from similar fates.

Civil suits have been filed in similar cases in La Jolla Village and

downtown San Diego, as well as in other parts of the country, Garrie said.

Onell Soto: (760) 476-8211; onell.soto@...

Recommended Posts