Disposition of 238 Franklyn Street (City Hall Annex)

Seismic Issues & Repair Costs
The structure was identified as being at high risk for structural damage or partial collapse during a significant seismic event. The details of the building deficiencies have been outlined by Herold Engineering Ltd in a Seismic Upgrade Report dated June 2008. The report identifies building deficiencies such as:

• The existing masonry and concrete walls have insufficient shear and moment capacity to resist lateral loads;
• There is insufficient capacity for the diaphragms to transfer shear to a lateral resisting system at all three levels;
• Existing columns lack anchorage capacity; and
• All exterior concrete and masonry walls and interior concrete walls have insufficient out of plane capacity due to lack of reinforcing and lack of connection to the floor system.

Upon review of the seismic condition of the building, Herold Engineering concluded that in a seismic event, there is a high risk of significant damage or partial collapse of the building occurring.

The Herold report provided three upgrade options to achieve a life safe standard for its occupants with anticipated costs ranging from $4.3 to $4.6million (including contingencies, repairs, temporary office space, moving costs- the total was estimated at $6.2 million). The report notes that if the building was vacated completely, the construction cost could be reduced to a cost of around $5.0 million ($4.0 million plus $1.0 million contingency).