Residents Balk at Billing : Condo Owners Want Long Beach to Help Pay for Structural Flaws

Owners of the 78 units in a west side Long Beach condominium building will be getting some undesirable mail this week.

They will get bills ranging from $4,700 to $9,000 for the proposed repair of dangerous major structural flaws in their buildings.

None of the residents was involved in the design of the 5-year-old Oceangate Square at 720 W. 4th St. Its planning and construction was inspected and approved by the city, which then declared the site safe for occupancy. Now residents, many of them first-time buyers who spent more than $100,000 on homes, must pick up the tab for something most say is partly the city’s fault.

“This was our American dream,” said resident Ray Lopez, 32, “and now it’s turned into a nightmare.”

Barbara Park, 51, said: “I’m upset, I’m nervous and I’m worried. I’ve got stomach pains and headaches. I don’t know where I’m going to get the money.”

City officials acknowledge the error in design but deny any culpability in it. “It isn’t something you would readily pick up,” said Supt. of Building Eugene Zeller, who attributed the flaw to a miscalculation by a design engineer employed by the original developer. “It wasn’t something an (inspector) would automatically see.”

On Tuesday, some of the condominium residents will ask the Long Beach City Council to help them obtain homeowner loans to pay for the damage.

They filed a suit in Long Beach Superior Court asking for financial relief from the building’s original developer, G. E. Western Properties.

“It’s going to be a hardship on every one of us,” said Bart Benjamins, president of the Oceangate Square Homeowners Assn., the group representing residents.

Their travails began more than two years ago, when some homeowners began noticing cracks in their walls. They also complained of doors that, no matter how often they were trimmed, wouldn’t fit properly into their frames.

Eventually they hired an engineer who confirmed their worst fears. Because of an error in design, he told them, insufficient steel reinforcements had been placed in the concrete columns and the foundation. As a result, he said, the building is sagging in a way that could mean imminent collapse.

City engineers confirmed the structural deficiency but disagreed on its severity. While the building would have to be repaired to avoid condemnation, they said, its condition had not yet deteriorated to the point that evacuation would be required.

The flaw was caused, Zeller said, by the misapplication of a computer program designed to calculate levels of stress in new constructions.

A similar flaw, he said, was discovered in a building next door--called Goldengate Square and designed with the same program.

The design of a third building by the same engineer revealed similar flaws that were eliminated in the planning stages, Zeller said.

The engineer could not be reached for comment.

As for Oceangate and Goldengate, Zeller said, their owner-residents have been ordered to reinforce the two buildings’ foundations by adding new columns in the underground garage, a process that Benjamins estimates will cost about $1 million in each building.

“If there was any belief in my mind that there was immediate danger of collapse, I would have ordered (them) vacated,” said Zeller, adding that both buildings are being scrutinized daily for new signs of stress. “As it is, I won’t feel comfortable until it’s actually shored up.”

Residents said insurance companies will not pay for the repairs because they consider the damage a result of human error, and banks will not lend money on a building that is flawed.

Some banks, Benjamins said, have agreed to issue loans if the city guarantees them for up to a year--something the city has so far refused to do.

Goldengate Square residents, who have also filed a lawsuit against their building’s developer, said they are still several months away from assessing individual costs.

But Oceangate residents say they are feeling the pain. “I’m stretched to the limit,” said David Reinschreiber, 30, who has put off buying a replacement for his 8-year-old car because of the impending financial crunch.

Theresa Martinez, 69, said the tension has forced her to undergo treatment for a weakened heart.

And Darleen Mandala, 52, said next week’s assessment will wipe out the savings she and her husband--both on disability--had earmarked for emergency health care.

“I’m very depressed,” she said. “Every time I go away, I pray that the building is still standing when I come back. (Living here) is really nerve-racking.”