Soft Story Advisors was created to help Los Angeles property owners navigate one of the most complex and consequential building requirements in the city: soft story seismic retrofit.
Many owners are first introduced to soft story retrofit through a notice, a deadline, or a growing sense of concern about earthquake risk. What often follows is confusion — conflicting information, technical language, and pressure to make fast decisions without a clear understanding of obligations or options.
Our role is to change that experience.
We focus on helping property owners understand whether their building is affected, what the City requires, and how retrofit can be approached responsibly. Rather than pushing one-size-fits-all solutions, we emphasize education, planning, and property-specific guidance.
Los Angeles buildings are diverse. Older wood-frame apartments, mixed-use properties, and tuck-under parking structures each present unique challenges. Navigating retrofit responsibly means understanding not only structural considerations, but also permitting, occupancy, access, and long-term impact on the property.
Our work is grounded in real-world experience with Los Angeles–area buildings and the regulatory environment that governs them. We understand how city requirements intersect with existing construction, tenant concerns, and ownership priorities.
By serving as a point of guidance throughout the retrofit process — from early evaluation through completion — we help owners move forward with clarity instead of uncertainty.
Soft Story Advisors works with individual property owners, homeowner associations, and property managers who want straightforward information and a responsible path forward.
Whether you are early in the process or facing upcoming deadlines, our goal is the same: to help you make informed decisions about your property without unnecessary pressure or confusion.
Lessons were learned from Northridge in 1994, and again in Mexico in 2017, providing evidence that Soft Story Buildings are more likely to collapse with any lateral movement during a strong earthquake.
Having lived in Sherman Oaks for 34 years and enjoyed working in the surrounding communities, he has travelled the world, built businesses, authored four books and is a trained public speaker. Gordon is a masterful communicator, negotiator as well as a certified professional conflict resolution coach.
Using his authenticity and unique sense of humor whenever possible, Gordon mostly enjoys meeting and connecting with every kind of people, to help them sort out all kinds of tuff stuff.
It’s really worth a shot!