Earthquake maps now show Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive at risk - Soft Story Advisors

Earthquake maps now show Beverly Hills’ Rodeo Drive at risk

Earthquake maps show areas in fault zones could face limits on development

Beverly Hills was thought to be in the safe zone when the draft maps of earthquake fault lines were released last year. Now? Not so much.

The final version of California Geological Survey’s map shows the Santa Monica fault line extending a mile farther northeast throughout the Golden Triangle, including glitzy Rodeo Drive. It cuts through the heart of the Westside, with sections running through Century City, Westwood, Brentwood, Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles Times reported.

That could mean Beverly Hills — home to some of the most expensive retail brands and residential real estate in the country — could face limits on new developments.

The maps are the first step to drawing seismic safety laws to areas at risk of earthquakes. Property owners and developers in the area would have to hire geologists to survey the land to make sure that projects aren’t located directly on an active fault

line. Local building officials would then have the final authority on whether new buildings are far enough away from the faults.

Existing buildings would not have to be altered, according to California law, saving owners costly work. A cluster of mid-rise buildings and shops currently populate those expensive streets.

As for its residential component, longtime Beverly Hills resident and broker Rochelle Maize doesn’t expect it to impact prices too much.

“What you’ll see happen is just stricter standards and retrofitting requirements, as well as more geological inspections,” Maize said. “You’re still going to have Beverly Hills with the iconic 90210 zip code at a premium.” The mudslides in Montecito have also raised awareness for stricter inspections, according to Madison Hildebrand.

The Santa Monica fault is capable of producing a magnitude 7 earthquake. It could rupture simultaneously with the Hollywood and Raymond faults in a massive earthquake, but experts say that event is extremely unlikely. [LAT] — Natalie Hoberman

About Us

Real Estate and Business Veteran, Gordon Myers founded Soft Story Advisors out of the real need he witnessed daily, in the field.

Building Owners are stressed and concerned with hiring the best contractor and/or engineer to comply with various city ordinances because they know that a bad decision can be a very expensive and painful experience.

Licensed as a Realtor in 1988, Gordon has been actively buying, selling, developing, managing and investing in real estate and can easily recognize a one-sided deal vs. a good, fair one!

He immediately recognized the opportunity and foresaw the chaos when the Ordinance came out, requiring that approx. 12,500 city-identified, multi-family dwellings do the necessary work to support their “soft story,” buildings to better withstand a significant earthquake.

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.