Commercial and Multi-Family Income Property Owners to Attend Free Workshop On Earthquake Retrofitting

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Members of four leading organizations involved in Orange County's commercial property and multi-family rental housing industries will come together on Wednesday, Feb. 19 to learn how to protect existing buildings from earthquakes.

The meeting comes less than a year after a major 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked the high-desert area near Ridgecrest, and amid a serious housing shortage in which the region can ill afford to lose any of its affordable housing supply to a natural disaster.

The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC), Apartment Association of Orange County (AAOC), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), and Optimum Seismic, Inc. will sponsor the free informational workshop on seismic retrofitting and steps owners can take to protect their rental property investments.

In addition to California cities continuing to consider adoption of local retrofitting ordinances, state law will soon require all multifamily properties to undergo structural safety inspections of their decks, balconies, stairways, and more.

Property owners and managers can get the facts about seismic retrofitting and decide the best course of action for their rental properties.  Key topics to be covered include:

• Soft story buildings and the importance of seismic retrofitting
• Are seismic retrofitting ordinances coming to Orange County?
• Identifying areas of structural vulnerability on your rental property
• The different types of buildings that can be retrofitted and what is involved
• Reasons to Retrofit – Protect your residents, staff, and investment while avoiding liability
• The cost of a soft story retrofit and financing alternatives
• Deck, balcony and stairway inspections – Getting ready for the SB 721 compliance deadline

"The housing industry provides jobs more than one million people and generates more than $10-billion in revenues in our region," says BIASC Chief Executive Officer Jeff Montejano,  "It's very important that we take the steps necessary to protect this vital part of Southern California's economy from devastating earthquake damage."

"Optimum Seismic's professional seismic engineering and construction experts make this workshop particularly informative and valuable to our members," says AAOC Executive Director David Cordero. "Optimum's detailed understanding of the best ways to protect apartment buildings against seismic risks will help AAOC better serve our members' needs and those of the greater multi-family housing industry."

"Optimum Seismic is very proud of its positive relationships with a number of leading Apartment Associations in California," says Ali Sahabi, Optimum Seismic's chief operating officer and a recognized authority in sustainable and resilient development.  "We look forward to this opportunity to work with members of AAOC, BIASC and BOMA OC to protect their investments in rental housing and enhance the safety of their tenants."

"This workshop on preventing earthquake damage will be an important part of the educational opportunities BOMA OC provides through partnerships with other industry associations," says BOMA Orange County Executive Director Christen Carter.  "Commercial property owners should be concerned with improving the earthquake resilience of their buildings."

The event will be held at the BIA of Southern California, 24 Executive Park, Suite 100, Irvine.  The program includes a complimentary lunch. Registration begins at 10 a.m. The program begins at 10:30 a.m. and concludes at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 19. To register visit https://www.biasc.org/events/seismic-vulnerability-workshop or call (949) 777-3859.

About Apartment Association of Orange County
The AAOC is affiliated with the California Rental Housing Association and the National Apartment Association. AAOC provides a number of services to its members in the multi-family industry: issues an Apartment News Magazine; assists with credit checks; holds educational events; monitors legislative affairs; and publishes a service provider directory. Further information on AAOC is available at www.aaoc.com or by calling (714) 245-9500.

About Building Industry Association of Southern California
The Building Industry Association of Southern California (BIASC) is the voice of the region's dynamic real estate development market. The organization's 1,300 members include the smallest to the largest home builders, developers, contractors, suppliers and skilled labor representing over 1 million employees and $10 billion in annual revenues, making it one of the largest building industry associations in the United States.  Further information is available at https://biasc.org/ or by calling (949) 553-9500.

About Building Owners and Managers Association Orange County
A member of BOMA CAL and BOMA International, BOMA OC provides information on building management and operations, development, leasing, operating costs, energy consumption, building codes, legislation, occupancy, technological developments and industry trends.  Members are building owners, managers, developers, leasing professionals, corporate facility managers, asset managers, and providers of products and services needed to operate commercial properties.  BOMA OC offers educational programs and events throughout the year. Further information is available at https://bomaoc.org/ or by calling (714) 258-8330.

About Optimum Seismic, Inc.
The Optimum Seismic team has been making California cities safer since 1984 by providing full-service seismic retrofit engineering and construction services on multifamily residential, commercial and industrial buildings throughout the state. Optimum experts have completed more than 3,000 projects. Optimum Seismic's earthquake retrofit services include work on soft story multifamily apartment buildings, unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, tilt up buildings, non-ductile concrete and steel moment frame commercial buildings. For information, contact Optimum Seismic at (323) 678-4686 or visit www.OptimumSeismic.com.

Contact:

Andrea Aguilar

Optimum Seismic

323.605.0312

[email protected]  

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SOURCE Optimum Seismic, Inc.; Apartment Association of Orange County; Building Industry Association of Southern California; Building Owners and Managers Association Orange County