San Francisco’s swanky Millennium Tower has been slowly sinking for years — and, as a result, the 58-story skyscraper tilted at a rate of up to 3 inches to the north and west last year, according to the engineer tasked with fixing it.

Opened in 2009, the estimated $350-million project comprises two buildings, the larger of which is home to 419 luxury apartments, including a lavish $13-million, 5,500-square-foot penthouse. The tallest residential structure in the city, the tower’s uneven settling has caused cracks in the surrounding sidewalk and the basement walls of its smaller, 12-story sister building next door. The tenants were first notified of the issue in 2016. By the end of last year, the tower had leaned a total of 24 inches to the west and 7.9 inches to the north. It has settled around 18 inches deep into the ground.

Though engineers are now working to stabilize the skyscraper, a city hearing last week revealed that the tilting will continue for several more months. Experts have blamed nearby construction projects and a process known as “dewatering” for weakening the soil beneath the tower, according to earlier CNN reporting.

The $100-million fix, announced in October 2020 after years of lawsuits and hearings, is expected to be completed later this year. According to the stabilization project’s chief engineer Ronald Hamburger, who spoke at the hearing, the building has continued to tilt at a rate of 2.5 to 3 inches north and 0.75 to 3 inches west during 2021, he confirmed in an email to CNN.

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