Gaylord Building

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Owner: Gaylord LLC

Building records for the Gaylord apartment building list reinforced concrete as the building’s “exterior framework.” The Los Angeles County assessor lists this building as a “concrete frame” structure. In a review of public building documents, The Times found no record of a seismic retrofit.

Owner George Harb said the Gaylord opened in 1924. He and his property manager, Eric Cutten, said that the Gaylord is a concrete building reinforced with steel, that he had the building seismically evaluated and that there was a determination that no upgrades were needed for earthquake safety. Harb referred further questions to structural engineer Gregg Brandow.

Brandow said the Gaylord is a type of concrete building that is “in a gray zone.” He said that the building “performed fairly well in past earthquakes,” but that “it’s never been seismically analyzed whether it needs to be retrofitted.” But speaking generally about this type of building, which has thick, sturdy concrete walls from the ground floor to the roof, Brandow said “it’s not considered a collapse-hazard concrete building.”

“This class of building has tended to perform OK in past earthquakes,” Brandow said. “If you did some seismic strengthening, you’d reduce the damage in the future…. This would be an economic decision rather than a decision of life safety.”

Thirteen stories. Built in 1924.

Assessed value: $9.1 million