[SoCal Pubbie]

Wouldn’t there be a huge problem if the ground floor is 18 inches below street level? Or does the settling include the surrounding area, including the paved streets? Perhaps the settling includes movement before the building was finalized too. Otherwise it would seem to me this would be like an elevator cab that got stuck 18 inches below the floor, with the doors open.

[ThunderSleeps]

This settling has been going on for year - since it was first built. If it is the building I'm thinking of, I read an article or two about it a couple of years ago. The problem isn't so much that it is settling into the ground, it is with the rate and projected total amount. They knew it would settle, they just blew the calculations estimates of how much and how fast. Also, as long as the settling is relatively even it will just be an inconvenience. If it starts to become uneven it could tilt the building, put uneven, perhaps dangerous stresses on some structural members. That's why an unexplained crack in a window gets everyone's attention - it could be an indication of internal stresses and uneven strains within the structure - not a good sign at all. If windows start popping out, or breaking in place but losing chunks... A hand-sized shard of glass fluttering down from 30+ floors up can travel a long ways - no-one is safe within a block or two of this monster.

[DUMBGRUNT]

“Wouldn’t there be a huge problem if the ground floor is 18 inches below street level?”

Not in Chicago.

Some areas of Chiraq had several FEET of fill added, making the front window, appear to be an area well.

See the third photo down at link:
https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-blogs/south-chicago-past-and-present/59510e5d-09e1-4c1a-959f-540c925d5122

[Robert A Cook PE]

Just about like your image of the elevator stuck 18 inches below the floor. Only the building and the (improperly designed/built ??) piles under it have sunk.

The building is twisting and titling slightly - this is most likely the cause of the windows getting jammed and stuck in their frames higher up. No significant earthquakes (yet!) near SFO since it was built, so any quake will only make things worse.

Sunkencity is pinged - jest because.