New satellite images show SF leaning Millennium Tower sinking at steady rate

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - Recently released images from space offer a new perspective and new details on the sinking San Francisco high rise that has been dubbed "the leaning tower of San Francisco."

The Millennium Tower, a 58-story luxury condominium building, is tilting and has already sunk 16 inches since it went up seven years ago.

And now new satellite images from the European Space Agency (ESA) confirms the building's shift and shows that the skyscraper is continuing to sink at a steady rate: About five centimeters or almost two inches a year.

That's about twice what engineers have estimated.

The data was collected from the ESA's Sentinel-1 twin satellites from April 2015 to September 2016.

“Although the cause has not been pinpointed, it is believed that the movements are connected to the supporting piles not firmly resting on bedrock,” said the ESA.

The space agency has also mapped other areas in the Bay Area that are moving. They include buildings along the Hayward Fault as well as a swath of land near the city of Pleasanton.

“An uplift of the land was detected around the city of Pleasanton, possibly from the replenishment of groundwater following a four-year drought that ended in 2015,” the ESA said in a release.

As for the San Francisco high rise, Millennium Partners, the building's developers maintain that the complex is safe for occupancy.

The problem has triggered a huge dispute over the building's construction and led to a big legal battle involving the developer, the city, and condo owners.