If and when the next big earthquake strikes the Bay Area, thousands of older, soft story homes in San Jose face the risk of catastrophic damage. When San Jose passed its seismic retrofit mandate in 2024, city officials warned that a major earthquake could cause billions of dollars in damage to its older buildings. In a memo to city officials, housing staff estimated that the city had 17,000 apartment or condo buildings with at least three units, including 2,600 to 3,600 constructed before 1990. Staff estimated that those older soft buildings housed between 18,000 and 25,000 units, accounting for 5-7% of the city’s housing stock. To offset some of the costs, which the city estimated between $30,000 and $140,000, the housing department proposed a financing project.