The subject building is a peculiar pre‐Northridge steel moment resisting frame building. Upon investigating the existing lateral resisting system, numerous significant deficiencies were identified; inherent lack of redundancy, poor geometry and inadequate stiffness of the lateral resisting system. All of which resulted in an extremely soft 5‐story structure with a primary torsional mode of vibration at T1 = 5.46 s. Significant structural modifications were deemed necessary to meet the “life‐safety” performance objective as outlined in rehabilitation standards such as ASCE 41. Both increased stiffness and damping were required to adequately retrofit the building. Furthermore, adjacent building separation as well as deformation compatibility issues needed to be addressed and resolved. A three‐dimensional computer model of the building was created using ETABS mathematically simulating the building's dynamic characteristics in its current condition. Multiple seismic retrofit systems were investigated such as ...