DENTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Monday evening, management The Ridge at North Texas released this statement.
"The majority of the residents of The Ridge at North Texas who were displaced over the weekend because of a floor collapsing will be permitted to return to their units this evening and resume occupancy. Residents of the three units directly affected by the incident will be permanently moved to other housing—most likely at a nearby property—as those three units are restored. Affected residents will have seven days' rent credited to their accounts.
Structural engineers and city officials have the deemed the building suitable for occupancy, attributing this weekend's incident to a large party in the third-floor unit. The property cannot comment on specific questions related to cause or liability as this incident remains part of an open investigation by the Denton Police Department. The Ridge at North Texas apologizes for the inconvenience caused to residents and will be looking at possible additional steps to take in order to prevent another such incident."
Denton Police said Monday they had just one previous noise complaint in the last six months connected to a college apartment where a floor collapsed during a party early Sunday morning. More than a dozen people were injured in the collapse, but none of them seriously.
Police said the only call to the apartment damaged at The Ridge at North Texas was for a noise disturbance, September 24 at 2:08 a.m.
A representative for Asset Campus Housing, the management company for the property, said Monday the on-site manager had no previous record of complaints about noise from the apartment.
That differed from accounts of students who lived in the building, who said they had called police and management about crowds several times. Police did confirm residents were at the police station Sunday morning to make a complaint, just four minutes before the collapse was reported.
Property records show the complex was built in 1999. It's owned by Texas Student Housing Authority, a non-profit that offers housing scholarships for students.
The City of Denton did not immediately provide inspection and code compliance records for the facility.
Monday night, residents of the damaged building were allowed back in to recover their belongings. Work crews were also bringing in plywood to board up windows and blowers to dry out water damage from broken pipes.
"The majority of the residents of The Ridge at North Texas who were displaced over the weekend because of a floor collapsing will be permitted to return to their units this evening and resume occupancy. Residents of the three units directly affected by the incident will be permanently moved to other housing—most likely at a nearby property—as those three units are restored. Affected residents will have seven days' rent credited to their accounts.
Structural engineers and city officials have the deemed the building suitable for occupancy, attributing this weekend's incident to a large party in the third-floor unit. The property cannot comment on specific questions related to cause or liability as this incident remains part of an open investigation by the Denton Police Department.
The Ridge at North Texas apologizes for the inconvenience caused to residents and will be looking at possible additional steps to take in order to prevent another such incident."
