Surprise Notice Promises Condo Residents Belongings, Vehicles in Collapsed Garage

Renaissance at Turtle Creek condominium owners got an email from management Sunday evening, saying contractors would be able to access dozens of vehicles in the partially-collapsed parking garage and retrieve personal items from cars.

In an email to condo owners, management wrote that "authorized personnel" would be able to access cars "parked in the garage from space 392 or above" in order to retrieve personal items and supplies. Residents are still forbidden from accessing the garage itself for the foreseeable future because it may be structurally unsound.

A few dozen condo owners are even luckier than that. Some received a call Sunday saying valets would be able to drive their cars out of the garage entirely.

[DFW]Parking Garage Collapse

It's unclear how many cars exactly were able to be extracted safely from the partially collapsed garage, but it appeared to be at least two dozen vehicles.

After the destruction of Friday night, Cooner didn’t think she’d sit in her driver’s seat for months. But she got the call saying she’s one of the lucky ones whose car could be safely driven out of the partially collapsed garage.

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"I’m thrilled to be able to get my car back. I thought it was a lost cause, and then I got the call that they were able to extract it. So I’m waiting to see it again," Cooner said, standing outside the condominium front entrance at about 7 p.m. Sunday night.

“That’s one less headache I have to deal with,” she said. “Tomorrow I don’t have to take an Uber or try to figure out how to get to work.”

Cooner added, “I really feel for the rest of the residents, whose cars may be trapped in there for months on end.”

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NBC DFW watched as contractors in safety vests walked in-and-out of the garage, and brought out dozens of vehicles to their grateful owners. But not everyone is so lucky.

“It’s not crushed, that’s the good news. But we don’t know if we’re going to be able to get them out, or when,” said condo owner Cheryl Allison.

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“We haven’t been given that information yet. So we’re just waiting. But they’re doing right by us, helping us all rent cars and that sort of thing.”

Allison said her rental car company — paid for by the building management — estimated it could be months before she’s able to drive her car again.

“I’ve been disappointed because I just got my car two months ago. It’s brand-new,” she said. “But it’s only a car. And it really is a miracle that this isn’t a tragedy, that no one was hurt or killed.”

But for dozens of condo-owners, it’s a sense of relief and excitement.

“I was literally signing paperwork for the rental car, they’re telling me about a six-month lease, I was like oh my God, am I not going to be able to see my car that long?” said Comeneisha Dixon.

“And then literally at 5 o’clock they called me. They said your car is one of the ones able to be extracted,” she said.  “So now I am really, really relieved.”

The parking garage remained off-limits to residents for the foreseeable future.

Condo owners told NBC DFW they appreciated how the Condominium Association management is calling residents, sending frequent emails, and doing their best to make sure everyone is provided transportation by Monday morning.

Many residents also want answers to two big questions that remain unknown: What caused this collapse and will the entire parking garage have to come down?