Stamford Seeks More Information For Allure Building Investigation

STAMFORD, CT — The city of Stamford is requesting more information from real estate developer and owner Building and Land Technology for the investigation into the partial collapse at the Allure, an apartment building in the Harbor Point section of the city.

On Feb. 1 around 2:30 p.m., a 20-foot-by-15-foot section of a fifth-floor amenity deck of the Allure apartment building, located at 850 Pacific St., collapsed into a parking garage. No injuries were reported, and no personal property was damaged.

In February, Henderson Rogers Structural Engineers, who was hired by BLT, said that tendons across a transition zone of the failed slab were missing. The city hired WJE, an engineering firm, who is performing peer review of post-failure documents.

Henderson Rogers said the failed slab is unique to that building in the Harbor Point area. Shortly after the collapse, BLT said it would review other properties as a safety measure.

"While I am grateful for the cooperation and the information provided to date in response to City inquiries related to the Allure building itself, it is critically important that the City and the public be assured that other buildings are safe, and multiple reasonable requests for information the City needs to make those determinations are received," Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons said in a letter last Friday to BLT co-President Ted Ferrarone.

Simmons' request for more information focuses on "all BLT-constructed or in-progress buildings designed or built with post-tension slabs designed by Henderson Rogers, built in whole or in part by Baker Concrete, or using the same post tension sub-contractors and special inspection and material testing firms used at the Allure."

Baker Concrete is the concrete contractor for BLT.

Notably, Simmons requested:

• A list of the properties where the above-mentioned designers and contractors were involved in any aspect of the building.
• All necessary design plans, shop drawings, and as-built plans for these structures.
• Copies of all special inspection reports for these structures.
• Access to building maintenance records and reports for these structures to the city's independent engineer.
• Simmons also asked to conduct and furnish all necessary testing of exposed concrete slab surfaces as determined by the city's independent engineer.

"I hope that BLT will agree with the City that a thorough investigation of all recently constructed properties is necessary to alleviate the justified concerns of residents, members of the public, and public officials who want to ensure that further incidents like the collapse on February 1st will not happen again," Simmons said in the conclusion of her letter.

BLT spokesperson Rob Blanchard told Patch BLT is in receipt of Simmons' letter and reviewing it.

"The safety, health, and wellbeing of our residents remains our top priority and we look forward to continuing to work with Mayor’s administration throughout this process," he said.

The city of Stamford has created a dedicated webpage for the investigation.