Partial occupancy granted at Rochester Towers for some residents
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(ABC 6 News) – The City of Rochester allowed some residents of the Rochester Towers Condominiums to move back in more than a month after they were evacuated.
It came at the request of the condo’s management company, First Service Residential, and an engineer’s report on the work that’s been done since that evacuation June 2nd.
“I had no problem moving back in. The building opened at 3:00 p.m. and I was here about 3:10,” Rochester Towers resident Tim Maynes said.
Maynes and his mom both have condos in the building.
They’re relieved to be able to return to their homes after being forced out.
The city allowed some of the residents to move back in more than a month after they were evacuated. The city is granted partial occupancy of the Rochester Towers.
Fears the building could collapse prompted the city to evacuate all of nearly 100 units.
Maynes said it’s been a difficult month filled with uncertainty.
“Nobody has seen a building lose their certificate of occupancy, and in that case I think we wanted to know more. They had a meeting here in town and many people had to leave town because they didn’t have a place to stay.”
Crews have been working to fix the structure’s stability ever since.
In a memo from the city to the towers management company, the city said based on the engineer’s report it had reviewed, the structure is safe for partial occupancy.
People living in all but nine units were allowed back, but Maynes said everyone is still waiting for one big question to be answered.
“They’re doing a study to figure out the cost of moving forward and doing the final repairs to the building and that’s of course weighing on everyone’s mind at this point.”
The work done so far is considered temporary and permanent repairs are still needed.
It’s unclear how long before everyone gets to move back in.