A real estate sale expected to bring affordable housing to Dallas' Oak Cliff neighborhood is continuing after a deadly explosion at the site killed three people and federal officials investigate.
O-SDA Industries LLC is moving forward with purchasing what was once an aging apartment property at 409 9th St., the firm confirmed to CoStar News. The 23-unit apartment complex was destroyed after an explosion midday on May 28. Prior to the explosion, emergency officials were responding to reports of a gas leak. At least 100 firefighters responded to the five-alarm fire.
Two women and one child were killed in the explosion, which hospitalized five others. Victims were not immediately identified to the public. The Dallas fire chief said 19 of the 23 units were inhabited.
"As our company was in the process of purchasing the property, we will closely follow and cooperate in the investigation into the cause of this tragedy," O-SDA Industries President Megan Lasch told CoStar News. "We are also working with other property owners and service agencies to help secure housing and address the needs of any displaced residents," Lash said. "We are still trying to understand the exact timeline of the events."
O-SDA Industries had planned to demolish the apartments and build a new affordable housing development. The Austin, Texas-based firm owns the neighboring property at 308 E. 8th St. that it also plans to redevelop as part of the larger affordable housing project in the residential neighborhood just southwest of downtown Dallas.
O-SDA Industries has previously built affordable housing in Texas, including Dallas.
Federal investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team to Dallas to investigate the natural gas-fueled explosion.
The federal investigation was beginning Friday as the neighborhood had been cordoned off for blocks surrounding the site. An NTSB investigator was seen at the site on Friday as neighbors were going about their business.
The current owner of the property, an entity affiliated with a Dallas investor Samuel Aflalo, had owned the apartments for a decade prior to deciding to sell to the developer, which had it in escrow and was doing some due diligence prior to the July closing, said Geoff Henley, an attorney for the property owner.
"This is catastrophic," Henley, of Henley and Henley PC, told CoStar News. "The building was leveled. It was blown up and burned down."
Henley confirmed to CoStar News the seller and buyer intend to move forward with the real estate deal.
"The seller plans to turn in insurance claims to the provider," he said. "It's a total loss of the building. They will also be reaching out to tenants to see what their needs are, and we will be cooperating with investigators."