An apartment building in Brewers Hill was deemed safe for reentry just before 3 p.m. Friday, roughly seven hours after it was evacuated because of damage to its pool deck.

Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson John Marsh said in an email that structural engineers and a building inspector determined all apartment units were safe for reentry, though parts of the apartment building, such as the gym area and area around the deck, remain closed until further inspections and repairs are made.

The rooftop pool deck at an apartment building in Brewers Hill appeared to have buckled, according to drone footage.

Residents of the Axel Brewers Hill, an apartment complex at 1211 S. Eaton St., milled about outside Friday afternoon as city officials, contractors and a structural engineer evaluated the building’s plans.

The Baltimore City Fire Department responded to the area shortly before 8 a.m. and quickly determine the rooftop pool was leaking “and possibly compromising the integrity of the building,” Marsh said in an email.

Part of the property was temporarily condemned while crews and officials investigated and evaluated the damage.

Crews began draining water from the pool around noon as residents continued to congregate in the streets or at local nearby businesses such as DiPasquale’s Marketplace.

Drone footage taken by The Banner appears to show the pool deck has buckled or partially collapsed in the shallow end. Tiles all around the shallow end of the rooftop pool are askew, with some lifted off the ground.

The shallow end of the pool is empty, with what appear to be cracks near the drains and filters. The deeper part of the pool was filled with green-tinted water.

Marsh said the Fire Department went door to door to about 60 units in the part of the building nearest to the pool to evacuate residents.

Other residents were notified by text message first to avoid the building’s lobby, which is under the pool. Residents were then told in an “URGENT” text message to remove their cars from the garage.

Another text sent to residents urged them to stay off their balconies and called the situation a “structural emergency.” The Fire Department had said earlier in the day that the building was partially condemned, then said in the afternoon that it was safe for residents to return.

A spokesperson for Excelsior Communities, which owns the apartment, said the property experienced a “pool leak” and they have begun working with engineers and repair specialists to fully understand the extent of the damage.

“We have taken swift action to secure the area, ensuring there is no risk to residents or visitors. Our team is actively working on a comprehensive repair plan, and we will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” Cathy Craft, the spokesperson, wrote in an email.

Late Friday, two residents of the building, Nicole Moss and Helen Mohan, filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against Excelsior Communities, JDavis Architects, the firm which designed the complex, Wood Partners, the developer and construction company, and Brewers Hill Realty, which runs the building. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Baltimore, accuses the owners and other defendants of negligence and breach of contract.

Moss and Mohan are seeking undisclosed damages and an order allowing residents to terminate their leases.

None of the companies being sued could be reached after business hours Friday evening.

Christine Ford has lived in the building for about a year — it’s where she, her husband and their dog moved after being displaced by a building fire in Patterson Park.

As they woke up to start their day, Ford said they looked out their apartment window and noticed the pool was buckling and that it looked like the building was starting to collapse.

She and her husband grabbed their passports and medication and left, she said.

Ford said they haven’t heard much from the building management, but she said the staff was doing all they could to get people safe. Ford said she saw staff members this morning running around the hallways getting people to evacuate.

”This was our temporary apartment, because of the house fire last year,” Ford said. “I don’t know where we’re going to go tonight.”

They’re prepped for a few days with essentials, Ford said, and waiting for updates from the building management.

“At the end of the day, if we have to replace it [our belongings] again, we can,” she said.

The apartment complex in Brewers Hill is just 4 years old. Permitting records from the city of Baltimore show construction started in 2018 and continued into 2020. That October, the city issued a permit to operate a 372-unit apartment complex. Property records show the building was sold in 2022 for $125 million to a company owned by the New York real estate company Excelsior Communities.

Abi Aghayere, a professor in the Drexel University College of Engineering in Philadelphia, said it was difficult to fully assess what may have happened at the building without seeing the structural drawings.

“In any case, the structure is in trouble,” Aghayere said. “I would be way cautious about this.”

Baltimore Banner reporters Giana Han, Giacomo Bologna and Ben Conarck contributed to this article.