Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday that the owners of a Rocky Hill apartment complex that was evacuated earlier this month because of burst pipes and faulty heating will pay more than $5 million in restitution to tenants, some of whom are still living in hotels.

“The owners have agreed to a tenant relief package that is unprecedented, totaling more than $5.1 million directly to the tenants of the Concierge apartments,” Tong said at a press conference at Rocky Hill town hall with Mayor Allen Smith, state legislators and town officials standing behind him.

Concierge Apartments is owned by Los Angeles-based private equity firm JRK Property Holdings, under the entity Century Hills. The firm has $15 billion in real estate assets under management in 23 states, according to Tong.

Tong said the package for residents who live in buildings A,B and C, which had the most damage, will average $15,000 per unit, while residents in buildings D and E will receive an average of about $3,300. 

Tong said in addition to the direct cash payments, the agreement includes three months’ free rent for tenants in buildings A, B and C, a one-month waiver for water and utility bills and the ability to terminate their leases early without penalties.

Tenants in buildings A, B and C will get between $1,000-$1,700 depending on how many people live there, while tenants in buildings D and E will get $500 cash per unit. The tenants in those buildings will get one month free rent and the utility waivers. 

There are 544 units in the complex, which houses about 2,000 people, all of which had to be quickly evacuated in early February when pipes burst, which caused flooding and heating issues.

About 500 residents in buildings D and E had to move out for about five days and have returned to their units, while town officials said several hundred people who live in the other buildings are still living in hotels because renovations have not been completed.

They will not get the benefit of being able to terminate their leases early, which disappointed Daniel Bishop, who lives in Building D and attended the press conference.

Bishop said the whole situation has been chaotic. He spoke of grabbing as much as he could in the middle of the night and driving to a hotel to get a room and then being told he could move back but not being able to get into his apartment when he returned.

“I’m grateful for the effort everyone put into it, but it’s a disappointment, not being offered the opportunity to terminate my lease,” Bishop said, adding that he wants “a fresh start.”

Tong emphasized that the financial agreement with JRK is the first step. The two sides are still working on a second agreement centered on health and safety measures that Concierge will undertake to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Tong credited JRK officials with moving quickly to meet with him once Tong announced his office was going to take the rare step of investigating the evacuation.

“They stepped up to make it right and acknowledged that there are long term problems, acknowledged there has been a tough relationship with the town and told me they want to improve that relationship,” Tong said.

Smith, Rocky Hill’s mayor, said the town has accrued significant costs from its response to the evacuation, including having to transport the more than 120 children scattered in hotels across the state back to Rocky Hill for school.

“Seventeen days is a long time to be displaced from your home,” Smith said. “We still have people living out of hotels with their families.”

Town officials have said that Concierge has had multiple code enforcement actions over the years, as well as tenant complaints about everything from trash removal to poor parking lots. 

State Sen. Matt Lesser, D-Middletown, called the event a “total travesty.”

“These residents have gone to hell and back,” Lesser said, adding that when he drove up to the scene as apartments were being evacuated, he “was absolutely shocked.”

“It looked like a war zone. There was debris everywhere, broken pipes, material falling on cars, ice everywhere,” Lesser said. “It looked like total pandemonium.”

Tong said the deal should be a warning to other landlords.

“Let me just say to all landlords across the state: I hope you’re paying attention and that you take whatever steps you need to take to make sure that your facilities are safe for the residents in your apartment buildings.”