The exterior of the Bonnie Apartments in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. Residents received a letter Friday telling them their leases had been terminated, and they had three days to leave the property.
Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News
Residents of The Bonnie apartments, the complex next to the Oak Cliff building destroyed in a deadly gas explosion earlier this year, have been ordered to vacate their homes, according to a letter obtained Tuesday by The Dallas Morning News.
The letter, dated Friday, Aug. 7, told residents to remove all personal belongings and return their keys within three days of notification. In bold print, the letter emphasized it was not a temporary relocation notice, stating current residents would not be allowed back on the property after repairs have been completed.
“We had no warning before that,” tenant Lesli Esther told The News. “We had no idea that anything like that was coming.”
Article continues below this ad
The News contacted Bonnie’s landlord and managing company by email and phone Tuesday afternoon but did not immediately hear back.
In an emailed statement, the Dallas City Attorney’s Office Community Prosecution Section said the notice to vacate was filed by the complex owner in response to a case opened to address “outstanding code violations at the property.” Texas law requires landlords to give a three-day written notice to vacate through specific delivery methods before filing for an eviction, though city staff said the landlord agreed to postpone eviction filings until the end of the month.
City officials said they were coordinating with non-profit partners to provide housing navigation services and resources to remaining tenants.
‘Very cruel’
On May 28, more than 40 Dallas Fire-Rescue units were dispatched over reports of a gas leak at a neighboring apartment building known as The Clyde, located in the 400 block of East 9th Street, near Patton Avenue.
Article continues below this ad
The explosion leveled the 23-unit complex, killed three people and injured at least six others. It was Dallas’ deadliest gas-related accident since 2018, when an explosion in northwest Dallas killed a 12-year-old girl.
While the Bonnie remained standing, the letter said the explosion caused “substantial damage” to the building and its systems, rendering it “totally unusable for residential purposes.”
Residents previously told The News they had been living without gas service for well over a month following the blast, forcing them to boil water for baths and cook on hot plates and griddles.
Esther said Catholic Charities Dallas has been assisting her and other neighbors as they look for a new place to live, but stated she has not received similar assistance or communication from property management or the city.
According to Esther, one of her neighbors contacted management to ask about transferring to another property and was told there were no vacancies. Esther and other residents later checked the company’s website and found apartments advertised as available, she said.
Article continues below this ad
“They’ve been very cruel about the whole situation,” Esther said.
For Faustino and Maria Ybarra, longtime residents of Bonnie, the letter meant days spent scrambling through the rental market trying to find a new place to call home.
“We don’t have a place to go yet,” Faustino Ybarra said in Spanish.
Finding a new apartment for a similar price could prove challenging for the residents who had to vacate their homes. The Bonnie advertises available rents ranging from $775 to $995 per month, according to Apartments.com. But Dallas now has a limited number of apartments with rents below $1,000.
Between 2021 and 2023, Dallas went from over 98,000 units with a gross rent under $1,000 to just over 47,000 units, according to a report from the Child Poverty Action Lab.
Article continues below this ad
Amid the lack of affordable housing, the number of people facing eviction has also been increasing. In 2024, Dallas County landlords filed 50,117 evictions, the highest level in 25 years of available data, according to a separate Child Poverty Action Lab report.
Gas line hit by drill rig was unmarked
Before the explosion, plans had been submitted to turn the Bonnie and Clyde into an 82-unit senior housing development, according to city records. In preparation for construction, a drilling rig was sent out to conduct a soil analysis at the site.
An engineering consulting firm hired by the developer notified Texas811, the agency that notifies utility companies of planned excavation so lines can be marked, before drilling was to begin. A separate company that locates underground utilities marked the gas lines for Atmos.
But a preliminary report released last month by the federal agency that investigates pipeline incidents found that while some markings were present at The Clyde, the line hit by the drill rig had not been marked as required before work began. The investigation remains ongoing; a final report could take more than a year.
Article continues below this ad
The application for development has since been terminated.
At least six legal claims have been filed against Atmos since the explosion, accusing the utility of failing to follow adequate emergency response procedures, not repairing repeated leaks, not replacing aging plastic pipe and not properly marking underground gas lines.
In June, Atmos was ordered by a Dallas County judge to preserve all evidence connected to the blast.
More here: Gas line hit by drill rig was not marked before deadly Oak Cliff explosion, feds say
Article continues below this ad
Staff writers Michael Cuviello and Neal Franklin contributed to this report.