Aurora threatens closure of two troubled apartment complexes

Aurora officials have threatened to imminently close two long-troubled apartment complexes at the center of a national firestorm unless their owner takes “quick and immediate steps” to address crime and “deterioration” of the properties, according to letters sent to the owners that were obtained by The Denver Post on Thursday.

In two letters sent Sept. 20, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain told CBZ Management and its Colorado owner, Zev Baumgarten, that two complexes on Dallas Street — the Edge of Lowry and 200 Columbia apartments — are “criminal nuisance properties.” Chamberlain told Baumgarten and CBZ that he would authorize a civil proceeding directing the properties be closed as soon as Sept. 30 if problems there aren’t addressed.

This week the city also issued a municipal court summons to Baumgarten because of a litany of health code violations related to another CBZ property in Aurora, the Whispering Pines complex on Helena Street, according to a copy of the summons obtained by The Post. It’s at least the third municipal summons issued against Baumgarten in recent years because of CBZ’s failure to fix conditions at its Aurora properties, and the inspection and summons triggered fears among Whispering Pines residents that their homes could be shuttered next.

In one of his letters to CBZ, Chamberlain wrote that the “uptick in violent crime and the physical condition of the properties present a significant public safety concern.” One call for service placed last month at 200 Columbia was for murder, according to the letter. Chamberlain also noted the “extensive criminal call history,” at the Edge of Lowry apartments, the property that sparked a national firestorm about gang takeovers last month after a resident shared video of armed men in her hallway.

Chamberlain also noted numerous violations issued to CBZ over the condition of the properties. Those violations, Chamberlain wrote, “have not yet been addressed.”

If the city were to close the properties, it also would displace dozens of tenants who live there, advocates said. The city previously ordered the closure of another CBZ property, the Aspen Grove apartments on Nome Street, because of repeated code violations. CBZ later agreed to give up control of the property in exchange for the city dropping charges against Baumgarten. The property’s closure displaced the tenants living there and sparked a lawsuit against CBZ and Baumgarten.

An email sent to Baumgarten’s lawyers early Thursday evening was not returned immediately.

The news Thursday that the two properties may close shocked advocates, who had scheduled an unrelated news conference at the Whispering Pines property to call for support from the city there.

Asked about next steps for tenants and the property owners, Aurora spokesman Ryan Luby said it wasn’t yet clear and that “the hope is the property owners and managers abide by the law and support their tenants and take care of their properties.”

Some Aurora officials and CBZ, which owns several properties in Aurora and Denver, have claimed the complexes have been overtaken by gangs, sparking former President Donald Trump to inaccurately claim that the entire city has been overrun. City officials subsequently have said gang activity is limited but had significantly impacted CBZ’s properties. Several gang members have been arrested.

Current and former tenants, along with Inspection records in Denver and Aurora, have detailed years of unaddressed dilapidation at CBZ’s properties, including at Edge of Lowry and 200 Columbia. Those issues include black mold, a lack of heat and hot water, and a persistent lack of response or permanent repairs from CBZ or its managers. CBZ has been sued several times by former tenants; one lawsuit, from a former Edge of Lowry tenant, dates back more than four years.

The news that the properties could close and displace their residents shocked advocates, who hosted a news conference Thursday outside of CBZ’s Whispering Pines apartments in Aurora. Tenants feared that their property could be closed after a recent comprehensive inspection of the property identified extensive health code violations. The tenants pleaded for support from city officials and asked them not to close the 54-unit complex at 1357 Helena St.

In a Facebook post this month, Mayor Mike Coffman threatened to close Whispering Pines and the Edge of Lowry apartments if CBZ didn’t begin providing services there. The comprehensive inspection completed last week detailed more than 23 pages of broken doors, inoperable water heaters, pest infestations and other issues across the property, according to a copy of the report obtained by The Post.

Standing in the courtyard between Whispering Pines’ buildings Thursday, tenants said they continued to pay rent and had offered to fix some of the properties themselves. They chanted that they weren’t criminals, and they expressed fear that they would lose their homes just as temperatures begin to drop and with no alternative options available.

“We are not criminals, as they have said in the news,” tenant Isamar Vilacha said through a translator. A sign taped to the table where she sat called for “landlord accountability, not building condemnation.” “It is not possible for them to put the blame on us for the failures of this company.”