Aurora details plans to shut down ‘Edge’ apartments, forcing dozens of immigrants out of the embattled complex

AURORA | City officials said Monday they will close down an Aurora apartment complex notorious for public health and safety problems, including shootings and, most recently, a kidnapping of Venezuelan immigrants — allegedly by other immigrants.

Police also on Monday said nine Venezuelan immigrants had been charged in that kidnapping attack and accused of extorting money from immigrant residents of the apartment complex.

The complex attracted attention from the national media and the Trump campaign after armed alleged members of a Venezuelan gang were caught on video entering a unit last summer.

In a press conference Monday, Aurora city officials outlined their plan to close down the Edge at Lowry apartment complex, citing ongoing criminal activity and poor property management as the driving factors behind the decision.

“This place is not going to get any better. This place is basically a cancer to the community,” said Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain. “And we as a group of stakeholders, as community members, as law enforcement, as the city family, decided this is not going to be tolerated in Aurora.”

The city first filed a criminal nuisance case against the property’s owners, the Five Dallas Partners LLC, in December. The corporation is owned by the embattled CBZ Management company, according to state and city records. City officials have repeatedly accused CBZ of mismanaging the apartment complex, breeding a host of critical problems. Aurora closed down another CBZ property in August for similar issues and has targeted a third property as troublesome.

After a court hearing Monday, City Attorney Pete Schulte detailed the city’s strategy.

“We wanted to have the defendants, Five Dallas Partners LLC, have an opportunity to file an answer in this case, which they did on Dec. 30, and as we alluded to in the hearing today, that came out as what we call a ‘general denial,’ which means the defendants are going to require the city, as the plaintiff to prove each and every one of our complaints that we filed in the petition before this property can be closed,” he said.

However, the city also filed an emergency petition Dec. 27, citing a “very violent incident,” referring to the kidnapping that took place at the complex Dec. 17. 

“The police department felt like they really needed to get (the complex) under control, to get a hold of that property because it is being completely unmanaged,” Schulte said.

City officials asked for an emergency closure order Jan. 9, and the court granted the request the next day by Judge Shawn Day.

On Monday, a lawyer representing the property owner, Stan Garnett, said he was not authorized to comment on the order.

The nuisance complaint will allow the city to hire a receivership company — separate from the receivership agents the other CBZ Management properties were placed under — to assess the situation and help residents with “housing navigation,” Schulte said.

The Director of Housing and Community Services, Jessica Prosser, said the city would work with Arapahoe County to find and provide housing assistance and relocation to the residents.

Prosser said the city is doing this work differently than it did with the Aspen Grove apartments at 1568 Nome St. Officials said the unhealthy nature of Aspen Grove was the chief reason Aurora shut it down.

“This one was focused on a criminal nuisance,” Schulte said. 

The receiver will go door-to-door to assess who is currently living in 52 units in the complex, determining which residents are lawful tenants and which may be squatters, Prosser said. She added that the city is unsure if people are in the units they expect to be vacant. They do not know who was placed in the units after the property management company abandoned responsibilities. 

The receiver will then provide their findings about occupants to the city, which will be shared with Arapahoe County. The county will then work with housing navigation services to assist the residents in finding new housing options.

Prosser said that the assistance provided will be tailored to each individual’s or family’s situation. Factors like employment status and self-sufficiency will be evaluated to determine if financial assistance can be provided. Prosser said she wants to follow the requests of the tenants and the nonprofit activist groups helping them. 

A protest in front of the city courthouse before the court hearing involved tenants at the Edge at Lowry and other CBZ-owned properties, along with activist V Reeves, a Housekeys Action Network Denver spokesperson.

The protest highlighted the poor living conditions of the tenants at all of CBZ’s locations in the metro area and pleaded with the city to give the tenants at the Edge at Lowry more time before forcing them out. 

“We haven’t had communication in over three months, completely neglected,” said Denver-owned CBZ tenant Natasha Barshalom. “The only thing we get is a text message letting us know that we need to pay rent.”

Reeves said they are already frustrated that the city has not communicated this information with them and the tenants. They said communication is one of their main concerns. Reeves said they hoped the city would follow through, but she said they do not expect it to happen. 

“We’ve asked for meetings continuously, and, like, sent emails and requested to meet with folks and no response,” Reeves said. “So interesting that they’re saying and mentioning us and then not communicating at all directly with us so we could actually, like, make this happen.”

While the specifics are still being worked out, Prosser indicated the county may use targeted resource dollars, and the housing navigators may also be able to identify other assistance programs beyond just county funding.

The key focus is ensuring a personalized approach.

“We will not be doing a one-size-fits-all for everyone,” Prosser said. “We know that people are in very different situations.”

All but one of the complex’s six buildings will be placed under receivership and possibly closed. The sixth building was already placed under receivership in October after CBZ Management defaulted on a loan for the building. 

— The Associated Press contributed to this story.