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As Aurora's Edge of Lowry apartments shut down, advocates claim city mishandled process. The city responded.

Advocates for the dozens of tenants who were forced to vacate the complex criticized the way the city handled the closure at a news conference Tuesday
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Edge of Lowry

AURORA, Colo. — The City of Aurora is pushing back on claims made Tuesday morning by advocates for dozens of tenants who were forced to move out of the Edge of Lowry apartments in Aurora as the troubled complex shut down earlier in the day.

The building's closure brings an end to a monthslong saga that included a series of high-profile incidents involving gang activity at the complex. Advocates claimed Tuesday the city mishandled the closure of the property and called for better protections for tenants. The city rebutted those claims, saying it invested nearly a half-million dollars into relocation costs and salvaging living conditions at the complex in its final months.

The Edge of Lowry apartments gained widespread national media attention last year after a viral video of armed men in its hallways fueled claims of a Venezuelan gang takeover at that complex and several others in the City of Aurora. The widely publicized incident became a talking point for conservatives and President Donald Trump, who used the city as a poster child of the dangers of illegal immigration during the campaign trial last year.

Speaking outside the complex Tuesday, V. Reeves, an organizer for Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND), said that while it was worth celebrating that 24 families at the complex were relocated elsewhere, "we found we were working against the institutions of the city and a court system, which gave power to bodies that abused the tenants further in their most desperate time of need."

Reeves claimed the city poured money into expensive surveillance equipment and armed security guards instead of improving living conditions.

In a statement provided to Denver7 in response to "some of the inflammatory misinformation select community activists have shared in recent weeks, and most recently as this morning," Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby detailed assistance it said it had provided to tenants at the Edge of Lowry through its temporary property administrator, Property Solutions Colorado.

That includes $360,000 in funds used to fix a litany of issues at the complex, from plumbing, electrical and heating repairs to trash management and security measures — including on-site security personnel — Luby said. The statement said Property Solutions fixed at least 70 leaks.

  • You can read the city's full statement at the bottom of this story.

A back-and-forth over relocation assistance

In December, the apartment's owners and the city reached a deal to close the complex for a year while the city repaired the myriad issues plaguing the building.

A few days after that deal was reached, city officials started posting closure notices, informing tenants that they had to vacate their units by Feb. 18. Anyone who remained at the complex past that date was warned they would be arrested for trespassing.

Claiming the city abused its power during the closure process, Reeves further claimed organizers from both HAND and The Redress Movement were continuously threatened with trespassing as they tried to advocate for the tenants — many of them undocumented non-English speakers.

"Where there should have been collaboration after we asked for meetings and open communication, there was secrecy and manipulation," Reeves said. "Any success in relocating families to somewhere safe is owed to local community organizations and caring community members who stepped up when government failed."

The city hired Property Solutions in an effort to help the tenants find housing. In its Tuesday statement, the city said it had provided $94,375 in direct relocation assistance to 85 residents across 23 apartment units at the complex.

Reeves claimed during Tuesday's news conference that Property Solutions failed to respond to tenants' request for assistance for weeks, only "to tell some individuals that all that they would receive was a ticket out of town."

It was only in the last week prior to the closure of the complex that Property Solutions allegedly began offering checks and cash to the most vulnerable residents, and any family "who attempted to return to receive this assistance before it was being offered were threatened with arrest and detainment," Reeves claimed.

The city, though, attributed the differing levels of assistance to individual circumstances.

"Each resident’s circumstance was different and wide-ranging. Consequently, each received varying amounts of assistance depending on their individual needs," Luby said. "In some instances, the Village Exchange Center facilitated the relocation assistance on behalf of individuals who qualified for alternative housing. In other instances, the assistance went toward hotel accommodation and travel costs for individuals and families who wished to relocate to other cities and states where they have relatives and/or friends.

"The residents who received assistance were Haitian, Venezuelan, Colombian and Mexican nationals and U.S. citizens, and they received it upon leaving their units in good condition and passing an inspection," Luby added.

Legislation to protect tenants being debated

The closure of the Edge of Lowry apartment complex, which was turned over to a receiver to stop a yearslong battle to bring the troubled complex into compliance with the city's safe-housing codes, has now spurred advocates to take action in the Colorado legislature.

Speaking outside the complex Tuesday, Jon Marcantoni with The Redress Movement said that while they are in support of receiverships, "what you end up seeing is... that without protections for these tenants, the receivers almost in ... speedy fashion evict these residents."

"What we have seen with receiverships is a lot of promise that almost immediately goes up in smoke because the tenants do not have their rights respected and there's no protections for them," Marcantoni said.

He said The Redress Movement and a coalition of other organizations are in favor of a receivership bill that is being debated in the coming weeks at the State House.

"This (bill) is going to be very important in protecting communities that are at risk, communities that are being exploited, communities that are being intimated," Marcantoni said.

Calling the last six months "heartbreaking" due to how the events at the Edge of Lowry apartments were portrayed in both local and national media news outlets, Marcantoni said that was only a very minor part of what was going on at the troubled complex.

"Sure, there were some bad actors in this building, of course — there's bad actors in every building," he said. "The vast majority, I would say 99%, were just hard-working individuals and families... and they had to be dehumanized in the press before anyone decided to step in to put a halt to [Edge of Lowry landlord CBZ Management's] practices that they have been dealing with for years. The City of Aurora did nothing — they only did something when it got on Fox News. And that is a big problem."

The city's statement makes no specific mention of those claims, but detailed ongoing legal action against CBZ Management.

"The city has filed seven criminal cases against CBZ’s principals for the plethora of unresolved habitability problems, code violations, and neglect of the buildings at 'Edge at Lowry’ and ‘Whispering Pines,'" the statement reads. "As the city has stated numerous times previously, it is incumbent upon the delinquent property owners, managers and 'investors' to take care of their properties."

The statement added that the city would place a lien on the properties to recoup costs of closure and resident assistance.

An apartment complex marred in controversy

The issues at the complex became widely publicized after the Aug. 18, 2024, recording spread through social media, with conservative-leaning accounts claiming the city had been taken over by the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Shortly after that recording went viral, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman appeared on Fox News claiming the gang had taken over two apartment buildings. He would later walk back those claims in a Sep. 3 interview with Denver7.

Later that month, the Aurora Police Department deemed two apartment complexes — the Edge of Lowry and 200 Columbia — "criminal nuisances" and threatened closure over safety concerns that included "crime and deterioration."

The company that owns Edge of Lowry — CBZ Management — claimed gang members prevented them from making repairs at their Aurora properties, saying it was too dangerous for their employees to be on site.

Code enforcement and inspection records dating back to 2020, however, show numerous violations prior to an influx of Venezuelan immigrants in the Denver metro, including mice infestations, ceiling damage, and dozens of unlawful vehicles parked in the parking lot.

In early December, CBZ Management and the city of Aurora agreed to close the Edge of Lowry apartment complex for safety reasons and repairs.

  • Watch Denver7's coverage of CBZ Management's other troubled properties in the video player below
CBZ Management's other troubled Colorado properties

A few days later, those safety concerns would come to a head after 16 suspected gang members were taken into custody following a violent home invasion and kidnapping at the complex on Dec. 17.

By Jan. 10, 2025, the situation at the complex reached such a “breaking point” that the city sought an emergency closure of the troubled apartments, claiming the property presented "an immediate threat to public safety and welfare."

A judge sided with the city three days later, and granted an emergency order "to allow the city to begin the temporary closure process at the properties," said City of Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby in an email to Denver7.

Exact details about the closure were not known at the time, but city officials said they were working on relocation assistance for the people living in 60 units that would be impacted by the order.

The City of Aurora then hired Property Solutions to assess the property at Dallas Street and E. 12th Ave. and connect tenants with relocation resources.

Luby said the last remaining residents had moved out over the weekend after Property Solutions informed him that the remaining residents had "a place to go."

Advocacy groups who are assisting tenants with relocation resources said they raised more than $26,000 to help relocate a total of 28 families — 24 at the Edge of Lowry and four others at other formerly CBZ-managed properties.

"These families have been through enough pain, and they deserve safe, dignified housing for themselves and their children," Reeves said.

Below is the City of Aurora's full statement sent in response to claims made Tuesday morning:

Overview and Assistance Provided

The city hired Property Solutions Colorado to serve as a temporary property administrator and lead the closure process at ‘Edge at Lowry’ over the last month. They completed substantial repairs to the apartment buildings to make them habitable in the short-term while simultaneously connecting qualified residents to relocation resources on an individualized, case-by-case basis. As of 8 a.m. Feb. 18, the complex is vacant and closed in accordance with the posted closure notices.

The city, via Property Solutions Colorado, was prepared to provide relocation assistance to qualified residents across the approximately 50 apartment units that appeared to be or were occupied at the start of the process. In the end, 85 residents across 23 apartment units received a total of $94,375 in direct assistance.

The residents who received assistance were Haitian, Venezuelan, Colombian and Mexican nationals and U.S. citizens, and they received it upon leaving their units in good condition and passing an inspection.

Qualified residents were required to provide their names and contact information so Property Solutions Colorado could perform individualized follow-up consultations and meet tax obligations. They were also required to provide a form of identification so Property Solutions Colorado could perform background checks and assist residents with housing applications and potential employment. Relocation assistance would not have been provided to anyone with a documented violent criminal history.

Each resident’s circumstance was different and wide-ranging. Consequently, each received varying amounts of assistance depending on their individual needs. In some instances, the Village Exchange Center facilitated the relocation assistance on behalf of individuals who qualified for alternative housing. In other instances, the assistance went toward hotel accommodation and travel costs for individuals and families who wished to relocate to other cities and states where they have relatives and/or friends.

Other costs and repairs

Including the direct relocation assistance, the city of Aurora has, so far, provided $360,000 in funding to resolve the myriad issues at ‘Edge at Lowry’ alone. The funding has covered major plumbing and electrical repairs, temporary portable electric heaters, trash abatement in hallways and on the property grounds, roll-off dumpsters, exterior lighting restoration and repair, abandoned appliance removal, the capping of gas lines, smoke detector installation, board-up materials, fencing and 24/7 on-site security personnel and tools.

On plumbing alone, Property Solutions Colorado fixed at least 70 leaks – some of them major -- caused by frigid temperatures. They also restored water, including hot water, to units that were still occupied up until the property’s closure.

Community partners and misinformation

We greatly value and thank the true, well-intentioned community partners that have stepped forward to assist in this challenging process which has had an impact on many people. However, the situation has also drawn out select individuals that have taken advantage of the circumstances for their own benefit and notoriety. It is incumbent upon the city to correct the record, provide the facts and ask news organizations to put their focus on covering factual information that can be validated.

Next steps

The city continues to pursue civil and criminal legal actions against the individuals who have failed to take care of their properties including the ‘Edge at Lowry’ – collectively known as CBZ Management.

The next Aurora Municipal Court hearing on the Criminal Nuisance Action, the civil process that led to the Edge at Lowry’s closure, is March 3 at 3 p.m. in Division 6. The court issued a contempt citation to CBZ’s attorney on Feb. 18 for failing to file initial disclosures as ordered on time, which he will need to address during the hearing.

Separately, the city has filed seven criminal cases against CBZ’s principals for the plethora of unresolved habitability problems, code violations, and neglect of the buildings at ‘Edge at Lowry’ and ‘Whispering Pines.’ Please see the attached case records – cases Z25740, Z25741, Z25737, Z25736, Z24938, Z25739, Z25738. Arraignment on the cases is set for April 4, 2025.

As the city has stated numerous times previously, it is incumbent upon the delinquent property owners, managers and “investors” to take care of their properties.

The city will place a lien on the properties to recoup any costs associated with the closure and any assistance provided to qualified residents.

Denver7's Sam Peña and Veronica Acosta contributed to this report.

Editor's note on Feb. 18 at 9:47 p.m.: This story has been updated throughout to include the contents of the City of Aurora's statement sent to Denver7 late Tuesday afternoon in response to claims made by advocates.


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