A set of Aurora apartment buildings could be closed by a city order after continuous reports of violence and other crimes linked to a Venezuelan gang.
The city of Aurora asked a court last week for the emergency closure of the Edge at Lowry apartments, sometimes known as the Edge of Lowry, which have been at the center of a national controversy over immigration. Police have linked crime at the buildings to the gang Tren de Aragua.
Judge Shawn Day found that the properties are an “imminent threat to public safety and welfare” and granted an emergency order last week to begin the process of closing the property.
The closure could happen mid-February, giving residents about 2.5 months of notice from the time that the city first started discussing the closure publicly in December, said city attorney Pete Schulte.
“The Edge of Lowry Apartments is an epicenter for unmitigated violent crimes and property crimes perpetuated by a criminal element that has exerted control and fear over others residing at this apartment complex,” said police Chief Todd Chamberlain in a court filing.
Chamberlain said the situation had reached a “breaking point” and leaving the building open would allow crime to “flourish.”
What will happen to tenants at the Edge at Lowry?
The city is working with Arapahoe County and others to “provide relocation assistance to established tenants of the 60 affected apartment units,” according to Aurora officials.
“The city’s going to bring somebody in that we’re going to pay to go through those individuals to figure out who’s lawfully supposed to be there and who is just kind of hitching a ride,” Schulte said.
Public officials previously promised a month’s rent and a security deposit for affected renters, according to Nate Kassa, an advocate for the renters. But city officials said the level of assistance would depend on factors like whether the person has a job and whether it’s a family. The support also will include help finding new housing units.
Kassa was concerned that the city would not offer help for tenants who were not given a formal lease by the landlord. Schutle said that many people have moved into vacant apartments and are squatting.
The looming closure is causing confusion and fear among residents, Kassa said.
“People are really confused. People just want to get out. They don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said.
What crimes are being cited to close the apartments?
In its request to close the buildings, Aurora officials referred to “numerous calls for service, investigations of violent crimes, and quality of life issues,” including the brutal kidnapping in December of two residents by suspected gang members.
A woman was bludgeoned in the head and had injuries to her hands “Consistent with torture.” The victims had been held at gunpoint by 15 to 20 armed individuals, court filings claimed. Some of those same suspects are accused of collecting rents from residents by extortion.
The buildings also were the site of a murder in August, as well as a related viral video of armed men who are accused of burglary and menacing.
Another legal fight is coming
The building’s owners have asked for a jury trial over the city’s shutdown attempt, but their attorneys have not filed an attempt to stop the temporary closure.
A court hearing on Monday included an unusual exchange, with apparent confusion over who the landlord’s lawyer is. The previous law firm of record, Garnett Powell Maximon Barlow & Farbes, reportedly sought to withdraw from the case on Monday morning.
Another attorney representing the landlords, Bud Slatkin, logged on several minutes late. Slatkin said he had been attending to his daughter’s illness at a hospital.
A city attorney expressed his sympathy but also accused the defendants of stalling throughout the process. Meanwhile, Slatkin said the city should have done more to call and notify the defendants of the fast-moving proceedings.
“We’re not in the business of stalling,” he said. “We are in the business of wanting to protect the residents of the property, in the business of protecting the property, and being a good citizen of the city of Aurora,” Slatkin said.
Judge Shawn Day appeared unhappy with the late attempted withdrawal of the other law firm, saying that Stan Garnett and company had been expected to appear at the hearing
“For them to, I’m choosing my words carefully, to not appear today and address the motion to withdraw, or think that they can just file the motion … I take issue with that,” Day said.
The next hearing will be March 3 at 3 p.m. to accept and approve a case management order for the case to go to trial. However, the buildings could close while the case works its way through the courts.
“To date, the ownership of the property has taken no action to secure the property and verify its occupancy,” city lawyers wrote.
The closure petition was filed against five Dallas Partners, LLC, the owner of the buildings, which is associated with CBZ Management. A city analysis counted dozens of reported offenses at the buildings since 2023, including 13 aggravated assaults
CBZ Management has also lost control of another set of Aurora apartments, Whispering Pines, as well as another building in the Edge complex, in a dispute with its bank. The other Edge building has already been closed.
The city previously closed CBZ apartments on Nome Street over the summer.
