The City of Aurora finally got an attorney associated with the notorious Edge at Lowry apartment complex to come to city court Monday, only to find out that the lawyer is about to retire.
It’s the latest in the ongoing saga of the troubled Edge at Lowry apartments, which brought national attention to Aurora last year after a video went viral showing a group of men forcing their way into one of the apartments.
After months of controversy, protests, allegations of gangs, vermin and even torture, the building was shut down by the city Feb. 18. Monday was the civil court motion hearing on the matters of discovery between the city and the owners of the Edge. The court reviewed the case management order for a civil jury trial set from July 15-July 17.
For months, Aurora has issued subpoenas to corporate owners and others to face accusations of extreme mismanagement that led to chaos, crime and a public health nuisance inside the complex and apartments at East 12th Avenue and Dallas Street in northwest Aurora. The complex and three others owned by the same corporation CBZ Management, have been in receivership imposed by banks. The buildings have since then been operated by appointed managers.
Aurora officials were not immediately available to comment on what the future of the two shuttered complexes could in the light of at least one jury trial.
The City of Aurora closed the five apartment buildings on Dallas Street almost a month after an emergency court order from the Aurora Municipal Court Jan. 10. The city said the buildings were closed due to “an immediate threat to public safety and welfare if allowed to remain open.”
City officials said the buildings were abandoned by the property management company during the summer after the operators alleged they were threatened and forced out of the complex by Venezuelan gang members, Tren de Aragua. Once abandoned, the complex became overcome with squalor until the building became uninhabitable, according to city statements.
Owners have denied mismanaging the complex, and instead blame police for not pushing gangs and a large number of Venezuelan immigrants out of the buildings.
Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte worked for months to get the property managers into court to first take care of the buildings, and then, as they deteriorated, to close the complex.
After months of controversy, the building gained further notoriety when a Venezuelan couple living in the apartments told police they were kidnapped and held hostage because the woman used her mobile phone to record other women fighting in the parking lot one night.
With closure imminent, city, county officials and volunteers systematically moved dozens of people out of the chaos, many of those residents Venezuelan immigrants.
While the buildings are now closed, the city has incurred hefty costs for all of the damages, services provided, summons and complaints. The city has been trying to get the property management company into court so they can levy the company with fines and fees.
Five Dallas Partners LLC is owned by the property management company CBZ Management, which owned the LLC that ran a nearby Nome Street apartment complex called Aspen Grove. Aspen Grove was also forcibly closed in August 2024 also for being smitten with crime and filth. The city deemed the building a public nuisance.
CBZ Management and their attorney, Bud Slatkin, have claimed in previous court filings, social media posts, television interviews and through sympathetic city council members that the gangs migrated from the Aspen Grove Apartments to the Edge at Lowry and a third location, Whispering Pines, also owned by CBZ. They offered no evidence to support their claims other than reports created by attorneys.
Police have long stipulated that Venezuelan gang activity was occurring at the three apartments, but they have repeatedly denied allegations that the buildings were “overrun” by gang members or any criminals, as building owners and some city lawmakers have claimed.
The city first tried to get the property management company into city court to impose and win judgments regarding a catalog of complaints. Then the city tried to force owners into court to shut the buildings down, even while residents were still living there.
Now the city is trying to get the owners to pay the city back for expenses associated with keeping the buildings open after owners left them, and then closing them, about $800,000, according to court records.
The city has had nearly the same issues with all three locations, with the owners of CBZ Management and their LLCs. Lawyers for the CBZ have maintained that owners should not be held responsible for gang members forcing them out.
Slatkin and CBZ Management have alleged that the city, the Aurora Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation knew about the gang members and did nothing to help the property management company, claims that the city has repeatedly denied.
Slatkin made the same defense on Monday to Aurora Judge Shawn Day with the city disputing the claim, insisting that criminal problems were the result of mismanagement.
The plaintiff’s attorney and Aurora Deputy City Attorney, Megan Platt, said that gang issues are not relevant to the case involving the management company’s neglect of the buildings.
Slatkin argued that the city did not provide police power or protection. City records, however, show dozens of calls to police, and subsequent police response to the calls. Slatkin also tried to dispute the $800,000 cost the city claimed the management company owed.
As Day and attorneys laid out groundwork for the proposed three-day jury trial in July, Slatkin said he would bring witnesses to substantiate his case that gang members and an indifferent police force were to blame for the debacle across three apartment properties.
Day initially held Slatkin in contempt of court for multiple missed court dates in January and February, stating that “when a court enters an order, the court expects compliance.”
“I don’t take it lightly when my orders aren’t followed,” Day said.
Slatkin apologized and said in his 55 years of lawyering, this was the first time this had happened. Day ultimately dismissed Slatkin’s contempt of court charge but told him he needed to keep up with deadlines going forward.
It was then Slatkin then told Day he would be retiring, since turning 80 years old last month. He said he “finally figured out the reality of where his life was going” and that his wife requested that he retire.
Day was surprised and told Slatkin he needed to facilitate a new attorney for his clients or he would be responsible for future court dates, and face further contempt of court issues since Slatkin is the attorney of record for the defendants Five Dallas Partners LLC.
Slatkin said he knew his rights, and was confident the defendants would have new counsel in time.
The five buildings at the Edge at Lowry will now be closed for a year, as ordered by the city court in January. They are still owned by CBZ management. If they sell and anyone wants to buy, update, and reopen them, they will need city approval under the terms of the injunction granted by Day.
