In Unit 304 at the Edge of Lowry apartment complex in Aurora, insects crawled on nearly every surface: The brown and pink painted walls. The popcorn ceiling. And the floor — where they also scampered over small holes pockmarking it.
Residents of the building, which is owned by an affiliate of CBZ Management, all moved out by Tuesday under a closure order, but, until then, many had laid their heads to sleep in squalor.
“This is where humans lived,” Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain said during a news conference Wednesday inside the now-vacant apartment. “You have stoves that don’t work. You have electricity that’s not functioning.”
The windows of most of the 60 units that make up the Edge of Lowry are now boarded up after a municipal judge issued an emergency order last month to shutter it. The closure was requested by Aurora city officials, who cited “public safety and welfare” concerns as their reasoning.
The troubled complex at 1218 Dallas St. is among several apartment properties tied to CBZ in metro Denver that have drawn notoriety since last summer for their conditions and for alleged activity by a Venezuelan gang. The location was also the site of a viral video of armed men forcing their way into apartments that made national headlines.
Signs still taped up in the complex’s hallways Wednesday explained the order to vacate in English and Spanish and instructed residents to leave by Tuesday at 8 a.m. Those who remained could be arrested for trespassing.
The complex is owned by Five Dallas Partners, an offshoot of CBZ. The city is in the midst of a civil legal action against CBZ, and it has also filed seven criminal cases “for the plethora of unresolved habitability problems, code violations, and neglect” at the Edge of Lowry and another property, Whispering Pines, said Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby.
Attorney Walter “Bud” Slatkin, who represents CBZ Management, didn’t respond Wednesday afternoon to a request for comment on ongoing legal proceedings and the conditions of the shuttered apartment complex.
Chamberlain blamed the ownership and management company for its neglect.
“They use an influx of vulnerable populations and vulnerable migrants to maximize profits, offering substandard living conditions while failing to provide basic safety,” he said.
At the beginning of the closure process, Aurora officials were prepared to help the residents of roughly 50 occupied units relocate through a temporary property administrator, Property Solutions Colorado. But “many people left on their own volition,” Chamberlain said.
While tenants still occupied the complex, Aurora estimates that it put $360,000 toward repairs, portable heaters, security and other expenses at the property.
Ultimately, according to the city, 85 residents who lived in 23 apartment units were granted relocation assistance that amounted to over $94,000. The aid differed based on individual circumstances.
Those who received support included U.S. citizens and foreign nationals from Venezuela, Haiti, Colombia and Mexico, Luby said, adding that some planned to move to other cities and states. Individuals who had committed violent crimes did not qualify for assistance.
, a nonprofit group that advocates for housing for homeless people, and two other activist groups recently criticized the city’s response to the situation at the Edge of Lowry. They claimed that police threatened occupants with arrest and detainment.
The organizations said some families were left homeless. A HAND representative didn’t immediately respond to a request asking for more information on where residents were relocated.
Chamberlain denounced those allegations at the Wednesday news conference, saying: “The people that were here were treated fairly. They were given a new opportunity to move out of this plight-ridden location into another venue somewhere in Aurora.”
Most apartments were home to groups of more than a dozen residents crammed into the spaces, the police chief said.
Residents suffered not only poor living conditions but also faced intimidation and financial extortion “by both the management and the criminal element that took over this location,” Chamberlain said.
While city officials have downplayed characterizations by President Donald Trump and others that the Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, had taken over the city, Chamberlain did assert Wednesday that its members controlled several parts of the complex. They used violence, extortion and kidnapping against residents, including other Venezuelan migrants, he said.
In December, police reported a gang-related kidnapping of two Venezuelan residents without legal status in the apartment complex. Chamberlain said that at first, his officers faced difficulties identifying Tren de Aragua members because they don’t have specific tattoos or dress uniformly.
Law enforcement detained at least 15 people who were believed to be tied to the crime in January. Chamberlain said one man involved in the kidnapping tried to hide by dressing in women’s clothing and a wig.
“The complex became a hub for drug trafficking, home invasions, shootings and violent assaults,” he said. A basement room in a nearby building hosted drug deals and prostitution, he added.
Last year, police received 382 calls for service at the Edge of Lowry, which resulted in 27 arrests. So far this year, the number of calls in the area has plummeted to 22, Chamberlain said.
He noted a 20% drop in the city’s overall crime rate.
Now, Chamberlain said, “we have turned the corner on that crime. We have turned that corner on that mismanagement.” As he spoke, a cockroach climbed the microphone cable.
“We have definitely turned a corner on the victimization of the people who came here for a better life — and ended up living in a place like this.”
