City of Aurora threatens to shut down apartment complex

AURORA, Colo. — The city of Aurora is threatening to shut down an apartment building that has become central to claims of a “Venezuelan gang takeover.” 

City leaders said property managers of the Edge at Lowry apartments at East 12th Avenue and Dallas Street refused to cooperate with police investigations into a string of crimes at the properties and have effectively abandoned their tenants.

Last Friday, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain designated the property a “criminal nuisance.” In a notice served to the property managers, Chamberlain cites an uptick in violent crimes, deteriorating conditions and a history of code violations as significant safety concerns. The notice also says the city will move forward with plans to shut down the property if things do not improve. 

CBZ management has continued to claim the property is one of three properties they own that have been taken over by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).

The Edge at Lowry complex was the site of a now-viral video, showing armed men entering an apartment unit. Aurora police said they have identified the men in the video but can’t confirm any gang affiliation.

Earlier this month, the city offered to place Aurora Police officers at the property to encourage CBZ Management to manage the property again. Police said the property had excessive trash, leaking pipes and broken windows. 

“They [CBZ Management} have so far not taken us up on that offer. They also continue to be uncooperative with APD on the various criminal cases that occurred at or are tied to their properties going back several months,” the city said in a statement to 9NEWS.

The city has already taken the unprecedented step of shutting down a property owned and operated by the same company, CBZ Management. In August, roughly 300 residents were evicted from the Aspen Grove complex at Colfax and Nome. 

At the time, Mayor Mike Coffman called the owners “out-of-state slumlords” and said the city was shutting down the apartments due to uninhabitable conditions and code violations that dated back years. 

Aurora police and city leaders have repeatedly said Tren De Aragua’s presence in Aurora is small, and their impact has so far been limited to these select few properties. So far, police said they have arrested nine people associated with the gang.