Aurora law enforcement and city officials have been trying to put out a public relations fire started by CBZ Management since August, when one of the New York-based company's properties in the city had to be shut down for outstanding code violations dating back to 2020. The company claimed that the property at 1568 Nome Street was taken over by a multi-national Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA).
Later that month, a video surfaced from another CBZ property — the Edge of Lowry, at 1218 Dallas Street in Aurora. The video showed six men walking through the halls of the building with handguns and rifles before filing into an apartment unit. That property is now closed.
In September, the Aurora Police Department explained that the six men in the video were wanted for charges related to a fatal shooting that took place on August 18. While federal law enforcement has said that the men are Venezuelan nationals, the APD hasn't confirmed whether they had ties to TdA.
As the video circulated online, national news reporters and social media accounts claimed that Aurora had been taken over by TdA. The claim circulated so widely that President-elect Donald Trump held a rally at an Aurora resort in October. Trump has since pledged to lead federal deportation efforts in Aurora on his first day in office, with his inauguration day set for January 20.
Early January saw a handful of developments regarding Aurora gang violence and suspected TdA members, including charges filed for a kidnapping in December and the looming shutdown of one of CBZ's apartment complexes.
Nine People Charged in Aurora Kidnapping
On December 17, a dozen armed suspects kidnapped a couple living at the Edge of Lowry and took them to a vacant apartment against their will, where they were bound, threatened and assaulted, according to the Aurora police. The APD eventually arrested nineteen people at the apartment complex later that day.Among those nineteen people, three were found to be innocent and released. The other sixteen are still in the custody of U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said during a press conference on Monday, January 13, that seven of the men in custody have suspected ties to TdA.
Nine of those suspects, all men between the ages of twenty and 31 years old, have been charged in Arapahoe District Court for various crimes, including kidnapping, assault, burglary, extortion and menacing, the APD announced on Monday. Another seven suspects are still in ICE custody while APD investigates.
One of the men charged was in the Edge of Lowry video that brought national attention to Aurora in August. Niefred Jose Serpa-Acosta had active felony warrants for burglary and menacing with a deadly weapon stemming from the August 18 incident, which left one man dead. APD has four of the six men from that video in custody, police added.
Chamberlain said on Monday that "this is a problem of place, not a problem with the people there," and the incident led him to push for the immediate closure of the Edge.
"This place is not going to get any better. This place is a cancer to the community," Chamberlain said on Monday. "As law enforcement, as a city and family, we decided this is not going to be tolerated."
The Edge of Lowry Closing in Mid-February
In early December, the City of Aurora labeled the Edge of Lowry a criminal nuisance and filed a petition to close the property. On Thursday, January 9, the city filed an emergency order to close the apartment complex sooner in light of the December 17 kidnapping, Aurora City Attorney Pete Schulte said during a press conference on Monday."We really need to get control and get a hold of that property, because it is completely unmanaged," Schulte said. "There is nobody at that premise that is going to prevent individuals from committing crimes."
On Monday, Judge Shawn Day, the presiding judge for the Aurora Municipal Court, granted that emergency order, calling the Edge “an imminent threat to public safety and welfare.”
The city now plans to close the property in mid-February, but officials still don't know how many people will be displaced, as squatters are living on the property. Aurora director of Housing and Community Services Jessica Prosser said on Monday that between two and twelve people are believed to be living in each unit.
Carlos Daniel Ordosgoitti, a Venezuelan immigrant living at the Edge, told Westword that he hasn't missed a rent payment, and that he and his pregnant wife are worried they'll end up homeless. He believes the city needs to provide him housing.
"Where am I going to spend the night if they kick me out? It's a very complicated situation," Ordosgoitti said. "The city wants to close the apartments as quickly as possible without thinking about where families will end up. It's fair that they want to shut down the apartments, but it's fair that they relocate us, as well."
Prosser said Aurora Housing and Community Services is working to provide money for housing and relocation assistance for residents at the Edge of Lowry. However, she says, residents "may or may not" qualify for some funding because of their immigration status.
The Edge of Lowry, although run by CBZ Management, is technically owned by Five Dallas Partners, while another building on the property is owned by a separate LLC, 200 Columbia Realty. Both of those companies are registered to the same business address as CBZ Management: 1644 Pennsylvania Street, Suite #100, Denver.
The buildings owned by 200 Columbia Realty have already been transferred to a third-party receiver, Kevin Singer, who says the properties are now vacant after a successful keys-for-cash program, BusinessDen reports.
At a hearing on Monday, Five Dallas Partners was represented by Walter "Bud" Slatkin. Although the company didn't file anything against the emergency closure order, it challenged the city's criminal nuisance complaint and asked for a jury trial, which requires more time.
Noting that a jury trial takes longer, Schulte explained to Judge Day that Slatkin is obviously trying to "stall, stall, stall. We see this with this group a lot." Slatkin said that he's not trying to stall; he just wants to make sure he can "file everything appropriately."
Schulte told reporters that although the mid-February closure will happen, the emergency closure order is temporary, and the advantage Five Dallas Partners gets from stalling would be more time to file a petition to reopen the property later.
Slatkin is also the civil attorney for Zev Baumgarten, whom the city has identified as the owner of CBZ Management. The city has been trying to get Baumgarten in court for code violations at the Edge of Lowry and Whispering Pines, another CBZ property.
Chamberlain said he believes the City of Denver moved migrants from its jurisdiction to the City of Aurora, though Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and nonprofits tasked with finding migrants housing have disputed those claims.
"This isn't about pointing fingers. We had a crime-infested location where people got hurt. The message to anybody, whether it's the City of Denver or any city, is think about what you do," Chamberlain said. "We hope with the closure of this venue and the opportunity to get people in different places throughout the city or the metro area will give them a new lease on life."
Update: In line with the Aurora Municipal Court's decision to shut down the Edge of Lowry, the City of Aurora announced on Friday, January 24, that it hired Property Solutions Colorado as a temporary landlord. The company has started posting notices at the property telling tenants to vacate the apartment complex by 8 a.m. on February 18 or be arrested for trespassing.
"A documented history of neglect by CBZ and its various LLCs has left the complex in a state of disrepair that alone presents a risk to public well-being" a statement from to the City of Aurora reads. "More recently CBZ’s absentee ownership has allowed a criminal element to victimize residents."
Property Solutions will do a census at the Edge to determine who lives at the property. Tenants will have to work with the company to find another place to live and get help paying for it, but they'll have to go through a background check first.
