Capitol Hill Residents Say Cornerstone Apartments Needs a Lesson in Responsibility

Carly Taylor is using her large LinkedIn following to promote “Tenant Tuesday,” when she shares stories from disgruntled tenants across Denver. And there are plenty of them.

She was inspired to start the project by problems at the Helene, at 1062 Pearl Street, where nearby residents have long dealt with trespassing and theft by people who gather under the apartment building's covered parking structure. Taylor and other neighbors who live near the alleyway behind the Helene have been pushing for changes from Cornerstone Apartments — which manages the building — for years. “It's not just Cornerstone,” Taylor says. “I know there's other property management companies that are like this as well, that are doing this all over the city."

But in Capitol Hill, it's often Cornerstone, which manages over 200 buildings in Denver's urban core, including in Cheesman Park, Highland and RiNo.

“People in this neighborhood have had scooters robbed,” says Lee Herndon, whose garage opens onto the alleyway behind the Helene. “Tenants have had cars stolen out of here. After eight burglaries, I spent thousands of dollars and a lot of time putting cameras up, and now I have video of thefts.”

Herndon has lived in his home since 2012 and says that security wasn’t an issue until Cornerstone Apartments began managing the Helene in 2018. “The big variable here for all of us is the change in the management company,” Herndon says.

When Cornerstone started managing the building, what had been a community space on top of the four-spot parking area for the Helene's residents was shut down. With no one gathering out back, junk started to collect in the alley below the deck, and people looking for a place to camp for the night began using the parking structure.

“It's covered,” Herndon notes. “It's protected. I get it. The problem is starting right then, this has become like the sun that crime orbits around.”

Larry Robbins and his wife have lived in a home whose garage backs up on the alley since 1993. He says he worries about the public health implications stemming from people living without bathrooms and using drugs in the parking structure.

These neighbors, along with others who live near 1062 Pearl, have attempted to get Cornerstone to deal with the problems, but they say they've been stymied. “What’s maddening is the fact that we've gotten no response,” Robbins notes.

But earlier this month, Denver City Councilman Chris Hinds stepped in to host a meeting with the neighborhood's residents, the Denver Police Department, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment and Derek Kellenberger, a manager with Cornerstone.

“I think we found a path forward that works both near-term and long-term,” Hinds says. “The near-term solution is to add fencing to that parking structure so basically no cars will be able to park there. There would be no access into the parking structure at all.”

According to Jay Casillas, a DPD media relations technician, the department is aware of the complaints about the address and has worked to implement a new trespass agreement with the Helene's management. “Trespass agreements are a way for property owners to give officers the authority to cite a person trespassing on property without having the owner present to sign a complaint,” Casillas explains.

The DPD has also sent its Homeless Outreach Team on regular patrols to the area, he says, but the officers rarely see trespassers.

Taylor says she appreciates the increased patrols but doesn’t see them as a sustainable solution. She's hopeful that a fence will be more helpful. The DPD suggested the fence after it conducted a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design assessment at the apartment building, looking for ways to make it more crime-proof. Ultimately, the plan is for the parking structure to be demolished.

Charlie Hogan, CEO of Cornerstone, says that because the Helene is a designated landmark — the circa 1904 building was added to the Denver registry in the late 1990s because of its intricate brick facade — it could be difficult to get approval for the demolition. Removing it could cost up to $25,000, he notes, adding that the building's owners are committed to that move.

“We're trying,” Hogan says. “We're just kind of at the mercy of the city at this point.”

However, according to Denver Community Planning & Development, which houses Landmark Preservation, the city hadn't received an application for alterations to the parking structure by July 27.

“The entire parcel is designated a landmark, so we would review any work on the exterior that requires a building or zoning permit using our design guidelines if we receive an application,” says a CPD spokesperson

Taylor complains that Cornerstone has made promises before, then failed to come through. “I have the privilege to talk to Cornerstone,” she says. “I will fight them with the means that I have at my disposal, and most people are not that lucky.”

She lives in a home that is not managed by Cornerstone and has a stable income and the time to fight, unlike many tenants. “I'm a woman working in a male-dominated field,” says Taylor, who works in machine learning for the video game series Call of Duty. “I know how to be persistent. I have been ignored, talked over, treated like shit my entire career, and I just won't play this game with people like this anymore.”

Hogan describes Taylor as a "thorn in the side."

Cornerstone has another challenge on its hands: the Lancaster Manor Apartments, at 2508 East 11th Avenue. After Cornerstone became the building's management company this spring, tenants were given just 33 days to vacate the property. They learned this from notices taped to their doors; Cornerstone offered no resources, they say.

Matthew Sterns had lived at Lancaster Manor for four years when he saw the notice in late April that he would need to be out by the end of May. Though he had suffered through a mouse infestation and broken elevators, he says he wanted to stay in the building, largely because it's affordable. He only had to pay $1,000 for his one-bedroom apartment, and his flight attendant's salary doesn't leave much wiggle room in his budget.

“With this whole situation, I had to take time off work, and I ended up losing all my overtime,” Sterns says. He managed to pack up his apartment, but he never found a place to move to; he ended up couch surfing because he couldn’t find a new place to live within his budget on short notice.

Jerry Hershfeldt, another resident kicked out of the building, was trying to create a stable home for his daughter; he wound up living in a friend's garage for a time. “To them, it's just business," he says of Cornerstone. "But to us, it was our homes and our lives.”

Gerald Abernathy, a retired nurse, had lived at Lancaster Manor for over thirty years when he got the notice that he had to move. “I started looking every day,” he says. “I walked around my neighborhood, and I went to at least five apartment buildings every day and looked. I didn't realize how rent had gone up so much, but also how the routine of renting had changed.”

The last time Abernathy had to look for an apartment, he simply walked into buildings and applied then and there. These days, though, it's much more involved, requiring online applications, proof of income — which can be tough for those on fixed incomes — and references.

And Abernathy didn't just have to deal with Denver’s wild rental market; he was losing his home. “It was just a safe environment,” he says. “It was my comfort zone.” No one from Cornerstone offered to help, he adds, and he lost fifteen pounds in one month from stress.

According to Hogan, Cornerstone did not make the decision that the tenants had to leave. Instead, a new owner determined that the building needed extensive electrical work. “The ownership group of that building decided they thought it was in their best interest to vacate the property to do the improvements that are needed at the building,” Hogan says. “We just administered as a middleman.”

Hogan acknowledges that the company probably could have done more outreach, and even ask residents if they wanted to relocate to another property within Cornerstone’s portfolio. Perhaps the Helene?

According to Sterns, such outreach would be the bare minimum for longtime tenants. “I'd tell Cornerstone they need to do better and show a little bit more compassion,” he says.