An arrest warrant issued by a Denver County judge raises the stakes for the Brooklyn-based property owner, who triggered a media storm in Aurora after they blamed the abysmal conditions at their apartment complexes on a violent Venezuelan gang takeover.
The warrant was issued for Zev Baumgarten after the two failed to appear for a deposition hearing as one of the owners of CBZ Management, which operates apartment complexes across Colorado and in Brooklyn, New York.
CBZ recently operated three apartment complexes in Aurora: Fitzsimons Place, Whispering Pines and the Edge of Lowry, which is often listed as two locations because one building at the complex is owned by a separate LLC. The Edge and Fitzsimons Place, which is also listed as Aspen Grove, have both been shut down by the City of Aurora for outstanding code violations. The CBZ Management website is also defunct.
Fitzsimons Place at 1568 Nome Street was closed by the City of Aurora in August for violations such as backed-up sewage and trash pileups. However, CBZ Management claimed through a Florida-based PR firm that the property had been taken over by the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).
A few weeks later, the Edge of Lowry was at the center of attention after a resident posted a video online of armed men walking through the hallway and claimed they were TdA members, igniting strong support for CBZ's claims. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Edge of Lowry on February 5, and posted on X that the agency was targeting "100+ members" of TdA at the property. The apartment complex was then shut down by the City of Aurora and left vacant on February 18 because of its outstanding code violations.
Since then, the City of Aurora has been chasing Zev Baumgarten to try and serve him with a court summons. Aurora prosecutors said they couldn't find him at his address in Lone Tree, nor at a handful of other addresses while searching from August to December. Aurora keeps pushing back trial dates to resolve outstanding code violations at the Edge and Whispering Pines, 1357 Helena Street, but it has since succeeded in serving Zev's attorneys.
A few weeks later, the Edge of Lowry was at the center of attention after a resident posted a video online of armed men walking through the hallway and claimed they were TdA members, igniting strong support for CBZ's claims. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided the Edge of Lowry on February 5, and posted on X that the agency was targeting "100+ members" of TdA at the property. The apartment complex was then shut down by the City of Aurora and left vacant on February 18 because of its outstanding code violations.
Since then, the City of Aurora has been chasing Zev Baumgarten to try and serve him with a court summons. Aurora prosecutors said they couldn't find him at his address in Lone Tree, nor at a handful of other addresses while searching from August to December. Aurora keeps pushing back trial dates to resolve outstanding code violations at the Edge and Whispering Pines, 1357 Helena Street, but it has since succeeded in serving Zev's attorneys.
CBZ Management used to run three apartment complexes in Denver, too: the William Penn, the Jewell and the Courtyard on Vine. The William Penn at 1644 Pennsylvania Street closed in January on the orders of a Denver judge because of more than $280,000 in unpaid charges racked up through outstanding code violations.
As of January 30, CBZ Management still owed the City of Denver $2,500 in fines for code violations for the Jewell, at 4470 East Jewell Avenue, and $750 for similar problems at the Courtyard on Vine, 1399 Vine Street, reports Denverite.
The arrest warrant issued for Baumgarten stems from unpaid fines for citations on the William Penn. He was due in Denver County Court on March 10, for a deposition hearing related to those fines, the Denver Post reports.
However, Baumgarten has muddied ties to CBZ Management. An Aurora judge noted that many of the properties in CBZ Management's portfolio are owned by various companies with names like Five Dallas Partners, 200 Columbia Realty and Nome Partners LLC. "I have yet to see any evidence beyond a preponderance that Mr. Baumgarten is, in fact, the owner of these properties," Aurora Judge Billy Stiggers said in December.
CBZ Management used to have a property portfolio available on its now-defunct website, and each of the dozen apartment complexes it listed in Colorado were registered with the Colorado Secretary State's office with a different company or LLC.
Some of these companies, including Five Dallas Partners, which owned the Edge, used William Penn's address as their business address; the CBZ Management business address registered with the Colorado Secretary of State's office and the Better Business Bureau is a supposed suite at the William Penn.
Aurora prosecutors said in December that they tried dropping off a court summons for Zev at the William Penn, only to realize the property is an apartment complex. When Westword asked William Penn residents in August if any business offices were inside the apartment complex, they said no.
The William Penn apartments are registered to an entity at 44 South Ridge Road in Pomona, New York. A quick search of the address shows that it's a 4,000-square foot mansion, with Baumgarten's brother, Shmaryahu, listed on some sites as the property's most recent tenant.
On March 3, Slatkins again appeared on behalf of Zev at the Aurora Municipal Court and managed to again delay Aurora's trial against Zev by announcing he'd be retiring soon. The Aurora court told Slatkins he would need to find a new lawyer for Zev.
Neither Garnett nor Slatkins responded to a request for comment for this story.
