The 200 Columbia and neighboring Edge at Lowry apartment complexes in Aurora on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
One Aurora apartment complex that was caught in last year’s public debate around gang takeovers and nearly closed by the city is now vacant.
Meanwhile, the receiver for a second nearby complex made notorious for the same reason said that alleged gang members have tried collecting rents from residents there.
Kevin Singer, a court-appointed caretaker for the 200 Columbia Apartments, told an Arapahoe County judge on Christmas Eve that all residents had moved out of 1208 Dallas St. by mid-December, allowing his company to change locks and board up the place.
“Now that the property is vacant, I am evaluating the next steps,” he wrote in a short report.
Singer, founder of the California company Receivership Specialists, which specializes in taking back buildings overrun by organized crime, was appointed to operate 200 Columbia in the fall at the request of U.S. Bank, which is owed $9.2 million from CBZ Management.
New York-based CBZ set off a national firestorm last year when it alleged that several apartment buildings, including 200 Columbia, had fallen into the hands of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. City officials pushed back on that claim and called CBZ a slumlord, although Aurora police have since made dozens of arrests, including of suspected Tren de Aragua members.
Singer’s appointment as receiver of 200 Columbia and another Aurora complex, Whispering Pines, was not opposed by CBZ and was cheered by the City of Aurora, which decided to hold off on its plans to shut down the apartment buildings. A city spokesman predicted at the time that Singer’s appointment would bring “more accountability, stability and certainty.”
Sorali Leon hangs laundry to dry outside her family’s apartment at Whispering Pines Apartments in Aurora, Colorado, on Oct. 17, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
In his report, Singer explained that he created a so-called “cash-for-keys” program in November that paid tenants to leave. Within a month and a half, 200 Columbia was empty.
In a second recent report to Arapahoe County District Court, which appointed him, Singer gave some credence to allegations of a gang takeover at Whispering Pines, 1357 Helena St.
“Rent collections remain challenging,” he wrote Dec. 23. “Residents have informed my office that alleged gang members have demanded that rents be paid to them rather than to my office, which has apparently been happening at the property since prior to my appointment.”
Receivership Specialists also implemented a cash-for-keys program at Whispering Pines in November. By the middle of that month, 22 residents had accepted cash offers. Singer’s reports do not say how much residents at 200 Columbia and Whispering Pines were paid.
What’s next for the two complexes remains to be seen. Singer does not talk with reporters and BusinessDen’s request for an interview with CBZ’s management was not returned.
The receiver reports arrive at a time when CBZ is battling the Colorado Attorney General’s Office in court over whether it must comply with that office’s subpoenas and answer its questions as the state investigates if CBZ broke tenant protection laws. CBZ sees the subpoenas as overly broad and lacking in crucial confidentiality provisions.
“Due to unprecedented criminal activity at some of the properties, coupled with governmental and third-party actors being unable or unwilling to assist, (CBZ) has legitimate concern for the safety of current and former tenants, employees, agents and contractors,” it said.
The AG’s Office is asking Denver District Court Judge Jill Dorancy to force CBZ to comply with its investigation. It accuses CBZ of operating filthy, uninhabitable apartments and falsely advertising those apartments as being clean online, in violation of state laws.
