AURORA, Colo. — CBZ Management has doubled down on their claims that several of their Aurora apartment complexes are "under gang control." However, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman disputes this, calling the allegations not credible.
Those Venezuelan gang takeover claims from CBZ Management have made national headlines over the past several months. On Wednesday, Scripps News Denver spoke with Mayor Coffman about CBZ Management's allegations.
"I just don't think they're credible," Mayor Coffman said. "I mean, I think that prior to the migrant crisis, they were not maintaining these buildings, and we were in court with them prior to the migrant crisis."
Aurora
CBZ Management doubles down on gang claims in newly-created social media account
Coffman went on to say that he believes CBZ Management is "exploiting" the narrative regarding Venezuelan gangs.
"They didn't maintain their properties before we ever had the migrant crisis," he said. "I think they're an out-of-state slumlord that has never taken care of their properties and really has no intention of coming back."
On the company's X account, CBZ Management posted the following previous inspection reports from the Nome and Edge of Lowry apartment complexes. The following reports date back to 2023 and show they passed inspections then.
Through records requests, Scripps News Denver got violation notices for two of the company's Aurora properties dating back to 2022. Some of the most recent are dated August 2024 and reference trash piling up and door security.
Regarding claims about a "gang takeover," CBZ Management says it is still happening, but Mayor Coffman told Scripps News Denver that's not true.
"They're not taken over," he said. "I've walked through both of them multiple times alone, and they're not taken over."
The City of Aurora released the following statement over the weekend regarding CBZ Management's recent claims posted on X.
“We are not going to give credence to these continued exaggerations. Please see the numerous previous statements and many public records we have provided.
These delinquent property owners, managers and/or “investors” conveniently fail to acknowledge that their own bank lenders took them to court in the last few weeks where a judge ordered some of their problematic properties into receivership. That means a judge has given the legal authority to a third-party receiver to actually manage the properties, and who the property owners will be forced to compensate.”
Scripps News Denver reached out to CBZ Management on X regarding letters they say they sent to Mayor Coffman in the past, and issues at its Aurora complexes. But the company said that there was no one available to talk because of the Sukkot holiday.
Weeks ago, Scripps News Denver uncovered that CBZ Management owed more than $44,000 in fines for citations issued to one of its Denver properties, William Penn. We asked CBZ Management for a comment on these fines. They responded with the following:
Our security a legal team are working on this issue together with the city. This stems from a growing homelessness issue we've been dealing with and working to adjust our security to address.
CBZ owns nine properties in the Denver metro area — four in Aurora, three in Denver and two in Edgewater:
- The Jewell in Denver
- William Penn in Denver
- Courtyard on Vine in Denver
- Edge of Lowry in Aurora
- Aspen Grove in Aurora
- 200 Columbia in Aurora
- Whispering Pines Apartments in Aurora
- Squire Apartment in Edgewater
- Duchess Apartments in Edgewater
We reached out to Denver's Department of Public Health and Environment about the citations. A spokesperson said fines for citations issued to CBZ Management for the William Penn property now exceed $49,000.
Real Estate
CBZ Management has history of citations across Denver metro properties
DDPHE issued the following statement:
DDPHE investigators have continued to respond to open complaints and conduct proactive property inspections at the CBZ Management properties in Denver, including William Penn.
Overall, CBZ Management has been slow to comply and lacks communication with our team. The total outstanding fines for the William Penn property are now totaling $49,249, much of which has been referred to the city’s collection agency.
Because of ongoing noncompliance and poor management and repair practices across the properties operated by CBZ Management, we have issued a General Violation Summons to the property owner, which is a criminal citation requiring a court appearance. The outcome of the General Violation will be decided by the court.
As always, our priority remains the health and safety of the residents. With our enforcement efforts, even considering the slow compliance, the violations/conditions present at the CBZ Management properties in Denver have not risen to a level where imminent public health or life safety issues are present.
Denver7 has submitted records requests for any and all correspondence between City of Aurora officials and CBZ Management. We will publish our findings if and when the material is released.
