The owners of the Ash House student apartments in Boulder have just under two weeks to demolish illegally constructed bedrooms and address other safety concerns before city officials can shut the building down, according to court documents.
While students will be allowed to continue living in the Ash House during construction, the 13 residents living in illegally created bedrooms will find themselves looking for a new apartment, according to Boulder spokesperson Julia Causa.
“We know this has been a disruptive situation for the students and are committed to doing what we can to work toward a fast resolution with the property owners and bring certainty to tenants,” Causa said in a statement emailed to the Denver Post. “The city continues to refer students to our partners at CU to access their off-campus housing services.”
During a Friday court hearing, the Ash House property owners acknowledged safety concerns including issues with the fire suppression system, fire alarm system, electrical wiring, fire blocking and egress, mechanical systems and meeting the required minimum living space, Causa said.
The owners will have until Monday, Oct. 7 to destroy the 15 illegally created bedrooms and fix the other safety concerns, according to a settlement agreement between the owners and Boulder officials.
Boulder officials agreed not to force students to vacate the apartments as long as “progress is being made” and no “immediate life-safety hazards emerge” before the completion date, the settlement agreement stated.
“Our hope is to make this property safe for the students who are living there as quickly as possible,” director of Boulder’s planning and development services Brad Mueller said in a statement.
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The city issued the original closure notice to the Ash House on Sept. 16, giving 60 student renters only hours to pack up their belongings and leave.
The Ash House was approved last year to house 48 students in 16 three-bedroom units for the 2023-2024 school year, according to Boulder officials.
In a mid-September inspection, city officials with the Code Compliance Division discovered a “serious violation” and “illegal division of living space.”
Specifically, 15 new bedrooms were constructed without building permits, land-use approval or life-safety inspections, city officials said. The owners also did not have permits for the electrical work that was conducted when the new bedrooms were added.
On Sept. 17 — the morning after the attempted closure — Boulder District Court Judge Michael Spear granted the property owners an emergency restraining order against the city, ruling that Boulder officials could not immediately force students out of the apartments.
In the emergency order, Spear said denying the property owners’ request for a temporary restraining order would have caused “immediate and irreparable injury” by forcing all 60 student renters to vacate the apartments.
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