An activist group representing tenants of a troubled Aurora apartment complex says some residents have been without running water for five days, as a company hired by the city works to connect them with alternative housing before the buildings are shuttered because of allegations of gang activity and neglect.
Housekeys Action Network Denver wrote in an email Friday that tenants in two buildings at the Edge of Lowry “have had no way to bathe their children or cook food this past week and are desperate for support.”
The group also mentioned that the deteriorating conditions — including burst pipes and flooding — have come as residents scramble to find other places to live ahead of Feb. 18, when the city says anyone remaining in the complex will be arrested.
While the group said impacted tenants who tried to get water from other buildings were threatened with arrest by police officers who arrived along with a fire truck on Thursday, Aurora Police Department spokesperson Sydney Edwards said police did not make contact with anyone at the complex.
Edwards said officers were accompanying firefighters who were closing a water valve after pipes in the complex burst and did not want to block anyone from accessing water.
The city of Aurora also announced Friday that Property Solutions Colorado has been hired as a temporary administrator of the properties controlled by CBZ Management. Property Solutions Colorado is posting closure notices at the property, assessing the condition of the property and helping current tenants find housing, according to the city announcement.
“Many of the established tenants have endured a lot already,” Paula Forshee of Property Solutions Colorado said in the release. “The compassionate and dignified thing to do is get them out of an unsafe situation and present them with options on a case-by-case basis.”
City spokesperson Ryan Luby also wrote in an email that the city became aware of at least three water leaks at the Edge of Lowry buildings Friday morning and that Property Solutions Colorado would arrange repairs “as swiftly as possible.”
The order to close Edge of Lowry came after the complex gained international notoriety this fall when a viral video of armed men forcing their way into apartments caught the attention of then-President-elect Donald Trump. There had been dozens of code violations for graffiti, trash and weeds in recent months along with 911 calls for assault, trespassing and more, according to Aurora city officials.
City officials requested an emergency order to close the complex after a December kidnapping and torture of a man and a woman who lived at the complex. Nine people have been charged with kidnapping, assault and robbery in that case, Aurora police said Jan. 13.
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