Residents of a demolished apartment building in Aurora ask for more time

Residents of a demolished apartment building in Aurora asked city officials Thursday for more time to find new housing before the deadline to move out expires early next week.

“We are people. We are not animals,” said Emanuel Chabrier, 27, who has been renting for about three years. “It’s not fair.”

On Wednesday morning, police notified tenants of 1568 Nome St. that the complex, operated by CBZ Management, will soon be closed due to a history of unresolved building code violations, including rodent infestations and sewer backups. More than 85 families – many of them Venezuelan migrants – are affected by the building closure.

Signs have been put up on the entrance doors of all 95 apartments informing tenants of the eviction order. In bold red letters, they read: “Warning, no entry.”

Residents have until 7 a.m. on Tuesday – a total of six days after the official notification – to find out about alternatives and move out.

A group of about 30 residents and stakeholders gathered for a press conference in the courtyard of Fitzsimons Place on Thursday afternoon, calling on Aurora City Manager Jason Batchelor to allow two more months to find new housing.

The East Colfax Community Collective and Housekeys Action Network Denver are also urging the city to provide tenants with housing certificates, rent subsidies for the first month of their new leases and money for security deposits.

Aurora city spokesman Ryan Luby said the city is working to find housing for the tenants. The city plans to cover the cost of security deposits for those affected by the eviction and pay the amounts directly to their new landlords, he said.

Officials would later reclaim the money from the owners of Fitzsimons Place, he added.

Earlier this week, CBZ officials told the Denver Post that managers had not visited the complex in weeks because of security concerns, including problems caused by a transnational Venezuelan gang at the complex. But city officials called that a distraction from long-standing safety and health issues.

In the courtyard, residents spoke in English and Spanish about the challenges they faced in trying to find housing quickly, including missed days of work.

Some children held up white balloons and signs reading “Aurora tenants demand healthy housing” and “We need an answer from the company,” while others climbed the stairs with backpacks on their way home from school.

“There are over 66 children living in this building alone,” said V Reeves, an organizer with the Housekeys Action Network. “They are good people, they deserve it and they have rights as paying tenants.”