A Colorado landlord has agreed to sell a troubled apartment complex occupied by the violent Venezuelan immigrant gang, Tren de Aragua.
Landlord Zev Baumgarten is at war with the Denver suburb of Aurora, which accuses him of turning Aspen Grove into a trash-ridden, gang-infested hellscape, according to records obtained by The Denver Gazette.
Baumgarten's company has agreed to sell, lease or “similarly dispose” of the complex, which closed in August, displacing about 300 residents. The Gazette reported..
His company, Nome Partners LLC, will also have to pay for the site cleanup.
Baumgarten's company claims that Aspen Grove's dire situation is due to its acquisition by Tren de Aragua.
One investor told The Denver Post that police had known about Aspen Grove's gang problems for almost a year. The situation got so bad, investors said, that staff abandoned the place, trash piled up and the building fell into disrepair.
In June, the landlord's lawyers wrote police and local authorities for help, arguing that Tren de Aragua had “forcefully taken control of Aspen Grove.” Finally, after a video surfaced showing a group of gunmen breaking into the apartments, the city declared it a “criminal nuisance” and evicted the residents.
At the time, Baumgarten faced more than 80 charges for building code violations ranging from pest infestations to power outages.
According to local newspaper Westword, Baumgarten has blamed the crimes on gangs, but prosecutors allege he was facing similar charges for code violations dating back to 2020 at a different apartment building that was also closed in August.
The facility, like a third in the Denver suburb of Aurora, had been taken over by immigrant gang members, who oppose Denver's “sanctuary city” policy that has allowed the city to house more than 42,000 immigrants.
Now, the city of Aurora is beginning to feel the effects, with residents complaining about shootouts and other criminal activity linked to the Tren de Aragua incident.
