Elevators broken at 14-story Denver apartment for several days, and residents and senior pets are struggling
Elevators at the Civic Loft apartments in Denver have been broken since Saturday in a building that's 14 floors high. After four days, some residents with disabilities feel stuck in their apartments and other residents are struggling with pets that can't climb all the stairs to go outside to use the bathroom.
This isn't the first time there have been elevator issues at Civic Lofts. The Denver Fire Department says they've responded to this address four times in the first two weeks of the year, including Saturday's rescue that led to the closure.
Online records with the city show the elevator license is expired and the city's Excise and Licenses Department says the complex itself is running unlawfully without a residential rental property license.
Property management says they're working to get the elevators fixed and accommodate residents, but residents are also growing frustrated -- including Stephen Frazier who lives on the 14th floor. Frazier is on crutches from a knee injury and, as a result, says Wednesday was the first day he left his apartment since the outage began.
"Grocery delivery service isn't really an option, because there's no way to allow anybody access into the stairwells from my unit. Not to mention, I don't think any delivery driver wants to walk up 14 floors with groceries," Frazier said.
Frazier explained he had similar issues with getting prescriptions and being able to work in person.
"My livelihood is compromised because they can't seem to fix this issue. So I now can't go to the establishment to earn the income that pays to live here," he said.
Kelly Weber, the Senior Vice President of Strategic Services for Civic Loft's property management group Centerspace, told CBS Colorado that management was working to get the elevators fixed, sending in a statement that reads in part:
"We fully understand the significant impact that an outage of this nature has on our residents, and we are making every effort to provide an expeditious resolution. Since the outage occurred, our priorities have been to provide special accommodation for those in need, and to find alternative solutions for important services such as trash pickup and package delivery."
But while Your Reporter Sarah Horbacewicz was there, other residents flagged CBS Colorado down to express their frustration.
Curtis Gilbert and Adriana Martinez live on the 14th floor. Gilbert explained, "The last straw on the camel's back is these both elevators breaking, because we've lived here since 2021 and maybe for the first two weeks that both elevators worked, and ever since then, it's just been one."
April Bartholomew on the 12th floor explained, "I want the elevators fixed, and I want them to stay fixed. They've been down. I've been in the building for a year and a half, and they pretty much went down within a month of moving [in]."
City inspection records show the elevator's last inspection was more than a year ago with violations in multiple categories. Denver Fire Department reports responding to this address for elevator issues 14 times last year. DFD also says they've ordered the complex to comply and are now working with the property to get it fixed.
Meanwhile, 15 minutes later, Frazier is still climbing the stairs up on crutches.
"How many other people in this building are also disabled, having to trek up and down these stairs in order to access their home? The people who have pets with disabilities that can't go up and down these stairs?" Frazier said.
Property management declined a request for an interview but says they're working to accommodate residents and fix the elevator, although no timeline has been given. Some residents say they've been offered a hotel room, but don't know the details, all while still paying rent.
The following is the full statement from Centerspace:
Thank you for reaching out regarding the elevators at Civic Lofts. A mechanical issue has caused both elevators at the community to shut down, requiring us to replace components to make them operational again. Our team and vendor partner are working diligently to source and acquire the necessary parts as quickly as possible.
We fully understand the significant impact that an outage of this nature has on our residents, and we are making every effort to provide an expeditious resolution. Since the outage occurred, our priorities have been to provide special accommodation for those in need, and to find alternative solutions for important services such as trash pickup and package delivery.
We have provided, and will continue to provide, regular updates to our residents as we receive additional information to create as much transparency as possible.