This half-built apartment complex at 1225 Wadsworth Blvd. in Lakewood was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2022. (Maia Luem/BusinessDen)
Construction on a $60 million apartment complex along Wadsworth Boulevard “has come to a standstill due to infighting” and been “all but abandoned,” its lender alleges.
Aspen Heights Partners, a Texas developer, broke ground in 2020 on a 352-unit apartment project at 1225 Wadsworth in Lakewood, with plans to finish it by the end of 2022. Amenities were to include a heated pool, dog park, bike repair shop and golf simulator.
That hasn’t come to fruition. Instead, subcontractors say they are owed millions of dollars and Truist Bank, which loaned $59.9 million to the project, is suing to get its money back.
“Truist has become aware of significant cost overruns, scheduling delays and defects in the course of construction of the project,” the Atlanta-based bank wrote in a lawsuit that it filed in Golden on Jan. 5. “Additionally, work on the project has come to a standstill due to infighting between the two primary members” of Aspen Heights’ development team.
To make matters worse, Truist said the complex’s facade was shoddily installed, so water is seeping into the project. That will likely require mold remediation, which in turn will require removing all windows and exterior panels, and replacing other existing work.
“The two primary members (of the development team) appear to be deadlocked as to how to proceed and (Aspen Heights) has all but abandoned the project, creating an imminent danger that the property will further deteriorate and lose significant value,” the lawsuit states.
So, Truist asked Judge Lindsay VanGilder to appoint a receiver for the property: Michael Staheli, in Cordes & Company’s Denver office. VanGilder denied that motion Jan. 10 because it wasn’t filed properly but invited Truist to refile its request for a receiver. It did Jan. 16.
Requests for comment from Aspen Heights and its executives were not answered. The company has not yet responded to the lawsuit in Jefferson County District Court.
A City of Lakewood spokeswoman said that city officials are watching 1225 Wadsworth.
“The city engineer for developments is in contact with the builder to understand the path forward with the site and construction,” Stacie Oulton said, “and he has determined that currently the project is not out of compliance with its permit at this time.”
Meanwhile, more than $2.5 million in mechanic’s liens have piled up at the project.
In June, a Missouri equipment company filed a $987,000 lien and in September a building materials supplier from Nebraska added a $15,000 lien. The next month there was a $92,000 lien from a lumber company in Washington and the month after that a $137,000 lien by a sprinkler company in Texas, according to Jefferson County records.
Several more were filed in December: a $920,000 lien by the national subcontractor IES Residential; a $72,000 lien from R&K Glass in Denver; and a $50,000 lien by Core & Saw, a cutting company in Centennial. On Jan. 9, a pool company added a $275,000 lien.
“It looked like a well-run project. There were always a lot of crews on site, it was moving fast and the progress was obvious there,” Sergei Rovkach, the operations manager at Core & Saw, said by phone. He added, “I don’t know what happened.”
His company worked at 1225 Wadsworth between September 2022 and October 2023. When asked how confident he is that Core & Saw will be paid, Rovkach said he is hopeful.
“We did the job. We used the tools, we paid the labor — paid the guys and everything. We are invested in the project,” he said. “So, I like to believe that we’ll get paid.”
Aspen Heights has built off-campus student housing, condominiums and senior living facilities around the country but only one in Colorado, according to its website: A cottage and townhome community in Fort Collins that it sold in 2016 and is now called The Outpost.
In its lawsuit, Truist is represented by attorneys Gabriel Pinilla and Christopher Yost in the Denver office of Adams and Reese, a national law firm.
