DENVER — A southeast Denver apartment complex is rebranding after a tumultuous year that included a Drug Enforcement Administration-led operation and a lawsuit filed by tenants.
The Cedar Run Apartments at 888 S. Oneida St. in the Washington Virginia Vale neighborhood recently changed its name to Meridian at Cherry Creek.
Denver7 Investigates has reported on the complex since the beginning of the year and has talked to tenants about what they call poor living conditions, including broken mailboxes and doors without working locks. On Thursday, tenants at the complex said some things have improved, but more is needed.
“We have mostly functioning doors, which really has improved our safety and keeping people that don't live here away,” said Hannah Strickline, who has lived in the apartment complex for 14 years. “You can tell just by walking on the property that it's not cleaned very regularly, that it's not monitored very regularly.”
“They have put in a laundry for us, finally, and then they've tried to repair our mailboxes,” resident Nancy Ballester said.
Cedar Run was in the news earlier in the year when it was part of a targeted operation involving the DEA, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI.
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“After the raid, we lost a really good portion of our residents here. And so vacancy is lower than ever,” Strickline said.
The following month, multiple tenants filed a lawsuit against the complex’s ownership, alleging unsafe conditions and that the owners failed to maintain the property. That lawsuit was later dismissed by a judge.
Both Strickline and Ballester believe the name change was an effort to escape from previous bad publicity and attract new renters.
“I really do think that they're trying to hide from a reputation," Strickline said. "They need to rebrand.”
The apartment owner, Gelt Venture Partners, declined to comment on the name change on Thursday.
Ballester said it will take some time to get used to the new name.
“It just doesn't seem to fit this place,” she said. “I still call it Cedar Run.”
