“We need help,” he says.
Those pleas are largely because elevators in the ten-story building at 1200 Galapago Street only work some of the time,
according to residents, and one residential elevator has been inoperable for months.
The other residential elevator has been in and out of operation for the last month, Cummings says, forcing residents to have to use the unventilated freight elevator. Last week the freight elevator was broken, too, leaving tenants facing the stairs in 100-degree weather — once they could get in there. Elevators are designed to be the only point of entry to floors two through ten, Cummings says, and the stairs weren't accessible from the ground floor area until recently.
Though management called in a repair to get one residential and one freight elevator working again on June 27, Cummings doubts how long those repairs will last, since previous fixes haven’t held up for long.
“Both times I bet that it would break again in 48 hours,” Cummings says. “I gave them too much credit. It broke within 24 hours every time.”
Cummings has had asthma his entire life and says it is developing into COPD. He had to call 911 in the first week of June because the elevators weren’t working and he had a severe asthma attack while attempting to use the stairs to get to his apartment.
“My life has flashed before my eyes,” Cummings says.
He’s not the only resident with such as experience. Alex Pinson, who has lived on the tenth floor of the Lincoln at Speer for around six months, also had an asthma attack on the stairs and had to call in emergency medical help.
Both say property manager Urban American hasn’t been responsive when they’ve asked for recourse. Building management has either denied knowledge of the problems or refused to implement solutions, according to Cummings and Pinson, and several other residents who didn't want to share their names.
According to Cummings, there is no email notification or signage indicating when the elevators aren’t working, causing residents to wait for a long time before realizing the problem. And when only one elevator is servicing the 200-plus units in the building, service is slow.
“They go up but they won’t come down,” Pinson says of the unpredictability of the elevators.
Cummings says he hasn’t been able to walk his dog as often because of the elevator situation. Pinson says his dog has thrown up four or five times because of the stairs combined with a lack of air conditioning across the building, including in his apartment, where he says the air conditioning currently doesn't work.
Denver Fire Department Visits Property Often
Because the elevators are designed to be the only way to access the upper floors of the building (residents could exit using the stairs), the fire department had to come let residents into the stairwell and the subsequent hallways to their unitson June 22 and 23, when all three elevators were out of service. It was the weekend, so building staff weren't around to help.
The stairs at Lincoln at Speer were locked unless residents had specifically requested a key to those doors, Cummings says.
“If you had a child upstairs, if you had a dog upstairs, if your life-saving medication was upstairs, all rights were taken away from us,” he says.
Now the stairwell and the doors to all the hallways are permanently unlocked as elevator service struggles, which residents fear will make the building less secure.
Denver Fire Department records confirm the department was called to the building at 1200 Galapago Street on both dates and nine other times in June. Firefighters conducted elevator rescues three times, community engagement three times and provided assistance to the police once, records show. The department also responded to calls for a PFAS chemical investigation, smoke inhalation, and Cummings’s bout of unconsciousness and fainting.
According to DFD's last fire inspection report for the building in July 2023, the elevator didn't have current certificates of operation posted for three years. Other violations noted improper equipment stored in fire command rooms, “clear troubles” on the fire alarm control panel, missing or broken fire extinguishers throughout the building, and sprinkler and fire pump deficiencies.
In a statement, Lincoln at Speer spokesperson Kari Hegarty says the building has been experiencing intermittent issues with several elevators over the last few weeks.
“We immediately called our elevator company and placed an expedited order for needed replacement parts to be delivered,” the statement adds. “We will continue to work closely with the mechanics until we can get the situation rectified. Tenant safety is our number one priority. We appreciate everyone's patience as we work expeditiously to fix the problem.”
But residents are growing tired of waiting. Cummings pays $1,300 for his one-bedroom unit. Pinson pays even more, and neither is pleased with what they’re getting in return.
“It's absolutely unfair,” Pinson says. “I just don't understand.”
Along with the elevator issues, residents have experienced a broken door handle on the main entrance. While it was broken, they had to use a screw as a door handle. They also report broken lights in many of the hallways. Some, like Pinson, have experienced broken or malfunctioning air conditioning during the hot summer, as well.
“My apartment was at 98 degrees for two weeks,” Pinson says. “They did nothing.”
Parking costs $95 per month, but the gates are inoperable and left constantly open, according to Pinson, whose car was stolen from the garage.
“I'm so sick of it,” Pinson says. “I have bat feces. I have bats. I have roaches.”
Cummings says he plans to try to organize a class action lawsuit, as he believes both the terms of tenants’ leases and the Americans With Disabilities Act have been violated by Urban American.
“It shouldn't happen just because something happened to me, and it shouldn't have to wait until something happens to somebody else,” he says. “People need to stand up to this company.”
In the meantime, Cummings is waiting with bated breath to see how long this round of elevator repairs lasts. As of today, June 29, both residential elevators were operating, but only for floors one through nine, according to an email sent to Lincoln at Speer tenants.
