Colorado Springs Tenants (COST) launched their citywide union Saturday during a meeting at First Congregational Church. In October, the group saw success organizing residents of the Acacia Park and Centennial Plaza apartments, who expressed concerns over Colorado Springs Housing Authority (CHSA)’s refusal to meet or negotiate directly with residents, and residents’ longstanding concerns over conditions in their buildings. In November, COST launched its first union in a privately-owned apartment complex, Aviator Apartments. COST has since been joined by the Mill Street Community Benefits All Coalition and a citywide chapter of at-large members, forming a broad coalition representing the interests of renters across Colorado Springs.
The lack of affordable housing, driven by a citywide housing shortage, and rising rents despite poor conditions have led renters to organize. “Tenants are taught to stay quiet about the issues we face,” said Evan Brown of the Acacia Park Tenant Association. “We’re told to call code enforcement if we’re experiencing unsafe conditions. We’re to move somewhere else if what we’re experiencing isn’t right. We’re taught to find different housing if rent goes up and we can’t pay. But what are tenants supposed to do when the city and the law doesn’t care? What are we supposed to do when there are no more affordable places to live because landlords keep raising the rent? How do tenants move from the defense to the offense? Today we’re here to answer that question.”
Residents of public housing are often elderly, disabled, and at risk of homelessness, and came to COST with descriptions of serious maintenance issues — leaking ceilings, flooding, no hot water or heat — but were unable to move due financial limitations. “We envision a future in which we, the people, can have real agency over the decisions that affect our homes and communities and can use that agency to prioritize people over property,” said Max Kronstadt, a lead organizer with COST. “Our plan to get there is to organize building by building and neighborhood by neighborhood, where tenants can build power against our landlords, against developers, and the forces of capital that keep us down. We will organize tenants in this city into a political and economic class that cannot be ignored.”
COST organizers also noted how housing conditions are contributing to homelessness in Colorado Springs. “In Colorado Springs, more and more of the population are renters every year, and of that, almost 60% of renters are rent-burdened, meaning that they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on housing,” explained COST organizer Will Smith. “In the last few decades, more and more of our neighbors have been squeezed out of their homes and thousands have ended up outside. This last year was the highest reported count of homelessness in our city’s history, and that is only because our neighbors worked tirelessly to survey the streets in January 2025, on some of the coldest nights of the year so the data would reflect the seriousness of the issue that our public officials keep diminishing and dismissing altogether.”
As Colorado Springs focuses on redevelopment of areas near downtown, like the Mill Street neighborhood, communities are concerned about the impact on affordability. “My neighbors in Mill Street show up to run the city day in and day out,” said Frozie Abbott of the Mill Street Community Benefits All Coalition. “They teach our kids, treat our parents, bag groceries, pour our coffee, and care for our sick and elderly. Mill Street is a special place, but sadly, our city leaders and the developers that pay for them don’t see it that way. They see it as land to redevelop, commodities to buy and sell. I started organizing with my neighbors in 2021, because I saw that Mill Street was being gentrified, and I knew that we didn’t have a seat at the table, where the decisions were being made. Many of my neighbors fear being priced or pushed out. And I can’t stand for that.”
COST organizers say they’ve seen positive results from collective organizing, including needed repairs and security improvements in buildings that have unionized. COST will be hosting regular trainings and will launch a canvassing campaign to inform renters throughout Colorado Springs about their organization.
