ST PAUL, Minn. — Residents of the Lowry Apartments Building say they're in limbo, awaiting word on whether they'll get to stay in their building which is going through foreclosure proceedings and undergoing code enforcement efforts by the city at the same time.
The building has stood at the corner of 4th Street and Wabasha Street for nearly a century but has fallen on harder times of late. Homeless persons have been squatting in the building, trashing some rooms and stripping items out of the structure.
One of the front windows was shot out recently, and the door to the front lobby no longer locks. The mail room key fobs stopped working, and the elevators in the 11-story structure have intermittently been out of order.
The city has already issued an order revoking the building's occupancy license by next April if conditions don't change. Some residents have begun to move out, while others are hoping conditions will improve with City Hall's intervention.
"It's been really bad. People have been assaulting me. No security has been doing anything about it. People have been trying to walk into my unit. My kids have been scared," Celia, a mother of three young children, told reporters Monday.
"A day before I went in for my C section my apartment got flooded out and I was slipping and falling, pregnant. And I've been slipping and falling after I had the C section on these stairs."
She appeared at a press conference hosted by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter III, immediately after he toured the building with tenants.
"We walked through there and saw trash. We saw flies, insect infestation, rodent infestation, feces just on the floor. They've just turned their backs on 100-plus residents who lived here."
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The city says the building is owned by Madison Equities, the same company that is trying to sell six downtown office buildings including the First National Bank Building. A Madison Equities truck was parked outside the building Tuesday.
But the apartment building is doing business under the name of Lowry Building LLC. That company fell behind on the mortgage payments on the Lowry Apartments, which prompted the lender to seek foreclosure.
A sheriff's foreclosure sale is set for Sept. 10, according to Mayor Carter, which could lead the building to go into receivership. But Carter wants to expedite the process.
The city filed a motion to initiate receivership as soon as possible. A hearing has been scheduled on that motion for 9:00 a.m. Wednesday in the Ramsey County Courthouse, which is right across the street from the Lowry.
"Once this building is under receivership, my understanding is the tenants will be paying their rent to a receiver, who will then have funds to address some of the issues that are going on inside the building."
St. Paul attorney Kelly Hadac, issued a statement on behalf of the owners, which read, in part, as follows:
"Lowry has invested millions of dollars over the years to maintain and improve the building. Lowry has also evicted countless tenants from the property over the years who were causing damages."
"Unfortunately, crime is out of control in downtown St. Paul where the Lowry Building is located. By way of one example, on Sunday, August 25, 2024, criminals ransacked the building causing all sorts of damage, and even stole master keys that the fire inspectors use for the building, among other things."
Hadac also pointed out that the Ramsey County Attorney's Office, which had occupied two floors of the building for years, moved out last year creating a huge vacancy. A major first floor tenant, Grey Duck Tavern, abruptly closed in July.
Mayor Carter said he was initiating action to repair the elevators, contending that Madison Equities had the resources to do so but failed to do so. On Tuesday afternoon there was an orange sticker on the front entrance to the Lowry announcing that city crews would be removing trash from the building on Wednesday and billing the property owner.
"They are not off the hook. They are responsible. Their business decisions are responsible for the conditions these tenants live in," Carter remarked.