Judge grants emergency receivership for feces- and needle-ridden St. Paul apartment complex
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Conditions have gotten so bad at a Downtown St. Paul apartment building that the courts are stepping in. And the residents of the Lowry Apartments are ready for their living nightmare to be over.
"My plan is to get out of here as soon as possible," said Ciela Arguelles.
The city has condemned seven apartments in the building. WCCO cameras have come across needles and feces in common areas.
"There's big cockroaches here," Arguelles said. "There's [mice]. There's people that come in and out the building that's violent, people breaking into my apartment."
Edward James, another resident, says his mailbox has been inaccessible for about a month, and he needed to have important medical equipment shipped elsewhere to get it.
At the request of the city, a judge put the property into receivership on Tuesday, saying "An emergency exists at the Lowry Building."
A Bloomington real estate company called Frauenshuh, Inc. will now be in charge of managing the building instead of the owner, Madison Equities, a St. Paul company.
The city says it'll work with Frauenshuh to develop a plan for what's next.
Frauenshuh didn't respond to WCCO's request for comment on Wednesday.
Mayor Melvin Carter helped city staff get rid of garbage and furniture that had been blocking emergency exits and stairwells.
An attorney for Madison Equities places blame for the building's deterioration squarely on Carter and the city, saying unchecked crime, homelessness and drug use have led to the "decay" of downtown.
In a statement, the attorney, Kelly Hadac, said in part, "The crime issues are a creation of the policies, or lack thereof, in St. Paul. The mayor and the city need to take responsibility for the deteriating [sic] conditions in St. Paul rather than cast blame on property owners who will lose millions upon millions of dollars due to the crime/drug use that is allowed to occur without any consequences...
My client did not oppose the receivership. The receiver is now an officer of the court and must report to the court. The receiver is now in full control of the residents and will have to make decisions regarding them moving forward."
Carter said in a statement, "Madison Equities has abandoned the families that rent from them, but we are a community that cares for one another, so those tenants are not on their own. City employees walked the walk today: we will stop at nothing to ensure our residents have safe, stable places to live."
