St. Paul mayor says city will request emergency receivership on troubled Lowry Apartments
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Dangerous and disgusting conditions in a St. Paul apartment building are getting the attention of the mayor.
Residents of the Lowry Apartments downtown say they're dealing with mold issues, rodent and roach infestations and elevators that haven't worked for days. Needles and feces sit in the stairwell and hallways.
"You need to see how nasty and filthy it is," said Bernard Barnett, who's lived in the Lowry for more than eight years. "This building has been abandoned, and the people have been abandoned."
Ed Welter says the building's been deteriorating for years with no improvement efforts.
"Management seems to not give a rat's ass about this building whatsoever," Welter said.
St. Paul inspectors revoked the building's fire certificate of occupancy this month due to dozens of code violations. The city condemned seven apartments as "unfit for human habitation."
Mayor Melvin Carter toured the building on Monday.
"The living conditions that Madison Equities has their tenants living in is one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my entire life," Carter said.
One of their building managers speaking anonymously told WCCO he was frustrated with his bosses refusing to put any money into improvements.
The Lowry has been foreclosed upon and will go up for sale next week. Carter says that's not soon enough. The city will request on Tuesday that a judge put the building into emergency receivership.
"They are not off the hook," Carter said. "They are responsible. I'm not a lawyer but that ought to be criminal in my opinion, because it's just plain disgusting."
Carter says he's demanding a plan from Madison Equities to relocate everyone who lives in the Lowry.
St. Paul-based Madison Equities blames crime and the city for the Lowry's troubles. A representative gave this statement to WCCO on Tuesday:
Lowry is working to the best of its ability to provide a safe environment for the tenants. 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. These efforts were made to provide a safe place for residents to call home.
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. The police have been notified and surveilance video is being provided to the police. Lowry is also working to clean up the latest mess left behind by the criminals, just as it has done for many years to clean up messes constantly left behind by vandals. Hopefully St. Paul will find and prosecute the parties responsible for the latest theft and vandalism.
Simply put, Lowry is yet another casualty of increased crime and empty buildings in downtown St. Paul. The Ramsey County Attorney Office ("RCAO") previously occupied significant space in the Lowry Building but recently vacated all of its leased space. No new tenants have been located as the demand for office space in St. Paul is weak at best. Indeed, longtime tenants of St. Paul continue to leave for the suburbs where employees of the businesses feel safe and secure.
With the loss of the RCAO, the lender (Colliers Funding f/k/a Dougherty Funding) put Lowry in default and initiated foreclosure proceedings. The lender attempted to hold a sheriff's sale of the Lowry Building on August 22, 2024. However, the lender published notice of the sale with the wrong address and the sale had to be postponed. The sheriff's sale is now scheduled for September 4, 2024.
Additionally, the lender is moving to have a receiver appointed by the Court to take control of the property. Lowry is not contesting the appointment of a receiver by the Court. The receiver will most likely struggle mightily to maintain the building and stop the crime that persists. This is a problem of the city's creation and only they can solve it. In the meantime and even with the looming foreclosure, two maintenance technicians remain onsite to respond to issues that may arise, along with security guards who are at the property seven days a week. Lowry will continue to cooperate with its lender and authorities.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday morning about the Lowry going into emergency receivership. The city says witnesses will testify at the hearing.
