St. Paul mayor blasts Lowry Apartments owner for 'disgusting' living conditions

The City of St. Paul is reacting to the concerns of Lowry Apartments residents, with Mayor Melvin Carter saying the living conditions are "one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen in my entire life."

Residents have had to live through a massive cockroach infestation, an unsecured building, and broken elevators in the 11-story building. On Monday, Mayor Carter went through the building to listen to residents' concerns and address the public on the next steps.

The foreclosure of the 134-unit building, owned by Madison Equities, was announced on August 9, but tenants claim property staff never told them beforehand.

A sheriff's sale was due to be held on Thursday, but the City of St. Paul postponed it till September 10 at the last minute due to an administrative error.

At Carter's press conference, a Lowry resident called Celia shared her experience living in the building, revealing she had a Caesarean section in July and was forced to walk up and down the stairs due to a broken elevator.

"Since I've been living here since October of 2023, I've experienced a whole lot of heartbreaking, just stressful moments here," Celia said. "My kids have to pick up needles, pipes, and everything off the ground, and I'm just stressed out."

"I've been slipping and falling after I had a C-section on these stairs, and my C-section is getting busted open from it," she added. "People have been trying to walk into my unit. My kids have been scared. People have been opening my doors. It shouldn't be anything that anybody has to deal with, especially I have three kids, five, one and a newborn, and it's been horrible."

Carter demands that Madison Equities immediately relocate tenants to one of its other properties and bring the property up to code, and urged the city attorney to file for an emergency receivership to ensure tenant safety and accountability.

"They just turned their backs on 100 plus residents who lived here for money. To be clear: for money," says Carter. "They've accepted rent from and on behalf of over 100 tenants for months and refused to put those dollars back into this building. I'm asking city attorney Lindsay Olson to file in Second District Court tomorrow to request the court appoint an emergency receivership."

Since the announcement of the building's foreclosure, the City of St. Paul filed a revocation of its Fire Certificate of Occupancy on August 16 because of multiple condemned apartment units, and a third floor that "cannot be occupied."

A re-inspection will be conducted on August 30, and if it is still not up to code, the property will be vacated by April 1, 2025.

Carter says that while his team has been in touch with Madison Equities, they have not heard of an "acceptable" solution for these residents.

Bring Me The News contacted Madison Equities for a comment, but has not received a response.

Related: Residents fight back against Lowry Building foreclosure after months of poor living conditions