The future of Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul is uncertain. The property owner, Madison Equities, told tenants on Monday to vacate the premises immediately. It hadn’t been paying its utility bills, and the power was scheduled to shut off Wednesday.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter visited the tenants Tuesday to let them know utilities would stay on in the building until the end of the month, after the city negotiated with Xcel Energy and District Energy to keep the heat and electricity on.

“We are very concerned by not just what’s happening with the business, but the way that they're doing it. You can’t treat people like that,” Carter said on MPR News’ Morning Edition.

The city has several options for Alliance Bank Center, but none have been seriously considered yet, said Jennifer Lor, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.

“Our priority first is to take care of all of the tenants and to really make sure that we can help them expedite the relocation process and the permitting process. We will then make a decision about the building and to that, we don’t know what that decision is yet,” Lor said.

The city has not condemned the building. Lor said Madison Equities posted the notice telling tenants to leave without consulting St. Paul. Buildings can be condemned for not having working fire prevention sprinkler systems, which could happen if Alliance Bank Center’s water is shut off.

She said the city had scheduled biweekly meetings with Madison Equities after it placed its entire downtown portfolio on the market, but the property owner wasn’t forthcoming with information.

“Like all of you, we’ve tried for months to contact and work with Madison Equities and have been unsuccessful,” St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter wrote in a letter to the businesses. “We appreciate your patience. The city of Saint Paul intends to support every impacted tenant during this process.”

The city is helping business owners move while expediting the permitting process. City Council President Rebecca Noecker said they are working with tenants to find them new storefronts downtown, but it’s unclear what will happen to the building after that.

“After we figure out the tenant situation, the next step is to figure out what happens to the building, and specifically, in my opinion, what happens to skyway access and whether or not that can be maintained if the building is essentially mothballed,” Noecker said.

Multiple tenants have expressed interest in moving to Town Square next door.

One of them is Paul Hartquist, who owns Paul A Hartquist Jewelers. He said he wants to move his business to Town Square because the foot traffic is good, the rent is reasonable and Madison Equities doesn’t own it.

Hartquist said it would have been impossible for him to move in 48 hours and has started to carefully pack up items and take them home. His business has been in Alliance Bank Center for almost 36 years.

“So many of my customers have become friends,” he said. “They become friends over the years because I’ve helped their children, even their grandchildren.”

He said the upcoming move will be stressful, but he plans to “land on his feet.”

“I like this location because I have a view over the street and the sun comes in,” he said about Alliance Bank Center. “In Town Square, there’s no sun. It’s kind of dark and I like the sun, especially in the morning in the winter. It was nice sitting in here.”

Property owner Madison Equities, in a message to tenants, blamed the condition of downtown St. Paul for its financial hardship. It has not responded to a request for comment.

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.