City asks P&R to ‘stop action’ for second-floor tenants in Lincoln Park Flats

On Friday, both Mayor Emily Larson and Chief Administrative Officer Noah Schuchman issued official statements regarding the Lincoln Park Flats apartments situation. Earlier this week, the tenants on the second floor of the apartment building were told that they had less than 60 days to move out, according to the management.

The apartment complex opened almost a year ago as a residential apartment only, but local developer P&R Properties told residents that part of the building is now being converted into a boutique hotel.

RELATED STORY: Lincoln Park Flats: Second floor to be converted to Hotel, residents asked to move out

Late Friday, Mayor Emily Larson released this statement:

“As a community we value local investment, local job creation and meeting local housing needs – and we have been working tirelessly for years to add units across Duluth. The possibility of losing units is slippage we really can’t afford as a community. We are focused right now on getting the best possible outcome for Duluthians. Our efforts are focused on working with local developer P&R, who has invested across the community in important and meaningful ways, to keep this building open as a residential apartment building. We need this neighborhood to succeed, we need to keep people housed and we need to protect the public investment we’ve already made. My administration, city staff and City Councilors are working hard to accomplish all of this.”

Chief Administrative Officer Noah Schuchman’s statement:

“The City of Duluth and DEDA are working with the developer on finding a viable solution in line with the contractual obligations of the development agreement. While the City does not have legal standing to prevent the end of a resident’s lease, we have asked the property owner to stop action on affected residents as an act of good faith as these conversations continue.”

On Monday, the company managing the apartment building said “P&R Properties is converting the second floor of our Lincoln Park Flats into a boutique hotel, very similar to Enger Lofts which is also located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. We have been working with the tenants that wish to stay at Lincoln Park Flats to accommodate their move to upper floors. We have also given tenants more than the standard 60-day notice for this conversion to allow for any accommodation changes.”

We will continue to follow this story as new information is released.