Lincoln Park Flats to Add Hotel Rooms by Having Second Floor Residents Move Out
DULUTH, MINN. — Lincoln Park Flats is a 74-unit apartment building that opened last June.
Presley Eldian was one of the first people to move into the building. Her apartment is on the second floor and she was one of the first tenants in the building. “I was so excited to live here, I moved in June 3. I’d finally reached a point in my life where I was excited to live by myself.”
That excitement of ten months ago came to an end a week ago when she received an email from P&R Companies. The email from the owner of the building told tenants the company had plans to turn 24 apartments on the second floor into a boutique hotel.
P & R Companies says the addition of the Boutique Hotel at Lincoln Park Flats will offer financial flexibility and stability for the building in what has been a challenging time for developers.
Eldian says she had intended to renew her lease,” Just the location honestly has been my number one love of the apartment.”
P & R Companies declined to be interviewed for this story. In a news release the comapny stated it has been working with residents. It told residents if they wanted to stay and move to another apartment, if one became available, they would accommodate them. Tenants pointed out that apartments on the upper two floors are much more expensive
The city worked with the developer and provided a tax increment financing district, with the requirement of providing a certain number of affordable units.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson issued a statement saying that despite the number of affordable units staying the same,”This is not the project we signed up for when we issued TIF and it is now under legal review with our counsel.”
Eldian is disappointed with the decision the company has made that forces her to find a new place to live. “I’m even considering living with a roommate just because it’s been, it’s really hard out there to try to find something affordable and I just don’t know if I can even swing it,” she said.
The mayor also said she would work with council members to bring about a policy change that would prevent this type of situation from happening again.
