Tenants at Luther Lakeside Apartments have one year to move out

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) - After 40 years, Mayo Clinic Health System is not renewing its contract with Luther Lakeside apartments in Eau Claire.

People living in the Luther Lakeside Apartment building in Eau Claire are upset after learning from Mayo Clinic Health System they have one year to move out.

“You feel like you’re nothing. You’re dirt because they just come along and bang out, you’re on the street. If you don’t like it, you know, tough. And where do you go?” Robert Boeselager, one of the building’s residents, said.

“We’ve worked hard all of our lives,” Rosalie Fischer, a resident of the building for over a decade, said. “We raised our kids and worked and did whatever we could to make a few bucks to care for our families, and then they have to be treated like this, more or less just dumped on the street.”

The news came as a surprise to the tenants living in the Whipple Street building.

“Some of these people have been here 20, 30 years already, and all of a sudden we’re told we have a year to move,” Fischer said.

Mayo Clinic Health System said it completed the 40-year term of a Housing and Urban Development contract for the building, according to a statement.

“Mayo Clinic Health System will transition away from a new leasing contract to better focus on what we do best, providing and expanding health care to meet the needs of our community,” Jason Craig, regional chair of administration for Mayo Clinic Health System in Northwest Wisconsin, said. “Given the considerable demand on clinical service space at this site, several options are being considered, but a final determination has not been made.”

Since the apartments are subsidized, tenants like Fischer are worried about finding another affordable place to live.

“We got like 47 people here, and we’re all scrambling around trying to find some place to go, and some place that will accept us with whatever income we have,” Fischer said. “They did say they would give us vouchers, but not everybody will take them.”

Another tenant, Cindy Klevgard, says she’s already started looking for a new place to live, but is struggling with availability.

“I’ve called a couple of places already. It’s 12 month waiting list,” Klevgard said. “There is no immediate openings anywhere for anybody, and you’re not even guaranteed that 12 months when it comes up.”

Mayo Clinic Health System and Landmark Company, which manages the property, said they will work together with the residents at Luther Lakeside Apartments to ease this transition.

Tenants of Luther Lakeside Apartments were notified of the transition by letter on June 30. The transition is expected to be completed June 30, 2023, one year after the date tenants were notified.

clarification: A portion of Mayo Clinic Health System's statement was not included in the original web version of this story: “Given the considerable demand on clinical service space at this site, several options are being considered, but a final determination has not been made.”

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