Statement on The Lonoke
Update on Wednesday, April 12:
Beacon is absolutely committed to the safety and security of our residents and staff and to managing our properties in a way that advances our goal to provide safe, stable, well-maintained housing for all of our residents. In that context, we have engaged a security company to help us secure The Lonoke. Their personnel are on site as of today (Wednesday) and we believe this step is an important element in our ability to meet our residents’ expectations – and ours – for safety and security. Their presence will also assist us in making repairs to the building and property.
We are also in the process of selecting a new property management company for our supportive housing portfolio; Premier property management and Beacon have agreed that it is in our mutual interests to bring our two-year partnership to a close.
We will continue to seek critical and timely assistance from the government and public safety. While we very much prefer to resolve issues without engaging law enforcement, there are situations – such as this – when we need the assistance of trained law enforcement to respond to armed trespassers threatening residents, staff and others. In that context, we have and will continue to reach out to the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department to move forward collaboratively to improve the situation at The Lonoke.
Original posted Friday, April 7:
Beacon has been working to resolve growing issues at The Lonoke, a 19-unit apartment building in Minneapolis. Residents, property management, and Beacon staff are truly concerned about the conditions of the building that have been impacted by intruders gaining entry, damaging common areas, engaging in criminal behavior, and threatening residents and staff. Our contracted property management company shared with Beacon that they have called 911 multiple times to report the presence of armed intruders engaged in drug dealing, with no response from the police. This threatening presence has disrupted our ability to complete needed repairs in a timely manner. We hope to work with Minneapolis police (MPD) to coordinate a more immediate and robust response to these threats.
Additionally, we are aware of resident concerns regarding property conditions at The Lonoke and have been working with our contracted property management company to address these issues. We have conducted multiple repairs to the property, including steps to secure the building. Some repairs have been re-damaged or delayed due to the presence of threatening behavior by unauthorized people in the property toward maintenance. We’ve been in communication with the Minneapolis licensing department, and the repairs will be completed this month.
Prior to recent media coverage, Beacon’s professional supportive housing team named The Lonoke as the top priority for needing more resources and new strategies to resolve ongoing issues, including hiring a security firm who will begin rotating shifts at the property next week to disrupt the criminal activity so that residents are safer and repairs can proceed. In addition, our staff team will work with service providers and property management to reach out personally to tenants to hear directly from them about what they are experiencing and invite them to engage with us and the Minneapolis Crime Prevention Specialist, in the hopes that we can get a more coordinated response from the MPD.
We reiterate that it is and has always been Beacon’s goal to provide safe, stable, well-maintained housing for all of our residents. Conditions at The Lonoke are not acceptable. This is an extraordinary circumstance and we are actively solving for it. This commitment is not a result of media attention, but we do hope that community awareness will inspire a more thorough, efficient, coordinated response so that Lonoke residents have a safe place to call home.
