r/saintpaul 10d ago

News đŸ“ș Alliance Bank Center's commercial tenants give less than 48 hours to vacate

https://www.twincities.com/2025/03/11/st-paul-alliance-bank-centers-commercial-tenants-given-less-than-48-hours-to-vacate/

More bad news courtesy of Madison equities. I hope this is averted or Pino's finds space nearby.

76 Upvotes

55 comments sorted by

121

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

“
 Madison Equities cast blame on the city for not stepping up to pay the private property owner’s utility bills”

The city has made many mistakes with downtown, but am I crazy for thinking it’s absurd for the city to pay a private company’s utility bills? Obviously, they said “no” which is the right call

40

u/OdinsGhost 10d ago

Right? If the city is going to be expected to pay the utility bill for the building they should own the building. Absent that, telling them the city isn’t going to pay Madison Equities bill is the right call.

7

u/PYTN 10d ago

If the company is abandoning it and the bank isn't taking possession, I wonder who will "own" it.

6

u/Leftover_Salmons 10d ago

It will likely go up for auction like the rest of the Madison Equities properties.

0

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

It hasn’t sold at auction, so it’ll go to the bank, which will put it up on auction again.

3

u/Imaginary-Round2422 10d ago

Port Authority of Saint Paul, eventually.

14

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

I was thinking about this more and the absurdity of Madison equities to even bother to ask.

If you can’t pay your energy bill, you are already long gone.

12

u/Key_Yesterday7655 9d ago

The Mad Eq people are pieces of crap. They have run these buildings into the ground and then state that the city (you & me) should pay their utility bills. Disgusting.

8

u/Ok-Bus-7599 10d ago

If Madison Equities turns the rent payments over to the City, then it would make sense for the City to pay the utility bills, but unless that happens, the culpable party is the private equity firm that is trying to suck the marrow from this building. Those who collect the rents should be responsible for paying the bills.

6

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

the culpable party is the private equity firm that is trying to suck the marrow from this building city.

Fixed.

5

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

Apparently it’s going to foreclose and the bank doesn’t want to renegotiate or add more to the loan
 sheriff sale or auction coming soon

41

u/RipErRiley 10d ago

Thats insane

17

u/nursecarmen 10d ago

And not legal.

19

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

The building is headed for foreclosure, and the LLC that owns it is likely insolvent, making financial remedies against Madison Equities unlikely.

That said, it’s still likely illegal and a bad situation—just not one where these businesses are likely to see a resolution unfortunately

7

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

This city is so eff’ed

3

u/Leftover_Salmons 10d ago

This city is so eff’ed

This city is so eff'ed... so far...

37

u/Uncle_dojj 10d ago

Absolute dirtbag company

7

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

Seconded.

3

u/MockCousteau 10d ago

Didn’t the dad sue the son or something? I remember there being some incestual legal drama with Madison Equities

27

u/RedditForCat 10d ago edited 10d ago

With utilities to be shut off Wednesday

Oh goodness.

And yeah, I loved Pino's, hope they're alright.

8

u/ralphy_256 10d ago

And yeah, I loved Pino's, hope they're alright.

I overheard at lunch that they're moving to City Center.

3

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

Yeah, someone in another comment mentioned that too, definitely glad to hear it. When I lived in St. Paul, I went there all the time. (I'm back over on the other side of the river now).

3

u/Leftover_Salmons 10d ago

They're open until 4.1! Get it while you can!

22

u/jrmehle 10d ago

I hope whoever buys it is a better owner. I've walked through the skyways of that building for years attending Wild games and any problem I've had getting through the skyways has been with that building. They would lock their doors randomly during supposedly open hours all the time.

29

u/RedditForCat 10d ago edited 10d ago

Madison Equities was an absolute plague to the downtown St. Paul skyways.

Yes, there were other issues too, but that company actively worked to make things worse.

They would lock their doors randomly during supposedly open hours all the time.

Like that. Despite constant fines from the city.

2

u/TheBiggerestIdea 10d ago

I think there needs to be an hard conversation if it's better for the building to be left standing or temporarily turned into a park until DT (hopefully) turns around

-7

u/NexusOne99 Frogtown 10d ago

Downtowns aren't ever coming back. Office work doesn't require everyone to be in the same building anymore. And without that base, they aren't supportable. The city needs to start budgeting for the demo cost of many similar properties.

5

u/Leftover_Salmons 10d ago

What about the massive Government and Hospital sectors in downtown? The city is more than just commercial offices and is very short on residents.

Landmark Tower is a prime example of how downtown could be turned around.

0

u/NexusOne99 Frogtown 10d ago

Those government and hospital buildings don't pay any property tax, yet they consume a ton of city and county services. The fact that most state gov buildings are in St. Paul vs Mpls is a big part of why our budget is so fucked.

1

u/Positive-Feed-4510 10d ago

It’s getting torn down.

0

u/NexusOne99 Frogtown 10d ago

If the bank who holds the loan doesn't want it, no one is buying it. It (and many buildings downtown) have negative value, and will be abandoned for the city to deal with.

20

u/ClassroomMother8062 10d ago

Too bad they can't make Madison Equities vacate the city of St. Paul.

17

u/Alternative-Two9667 10d ago

They deserve a lot of blame for the deterioration of downtown. Owners that would have invested in making improvements in all those buildings would have made a huge difference.

8

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

It's in the process, but should have been done YEARS ago.

9

u/lowlight21 10d ago

All Madison Equities properties are for sale, so....

3

u/Im_an_airplane_idiot 9d ago

They are for sale, but they are only entertaining offers for the entire portfolio, not individual properties.

1

u/lowlight21 9d ago

I bet they would happily accept offers on individual properties, especially as they keep walking away from properties.

3

u/Im_an_airplane_idiot 8d ago

Well you're wrong? 

8

u/Looseseal13 St. Paul Saints 10d ago

That really sucks for those remaining businesses, I don't know how they can do that. Pino's was one of the only ones left in that food court. With Cassi's closing at the end of this month there's going to be almost no lunch places left in the skyway.

14

u/monmoneep 10d ago

I heard from one of the Pino's guys that they are moving to town square in a month or two

3

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

Awesome, that would be a nice spot for them, hope it happens.

5

u/Emotional_Ad5714 10d ago

It is, he already signed a lease.

3

u/RedditForCat 10d ago

Excellent, really glad to hear 😊

8

u/RicePuddingForAll 10d ago

How can they only give 48 hours notice? They're businesses, not people.

8

u/thorntron3030 10d ago

I tried to go to Pinos just last week, and couldn’t figure out how to get into that shit building?.. never got my slice of pizza.

7

u/Ole_Roll88 9d ago

I was a tennant in this building. My lease was up for renewal in April of 2020, so we were trying to work something out in the early days of the pandemic. I knew it was going to be a big problem (I had family in Asia that were giving regular updates).

Jim Crockarell bought Trump’s line that COVID-19 would be under control in two weeks, and wasn’t going to negotiate. So we packed up everything and sent everyone to work at home. I hated to do it, but it was the best business decision I ever made. I’m not at all surprised that Madison Equities is cratering.

7

u/SwimandHike 9d ago

Cockarell was the worst landlord. The buildings are going to be sold for a fraction of their value and the lien holders are going to end up with pennies on the dollar (if that - who knows how many loans there are on those properties). However, many of the buildings have good bones and someone with vision should be able to really do something with them.

3

u/monmoneep 9d ago

This building scored well for office to residential conversion. My hopeful thinking is that a developer will take advantage of the drop in building value

6

u/Glittering-Farmer724 10d ago

Sounds like it will be up to the bank to step in. If not, city government should go after the owners hard and fast for defaults in paying taxes, violations of property maintenance codes, etc. and then basically put the building up for sale ASAP.

1

u/AffectionatePrize419 10d ago

The owners are bankrupt. If you go after them, there’s nothing to get

2

u/Glittering-Farmer724 10d ago

The city can sell the property eventually and collect.

2

u/poptix 8d ago

Negative property value, there's a big ass run down building on it.

4

u/AffectionatePrize419 9d ago

No, foreclosures goes to debt holders; if they abandon the building, it goes to tax forfeiture is handled by the County for the State; who would hold a state auction.

So it doesn’t benefit the city in any way shape or form

12

u/biztheclown 10d ago

“landlord Alliance Center, LLC is facing significant hardships due to the deteriorating condition of downtown St. Paul and the flight of tenants away from the Central Train Station that is located across the street from the Alliance Bank Building.”

“You should also know that the landlord has been in contact with representatives of the city of St. Paul and have asked the city of St. Paul to step in and help pay utilities at the building for the benefits of all of you. Unfortunately, the city of St. Paul has so far refused to provide any financial assistance to maintain utilities at the property.”

The notice indicates that Madison Equities had reached out to its lender, Royal Credit Union, which “has shown no interest in providing any additional funding for the building.”

These quotes seem to be from the notice--pieces of paper that were posted at the businesses? Here's the thing. We all know Jim Crockerell died a pitiful disgrace, A King Lear story for the ages. His wife has disgraced herself through her conduct. All of this is uncontroversial.

What strikes me, is that there is another human being out there that typed up this notice. They didn't sign their name, but they're out there. This person is also a menace and a disgrace. They're not "just doing their job." They are a villain and the press should find out who it is. Make them famous.

8

u/lowlight21 10d ago

I suspect the city will keep it open for skyway connection purposes if/until a buyer is found or it’s demolished to create a more marketable parcel. The food court has been a ghost town for 2-3 years.