Brooklyn Park tenants upset with conditions inside Huntington Place apartments
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - With more than 800 units and about 3,000 residents, the aging Huntington Place apartments in Brooklyn Park are one of the largest complexes in the state and the problems inside are even larger.
The City of Brooklyn Park is aware of the situation and has promised property owner Aeon a $5 million low-interest loan to fix up the property. Last year, Aeon received $1 million of that, for property safety upgrades, including a new fence and on-site security.
But residents say not enough has been done inside their homes, and now they’re speaking out.
"We feel like we’re treated unfairly, we feel like we’re unheard, we feel like we’re being ignored," tenant Kristine Castelluzzo told FOX 9.
"How does it feel to live here with all of this going on?" FOX 9’s Babs Santos asked her.
"I hate it here… I’m trying to hold back tears because I’ve been living here so long and I’ve seen so much," Castelluzzo responded.
"There’s bedbugs, there’s squirrels, there’s mice, there’s roaches…" tenant Tekoa Cochran continued. "We’ve had infestations, we’ve had mold."
Every time it storms Castelluzzo says the rain comes in through leaky windows and walls, leaving behind a trail of water damage. Now she and her 6-year-old son stay away from their home at almost all times, "We leave from the time we wake up until it’s time for my son to go to bed," she said.
Both Castelluzzo and Cochran say residents are usually ignored when they ask management for help.
"With a lot of people the issues have never been addressed… [or] it takes months," Cochran said.
"It’s like Aeon is just blowing everything off," Castelluzzo added.
In a statement: Aeon says:
We agree that every resident at Huntington Place deserves a nice place to live. Since we acquired the property in January 2020, we have been hard at work making updates. In 2021 alone we renovated 147 units. Unfortunately, it is a large complex and it takes a great amount of capital resources and time to do so. We continue to conduct a variety of renovations and work to find additional funds to do even more.