Lowry Apartments may become senior housing, apartments or something else

Dan Carlson the new owner of the troubled Lowry Apartments in downtown St Paul plans to keep the currently-vacant building residential Beyond that the fate of the shuttered century-old former hotel remains unclear even to him We haven t settled on anything yet disclosed Carlson principal of Burnsville-based New Life Properties which purchased the -story -unit Lowry Apartments for million at the end of June We haven t decided if we ll go with domain rents There was a senior home that did talk to us I don t know if anything will come of it He may know by Sept what direction he intends to take with the Lowry stated Carlson in a phone call from England where he and his wife Lily were waiting for a connecting flight back to the United States The couple have spent two weeks each year for the last four years in Zambia a land-locked country in south-central Africa where they sponsor young people in a children s home Carlson noted he had no illusions about the status of the Lowry Apartments which were built in and were once a go-to hotel destination for visiting dignitaries Burst pipes and a myriad of other challenges led the city to seek a court-ordered receiver for the property a year ago and then condemn it relocate tenants and board up the property last December The plumbing and sprinkler system were destroyed when it froze mentioned Carlson whose company maintains its own construction crew under the title Up We Go LLC Still for that level of repair we subcontract that he explained New Life Properties which got its start around remodels single-family homes and multi-unit properties and has also built five apartment buildings from the ground up in the past five years all of them in Minneapolis Carlson named his favorite project a -unit apartment building he constructed from scratch at Nicollet Ave S The Lily Pad after his wife Lily He s held onto the Lily Pad but particular other properties have been constructed to be sold New Life Properties first apartment building was located at Park Ave South a -unit complex that determined new owners as did the Pearl Apartments a -unit apartment building he constructed at Chicago Ave S That stated he s no stranger to remodels The Lowry Apartments represents his sixth foreclosure purchase he declared Related Articles Letters Downtown St Paul demands a municipal grocery What to know if you re headed to the Minnesota Yacht Club Festival Science Museum of Minnesota to end its popular summer camps Sold Downtown St Paul s troubled Lowry Apartments St Paul audio play series returning for second season and scavenger hunt