Civil rights group renews request for investigation into living conditions at Minneapolis' Heritage Park
From infrastructure cracks to black mold to busted windows, the NAACP says the living conditions at Heritage Park are a crisis.
"Building's got birds living all in them, squirrels living all in them, mice having a tea party in the front yard. It's bad," Gloria Jackson, a 23-year Heritage Park tenant, said.
The NAACP says nearly 700 people live at Heritage Park, a subsidized housing complex that sits on a property owned by the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
"They all need to be relocated," Thomas Berry, vice president of the NAACP Minneapolis, said.
In June, the NAACP asked for an independent investigation into why they say it was neglected and asked for Abdi Warsame, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority's executive director, to be fired.
On Tuesday, the NAACP reiterated that request.
"MPHA was the referee between the private owner and the citizens," Berry said. "He had from 2020 to 2026 to do something about this. He ignored it."
In a statement, a Minneapolis Public Housing Authority spokesperson said it has "helped lead efforts to support Heritage Park as them and others began learning more about the shortfalls and maintenance issues," but claims it does not own, operate or control any of the units, and McCormack Baron Salazar, a developer based in St. Louis, Missouri, does.
"I have rights, too. I pay rent there. I have a right to live in a decent place," Jackson said.
In south Minneapolis on Tuesday, the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority announced the completion of a triplex and duplex alongside Mayor Jacob Frey.
When asked how the authority plans to maintain that newly renovated building, Warsame said, "We have a history, a long history of maintaining our units. MPHA has 6,000 units across the city."
"We're not looking to fight with the city first and foremost; we're looking for the relocation of these families," Berry said.
In a new statement, the City of Minneapolis said it's willing to work with residents who feel unsafe and want to relocate.
Late last year, a judge took away "operational control" from that developer and appointed a different company to help coordinate repairs. In a statement, that developer said it didn't get enough money from the government, saying there was a "significant and well-documented underfunding of public funds required for the sustainable management."
