The train never came but that didn’t stop gentrification in Harrison
By David Pierini staff reporter
Rare is the person struck by lightning twice.
Alan Morrison is starting to feel that unlucky as he considers losing two homes to one train.
Alan Morrison outside the Glenwood Avenue duplex he was ordered to vacate. Photo by David Pierini
He was ordered by new property owners in 2019 to vacate his duplex in the Harrison neighborhood as plans were underway for a light rail extension along nearby Olson Memorial Highway. Officials were forced to scrap those plans and now have eyes on two other routes in North Minneapolis, one that runs a few blocks from his new apartment.
“It could happen all over again,” said Morrison, 54, who now lives a few blocks of West Broadway, one of the new proposed routes. “Well, it’s the way of the land. This is not just gentrification. This is gentrification in your face.”
Morrison is one of countless numbers of Harrison residents who felt forced out by the Blue Line extension. It wasn’t the train itself, but the rapid investment that began to emerge in Harrison, especially in blocks identified for state buildouts.
Once affordable rental homes on Humbodlt Avenue North were torn down to make away for a new apartment complex. Photo by David Pierini
Property taxes rose 60 percent over a two year period, according to the Harrison Neighborhood Association, and speculators began buying property once considered affordable in a community where the average median income is $35,000. Rents went up, leases were not renewed and in some cases, homes demolished to make way for luxury apartments.
The Rev. Babette Chatman said an “invasion of developers” began buying up properties after the Blue Line extension was announced.
“I’m all for development but development should benefit all,” said Chatman. “Harrison’s proximity to everything downtown, we should be able to champion and cherish and not let outsiders brand what Harrison is.”
In the eyes of speculators, Harrison was a can’t miss investment.
Construction on a new apartment complex nears completion on Humbodlt and Second avenues. Photo by David Pierini
The property management company that bought Morrison’s duplex on Glenwood Avenue ordered the tenants to vacate so crews could go in and remodel the units, he said. Morrison says he now pays 70 percent of his handyman income to rent an apartment for himself and a disabled son.
The same company that took over Morrison’s duplex bought an apartment complex next door, one across the street and another nearby duplex. Some tenants were ordered out like Morrison, while others found themselves searching when they learned they could not renew their lease.
One landlord with a cluster of rental homes in the 200 block of Humboldt Avenue North sold them to a developer who ordered tenants out last year so the homes could be bulldozed to make way for an apartment complex.
Tenants were unaware of the proposed project until they were notified by the Harrison Neighborhood Association. Residents were unsuccessful in stopping the city from rezoning the land. The neighborhood association was able to negotiate relocation money ($3,400) for the tenants.
“The place I was living in was the nicest place I ever lived and the rent was reasonable,” said Lisa Grant, who lived in one of the Humboldt Avenue homes. “I didn’t have a lot of choices. It was hard to find a place that would accept pets. Now I live in the Northeast and pay $500 more a month.”
Her neighbor on Humboldt, Jerusha Siem, has moved three times since she and her then-husband left their rental home after 10 years.
Rent was $900 when they moved in and it only went up a couple of hundred dollars over her time there. It was spacious with three bedrooms, a garage and a fenced-in yard.
The landlord’s name was Dan and Siem and her neighborhoods affectionately referred to the block as “Danville.”
Siem said her marriage broke up shortly after they moved into a tiny apartment that was $300 more per month.
“There was a lot of stress when we had to move out,” said Siem, now living in Peotone, Ill. “Because of COVID-19, a lot of buildings weren’t accepting new tenants and we had to leave during (the unrest) with George Floyd’s death. “We were very happy in that home and then it went away.”
She holds no ill will for Dan.
She said he worked hard to purchase and maintain the homes, even establishing a community garden there, and, she said, he deserved to cash out and retire.