Broken A/C leaves 75-year-old cancer patient sweltering at north Minneapolis apartments

Apartment complex A/C problem

Scorching heat is making life miserable for some at heritage park apartments in north Minneapolis. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains the situation.

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Tenants at Heritage Park in north Minneapolis have had to settle for fans to cool off as broken air conditioning units remain unrepaired during a stretch of scorching heat.

Tenants say broken A/C units are just the latest problem

What we know:

Multiple tenants are dealing with broken air conditioning units, leaving their homes uncomfortably hot during the day and even hotter at night.

“I don’t like it very much at all. And especially with somebody running back and forth to the hospital, I don’t need all this stress,” said Eddie Robinson, a tenant at the complex. “It’s an oven.”

Temperatures inside Robinson’s apartment routinely climb into the 80s, and he said it gets even hotter at night because he must lock up his windows for safety.

“People will come in your house if they see a window open,” he said.

But Robinson said it is actually one of the better apartments he has lived in during his dozen years at Heritage Park.

“The first unit – the rats took it over,” he said.

None of the three air conditioning units outside his building were working on Monday, and he said he could not find anyone to fix them.

Other problems at the complex

The backstory:

Heritage Park has faced ongoing complaints from tenants about rats, mold, leaks and poor water pressure, among other concerns.

City Council Member Pearll Warren recently posted a video on social media showing moldy walls and dirty floors.

Outside the buildings, there are broken stairs, busted lights and boarded-up windows.

These issues have prompted the Minneapolis NAACP to call for the city’s public housing chief to step down.

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, which owns the land but does not maintain the property, said it is working with the court-appointed receiver to address hundreds of open maintenance orders. The agency said the previous owner ran into financial trouble and stopped making repairs. The property entered receivership in late 2025.

Robinson, who is 75 and battling cancer, said he is just trying to make it through the summer with his support dog, Lele.

“I got to keep water out for her all the time, you know. Otherwise, she’ll get dehydrated,” he said.

The management company, Property Solutions & Services Inc., said it is offering portable air conditioners to tenants with broken central units, but Robinson said he does not want one because they do not help.