MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Residents living in a condominium building in Minneapolis say they’re living in fear. Over the past month, a homeless encampment has been steadily growing on the 2900 block of Blaisdell avenue. 

“This is causing us a lot of problems. At night when you sleep, these people are doing drugs, and you don’t know what’s going to happen, if they’re going to break your window,” said a resident named Hani. 

She lives in an apartment unit close to the encampment and says she hears people banging on her window and walls at night. To protect the integrity of the window, her family stacked up household items to act as a barrier from the inside. She says someone in her family feels they need to be there at all times to make sure nothing happens to their home. 

“We’ve called 311, 911, no one is helping at all,” she said. 

On Tuesday, there was a shooting at the encampment that left one man injured. Over the past month, Minneapolis Police say five people have been shot in the area including a deadly shooting on May 16.

“We’re lucky not yet a shot has come through that wall, because there are families literally on the other side of that wall,” Park Square Condominium President Raymond Hoffman said. 

The management team at the condominiums are at their wits end. 

“How much more do we have to put up with?” Hoffman said.

He says they’ve been asking the city, council members and mayor for help to clear the encampment for weeks. They thought they had a date set last week, but it fell through. 

“I did get a security company with ten officers, all that good stuff, but after that coordination the city fell through on their end. We were here that Thursday,” Westport Properties Portfolio Manager Abas Mohamed said.

They say the sleepless nights are taking a mental and financial toll on the residents and condo owners. 

“A lot of the families are more or less middle or low income families, and they just want a safe space, and now they have to deal with all these issues and now a lot of the owners who rent their units are feeling like they’re losing money because a lot of the renters want to move out,” Mohamed said.

Last week, the City of Minneapolis told WCCO the closure of the encampment was ‘imminent.’ On Tuesday, a city spokesperson said it’s working with the property owners for an ‘imminent closure’, adding, “Encampment closure operations are fluid and dependent on resources, capacity, and external factors. Closure dates can shift as a result.”

“I don’t want words from them. I want action,” Hoffman said. 

The Timberwolves are taking over downtown Minneapolis again.

This time, the team has rented out a parking lot kitty-corner to Target Center for a series of parties ahead of the Wolves’ two home games against the Dallas Mavericks. Wednesday’s Game 1 marks the first time in two decades the Timberwolves have made it to the Western Conference finals.

In 2004, the Lakers won the series but lost the championship to the Detroit Pistons.

The Wolves put up a mural on the building next to Gluek’s to provide a backdrop for a watch party set for Friday. The facade features Anthony Edwards, who recently and inadvertently gave the Minnesota travel industry a new catchphrase, flanked by Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and five other players.

Dave Holcombe, one of the restaurant’s operators, recalls that the Lynx did something similar for Maya Moore when Minneapolis hosted the WNBA all-star game in 2018.

“It was up for like two days, but I assume they’re going to leave this up until we’re over,” Holcombe said.

Staff writer Jeff Day contributed to this story.

The embattled Minneapolis 2040 Plan could finally move forward despite a series of lawsuits, reports Madison McVan in Minnesota Reformer. The news comes after the legislature signed a 1400-page bill that includes an exemption from environmental review for comprehensive plans.

According to McVan, “The law applies retroactively to the most recent comprehensive plans created in the seven-county metro area, including the Minneapolis 2040 Plan, which has been stymied in recent years by environmental lawsuits.” The law does not apply to individual buildings, which will still undergo environmental review.

As McVan explains, “The law passed Sunday night is a compromise between environmental groups, which seek to protect the integrity of the Minnesota Environmental Rights Act, and city governments, including Minneapolis, which want all comprehensive plans statewide to be exempt from environmental review.”