A message from Dr. Eric Anthony Johnson

Recently, our property in Brooklyn Park, Huntington Place, has been in the news regarding resident conditions. Aeon acquired Huntington, the second-largest apartment complex in the state, in January 2020. Our short-term vision was to keep 2,500+ residents in their homes and keep rents affordable. Our long-term vision was to turn Huntington into a place residents are proud to call home.

Huntington was built in the 1960s. For decades, it has been known as a problem property. Both physical and social conditions needed a lot of attention to overcome 40 years of neglect and underinvestment. We took on the challenge to save 834 homes from being lost as affordable.

The pandemic brought new challenges in achieving our long-term vision. Residents lost their jobs and the community was in crisis. We shifted our focus from property updates to helping residents access $3.4 million in rent assistance, organizing food drives, and supporting remote learning.

Today, we still have a lot of work to do. We are taking residents’ concerns very seriously. We’re in conversation with our financing partners, the City and others about what a long-term path forward at Huntington looks like. We knew from the start that transforming Huntington would need to be a community effort and would take time. We are continuing to look for the resources that can support the transformation of a property this large with so many needs and decades of issues. And the needs at Huntington only grew during the pandemic in a way we couldn’t have anticipated.

Residents with maintenance needs can submit a ticket through the resident portal or by contacting the property office. For any other concerns, residents can use MyHome, our resident feedback system, to reach leaders at Aeon. They can go to aeon.org/myhome, or call or text 612-326-3855. We have a staff member at Huntington dedicated to tracking and resolving residents’ concerns. Residents can also use MyHome to share anonymous feedback.

We’ve made a lot of progress so far. Of the 834 homes at Huntington Place, more than 400 have been updated to move-in ready. Our staff have completed more than 17,000 maintenance requests. They continue to address aging infrastructure at the property. We upgraded security and restored peace when crime in the city dramatically increased.

And it’s still not enough.

We have a lot of work to do at Huntington. The team and I are seeking ways and significant resources to do that work faster and better. We have new, resident-focused staff on site and are updating our maintenance order processes. We are also working to do more to ensure residents have the voice in our operations that they deserve.

Huntington is a property with so much challenge, but also so much potential to be a wonderful home. I want to thank the incredibly hard-working team at Huntington, who show up each day to provide decent homes. We are fighting to make that a reality for every resident.