Former Midway Shopping Center tenants file suit against property owners

The past tenants of St. Paul's Midway Shopping Center have sued the property owners who evicted them a year ago.

The shopping center was damaged by looting and fires during the unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd in May 2020. In July, the tenants had their leases terminated and were forced to move out.

Now, owners of the Golden Gate Cafe, Sweet Cajun, Mimi's Beauty salon and Hung Tu — all of whom say their stores suffered little to no damage in the unrest — have sued RK Midway Shopping Center, Snelling Midway Redevelopment and RD Management in Ramsey County District Court. The plaintiffs allege breach of contracts, wrongful eviction and unlawful exclusion, and breach of duty of good faith.

On May 28-29 of last year, rioters set fire to the shopping center's Foot Locker. The adjacent tenants, GameStop, New York, New York and Great Clips, experienced some collateral damage from firefighters' efforts to put out the blaze. The remainder of the shopping center sustained little damage, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges the property owners terminated the leases and excluded the businesses from the shopping center in an attempt to expedite at the business owners' expense development of United Village, a planned redevelopment of the area surrounding Allianz Field, which includes the shopping center.

The minority-owned businesses suffered severely when they were forcibly shuttered, the suit claims.

If not for the closure, the businesses named in the suit would have continued to operate, the owners say.

"We're open at a new location," said Thien Do, owner of Sweet Cajun, now at 712 University Av. "Come visit us."

The city of St. Paul recently ordered the vacant shopping center demolished. The developer has applied for a demolition permit, which is under review but has not been issued, according to an acting city spokesperson.

The business owners also are seeking an injunction prohibiting a premature demolition of the Midway Shopping Center.

Zoë Jackson • 612-673-7112

Twitter: @zoemjack