The property owner, Madison Equities, told tenants on Monday to vacate the premises immediately. It hadn’t been paying its utility bills, and the power was scheduled to shut off Wednesday.

The financially troubled owner of downtown St. Paul’s Alliance Bank Center notified tenants Monday it would shut off utilities in two days' time, sending businesses scrambling to find new spaces, orchestrate difficult moves and grapple with goodbyes to storefronts that served as home for years.

The City of St. Paul is reacting after tenants of the Alliance Bank Center in downtown were told to vacate their premises within 48 hours.