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 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 office building is owned by Madison Equities, the St. Paul landlord that is trying to unload its downtown portfolio. Shutting the building down would leave a hole in the city's skyway system.

From B’s Barbershop to Pino’s Pizzeria and Allegra Printing, the remaining commercial tenants at the Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul were informed late Monday afternoon they should “immediately vacate the premises” as the 16-story building — which offers a major skyway connection — would lose all heating,

Tenants were originally given two days to leave. They now say the city has promised to keep the lights on until April 1.

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.

In an email sent to all tenants, Alliance Center, LLC said it cannot sustain the costs to operate the building any longer, given the unsustainable financial situation that exists at the building.

The city says Carter has negotiated with both utility partners at Xcel Energy and District Energy to postpone any action related to electricity and heating until the end of the month.