Not far from the Lumber Exchange, at the corner of Second Avenue and Fourth Street North, is a rather nondescript two-story building. Why does it earn this year’s “screaming building” honors?
Perhaps it’s pure sentimentality here at the “Best of Business” desk; some of us remember pleasant nights at the New French Bar that once dwelt on that corner in the Warehouse District. (You can still see the New French name, along with that of Urban Wildlife, another departed tenant, on the ratty awnings above the first-floor windows.)
We also like the fact that it’s one of a decreasing number of small structures left downtown. It has a nice location—near the Target Center and the future home of the Twins—and a quaintly artsy-Bohemian je ne sais quoi about it. (And a mysterious chunk of rusted steel attached to one side—what’s up with that?) Here’s hoping this building finds new life, and soon.
