Lafayette Building
1922, 1998
PDF of the Lafayette Building History
The Lafayette Building was constructed in 1922 at the southwest corner of Eleventh Street and Nicollet Avenue by the Lafayette Investment Company. The company was owned by W.C. Redlin, A.R. Chesnut, and Warren Hopwood. The site had been owned by H.G. Harrison whose home sat on the site. A one-hundred-year lease was obtained on the property.
The Lafayette Building was designed by Ernest Croft and Francis Borner in the Renaissance Revival style, typical of the 1920s. The door facing Nicollet Mall is highlighted by an ornate Baroque split pediment and flanked by fluted Doric pilasters to look like classical columns. The exterior is covered by motifs of twisted columns, cherubs, garlands, urns, cornucopias, dragons, and snakes. The terra cotta colors are fired into the clay, so that, despite weathering, the surface retains its original colors. The floors were terrazzo.
The Lafayette was one of the few historic buildings in Minneapolis not built for a single occupant. The Lafayette was designed to have eight stores on the Nicollet side of the building and five stores on the Eleventh Street side, with entrances on both sides of the building. The second floor was designed for offices and additional shops. The building was to have 165 feet of frontage on Nicollet Avenue and 170 feet on Eleventh Street. The structure was estimated to cost between $150,000 and $165,000.
Croft & Boerner was an architectural and engineering firm based in Minneapolis. The firm was known for designing the Minneapolis Municipal Auditorium (demolished in 1988 to make way for the Minneapolis Convention Center) and high schools in Minnesota and Iowa. The building was constructed by the Carlsted Company. Thorp Brothers sold the bonds yielding seven percent in denominations of $100, $500, and $1,000, with personal guarantees from the Lafayette owners.
True to its intent as a multiple-tenant building, Lafayette was soon filled with a variety of businesses. During the 1920s, it was home to, among others: A.J. Lofgren’s tailoring business; Junior League headquarters; Jacob Lundh, violin maker; Women’s Club; and Parisian Beauty.
Although its tenants changed over the years, Lafayette continued to lease to small businesses. In the 1930s, one of its long-term tenants was John Seaman Garns and his School of Psychology and Religious Science, various religious organizations, and Speech Club.
In the 1940s, the building housed American Business College and its program for training women for the war effort. It was also home to Koppers Coke. The 1950s’ tenants included Minnesota Costume College.
The 1960s’ tenants included multi-year tenant, Murphy Plan. Masterson Personnel and Gene Smiley, Inc. were tenants in the 1970s. The 1980s included long-term tenant, Eberhardt Company. The 1990s’ tenants included JKW International and Shirly, Lund, Foley & Mansfield law firm.
In the June 6, 1972, edition of the Minneapolis Star, Barbara Flanagan, famed newspaper columnist, decried the appearance of the Lafayette Building:
It looks well-scrubbed and very European with its frieze of tile and stonework on its façade. Much of its elegance, however, is covered by a too-big and too-gaudy Gold Bond Stamp sign.
Vincent’s anchored the corner of Nicollet and Eleventh for fourteen years. Vincent Francoual arrived in Minneapolis in 1998, working first at Café Un Deux Trois. Three years later, he founded the highly successful Vincent’s. Francoual determined in 2015 that it was time for a new chapter in his career and closed the restaurant at the end of the year.
In 1990, Brit’s Pub became Lafayette’s largest tenant. Brit’s started as a two-room bar which grew into a much larger and more comprehensive establishment hosting soccer events, theatre, comedy, music, and dance.
Brit’s owners purchased the entire building including tenant space in 1998. Owning the entire building allowed Brit’s to create an English garden on the rooftop of a parking structure.
The 11,000-square-foot green space can accommodate five hundred people for events, lawn bowling, and private gatherings. Twelve inches of topsoil and four inches of peat were installed over a waterproof membrane covering a concrete deck. The total cost was $850,000. In 1998, the grand opening of the garden took place.