Washburn Lofts

WASHBURN LOFTS 700 South 2nd Street All the old Mill District structures are historic, due to their age, but 10-story Washburn Lofts is truly Historic. Built in 1914, for the Washburn Crosby Company (later General Mills), it housed both Betty Crocker Kitchens and WCCO (an acronym of its parent company). The building was designed by Hewitt & Brown, a prominent Minneapolis firm, whose senior partner was among the first if not the first local architect trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. And the eight-foot-high sculptures near the roofline were the work of John Kerr Daniels, probably the best-known Minneapolis sculptor of the twentieth century. Beyond its impressive, singular history as the Washburn Company Utility Building, Washburn Lofts offers superior housing, its 22 lofts ranging in size up to nearly 9,000 square feet in floor area. The open unit plans are well-lighted by large, industrial sash windows with 12-foot-high spaces; river-facing units enjoy a balcony or veranda.