Creating Places: An underrated Midtown building

On occasion, I find a building likable for some seemingly minor reason. It could be something as simple, for example, as the structure's brick color, symmetry or the fact that no cream stucco has been applied to its exterior. On this theme I have grown very fond of the little building seen below and located in the 1900 block of Church Street in Midtown. Perhaps I like it mainly because it's as tall as it is wide, a configuration that is both urban (with vertical preferred to horizontal) and uncommon when compared to many of Midtown's commercial buildings.

I seem to recall the building (I don't know the architect so if anybody does, please note) was constructed in the mid-2000s. For a time, I considered its exterior design to be very average. But nowadays, I grade that design a B-minus at the minimum, and maybe a B-plus. Some folks might not be so kind. I suppose critics might dislike how the parapet and the second-level windows stair step in an opposite manner, creating what they could argue is a jolting effect. Others might feel the window in the center of the building is excessively large in relation to the other windows. Still others might contend the subtle H-shape of the structure is a bit odd.

Regardless, I find the little commercial building underrated — and a fine addition to the public realm.