"The real story is downtown St. Paul ... perhaps most noteworthy of all, Lawson Commons. The sidewalks of once-sleepy St. Peter Street seem to have been wired with electricity: You can almost sense the crackle. The area around Hamm Plaza and Rice Park has never looked and felt so – European." – Best Downtown Development, St. Paul, from "The Best of Business" by the editors of Twin Cities Business Monthly, September 2000


"The Lawson building’s 13 stories of light red brick has established a solid and friendly presence ... Part of the project is a low-rise brick retail arcade that shields a five-story parking ramp ... Decorative grilles on the upper floors hide the cars with a design as striking as the ornamental touches on St. Paul’s superb older buildings." – Linda Mack, Architectural Reporter, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 1999