Like many places in the Twin Cities, this building on Marquette Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, a board-up that faces the Hilton Hotel — where numerous delegates and other conventioneers stayed last week — seems to have received a pre-RNC makeover. It has been transformed into the Abdo Markethouse, in homage to owner/developer Lawrence Abdo’s business by the same name. Apparently Abdo does have plans to redevelop the site into boutique offices, as reported by Finance and Commerce, but the only thing the shop appears to be selling right now is the idea of a storefront.

Where only weeks ago there used to be broken windows and a Notice to Condemn, the faux panels now bear the business name in stenciled lettering (”established in 1919,” it reads). Currently, there are no business hours posted and the door is locked. Like a theatrical set, the otherwise drab facade gives the illusion of an actual business occupying the otherwise blighted property, and one can only think that it must have provided a convenient showing for out-of-towners. However, it might also be a creative advertisement of what is to come for those who regularly pass by.