[buzzg]

If the Greeks had that same attitude, the Acropolis wouldn't still be around either – it eventually grew out of its original use and usefulness.

The Bay building is built so strongly it'll be fine for quite a while. Its biggest hurdle right now is there is lots of easily (re)developable land in downtown for new projects, so the costs of repurposing it don't make sense right now. Eventually that we'll change, and the idea of carving out the middle to add in residences or whatever the idea is could become more palatable.

The fact that a decade ago HBC was willing to give it away for $1, and now sees it as a valuable asset in the $80–$100m range, is a good sign and means its only a matter of time before there could be a strong business case for redevelopment – even if it needs some government support.