Quote:
Originally Posted by VKChaz
But it is basic supply/demand. This won't happen, but let's say for sake of argument that 2 million sq ft of office space is built on this site. That is 2 mil sq ft that won't be needed somewhere else. Similarly with hotel tax revenue, a large hotel here means someone else doesn't get funding to build a hotel (it also does nothing to add visitors to fill the rooms to get the revenue). Obviously this is an oversimplification; the world doesn't work in an exact 1:1 way, but the point is that developers are not building just for the sake of building - the supply and demand have to stay in some kind of balance.
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Since the likely delivery of any project that would be going here would be near or past the end of the decade I'm not particularly swayed by the argument that it would cannibalize other development (which largely hasn't been planned yet for that time frame). Regardless, a new dense development would represent the highest and best use for a prime downtown block so well connected to transportation.
Preservation should be an option but I'd think that the state might exempt the structure from the landmark ordinance to attain the maximum sale price. So realistically I'm not sure there is an avenue for that.