I mean, it does have a lot of wasted space. Half the basement is a giant auditorium that never gets used. There are numerous vacant retail spaces on the ground floor, lower level, and even the 2nd floor. Some of them are basically un-leasable because they have no visibility or they're hard to get to. Etc etc. I will happily defend the atrium and the building's open spaces but it definitely needs to be re-planned, repurposed and renovated.
Putting leasing into the hands of a private landlord will be better too... I know the state went out of their way to lease retail space to minority/Black owned small businesses which is good, but there has to be a mix, you need anchors to drive foot traffic. I imagine the state threw up all kinds of impossible standards and barriers to leasing and buildouts, as well (MBE contracting, prevailing wage, etc).
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la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel...
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