While I certainly sympathize w/small retailers in the Ren Centre facing down a tough financial situation..........

I have to come out in favour of tearing it down.

Its incredibly anti-urban, anti-waterfront, it really contributes nothing positive to its surroundings [[other than being occupied [[once) by employers).

Re-extend Brush Street through to Atwater, extend Franklin and Woodbridge through to what should be Randolph and you gain urban, human-scaled blocks.

Make the riverside parking lots a waterfront park; reduce the width of Jefferson from 5 lanes each way to 3, and add cycle tracks.

Now you've got the basis of an area that can be attractive for hotels, for office and for residential.

Its a huge deal; and yes, it would be missed on the skyline but as structured it probably doesn't have a future and it probably shouldn't.

Any remaining office tenants can easily find space, maybe even trigger restoration of some in a nice heritage footprint.

The sad thing here is simply that REN is so big, a 3-tower version limited to one block might justified for retention, its shortcomings notwithstanding. But just like badly executed slum clearance for public housing, or a massive urban expressway, the damage is at such a scale its hard not to scar the landscape again when correcting the mistake.