I think you are right. It is hard for people who weren't there [[especially before they started closing parts of it off) to realize what a huge building it was. Think about the fact that the Book Tower still seems impossible to renovate because of the magnitude of the financing required and the required value per square foot. Then think about how much bigger Hudson's was, and how much less suited to reuse. I was very sad to see it close, but it is hard to see how it would have made sense to keep the building intact.
Bookmarks