But Duggan is right in that if the market is not, should I say, moving fast enough to get the buildings occupied, then the owners are basically just maintaining them to stay vacant [[which Matty seems okay with doing anyway but I digress). And vacant buildings are not productive for a city regardless of any other value and yet the still cost money.

In an ideal world, developers would be fighting each other over property in Detroit right now. Multiple new high-rises would be under construction would be under construction right now, and Corktown would have new townhouses and apartments on every corner from Fort Street to MLK. Yet, this is not the situation we are in.

In the real world, just punishing the owners doesn't accomplish much other than provide revenue for the city. The options for the owners? Demolish the property or sell it so they don't have to be punished with fines. And actually, this specific property was for sale for quite a while so how come no one bought it? There was ample time for someone to come in a preserve this property and do whatever with it, but no one chose to. That's the market and that's the reality of the situation and many other properties in Detroit face the same situation. Working with the government isn't necessarily any easier because now you're just placing the potential burden on taxpayer money which itself is a whole different issue.

In the end, if Detroit becomes a less appealing place because of it, well then that's just the outcome of a free-market society which is far bigger than what Duggan is responsible for. If 2 million people wake up tomorrow and decide they want to move to Detroit then maybe a lot more of these historical properties will have a chance. Until then, decisions have to be made.