The rush to tear down the Coast Guard building

Late last year, the City decided to move forward with demolishing the Coast Guard Building to make way for some future development (link to CTV article). Even though the costs of development will be high and the reality of developing on the waterfront when sea levels of rising will create challenges (CBC link), I understand this plan is still moving forward. 

I question if there needs to be a rush to demolish the building. I've seen articles where the cost of maintaining the building are cited to justify the demolition. I imagine that the cost of keeping it standing and secure would be far lower than the cost of keeping it heated for occupancy. 

The motivation of tearing down seems to be based on the thought that the demolition would spur development. I don't know if demolition now is necessary for a developer capable of this scale of development to express interest and make conceptual plans. Developer's imaginations are strong enough that the site doesn't need to be empty to attract them to a project. 

A redevelopment site in Halifax (1557 Hollis) is being marketed with the building still on site. 

I also don't think it is reasonable to assume that a developer would not want to integrate this interesting nautical building into a larger development. There are many examples of buildings being repurposed for new uses in downtown development. The recent quality redevelopment of the Salvation Army shelter into high end apartments supports the idea that a developer might value the bricks and concrete that are there today.