At issue is whether it would be best to seismically upgrade andrenovate the 80,000-sf former Holman Moving and Storage building at49 SE Clay St., or demolish it and build anew. Regardless, theultimate goal is to lease it out to companies with river-relatedoperations. Both studies should be completed by the end ofJanuary.

"Right now we don't own the property, the correct zoning or thenecessary funding to make it happen, but everybody involved seemsto want it to happen," , Michael McElwee, a project manager forPDC, told GlobeSt.com in October. Those involved include the PDC,the city and state transportation departments and the federalgovernment.

The state, which owns the building, is willing to trade it anduse of surrounding vacant parcels if the city is willing to takeover maintenance of a stretch of Martin Luther King Boulevard. Thecity would then transfer the property to the PDC, its developmentarm. The property, however, essentially under the right-of-way forthe Interstate highway system, which is under control of thefederal government.