City Hall Mall

A Philadelphia official has suggested that the city might salvage its 19th Century City Hall by leasing part of it to private retail developers. The 1.1 million-square-foot national landmark building is regarded as an architectural gem but a financial burden on the city. The roof has been leaking for years, and water has extensively damaged many of the building's upper rooms.

City Controller Jonathan Saidel has analyzed that a top-to-bottom restoration of the building would cost the city nearly $350 million. But a plan to lease as much as 65 percent of it for private development might save the building, considered the best example of French Second Empire architecture in the country. Because of the building's landmark status, private developers could take advantage of a 20 percent federal historic tax credit to subsidize the renovation.

Similar projects in cities around the country, including Philadelphia itself, have created profitable retail-and-food areas in crumbling train stations, waterfronts and historic buildings.