Commercial Real Estate Collapse - Razing Buildings

We are seeing a lot of problems in the Hickory area with old industrial and commercial buildings not being utilized. This is happening across the United States. Hickory has instituted "Operation No Vacancy" and they are utilizing "Brownfield Grants" as methods to facilitate the development and movement of these properties. I believe something needed to be done and at least the city is attempting to do something. In the end, we know these methods of facilitation are a drop in the bucket and are not going to solve the problems we face with Commercial and Industrial Real Estate in this area.

Commercial Real Estate has been way overbuilt and our Industrial capacity is in shambles, so the vast majority of these abandoned buildings are not going to be utilized any time soon. We don't need these buildings rotting for years, the way they are in major metropolitan areas, such as Detroit. They will fast become havens for the homeless and vermin and I certainly hope that they aren't being utilized to store toxic chemicals. Will we have to see an unnecessary catastrophic event, such as a fire, in order for a proactive stance to be taken on this issue?

I certainly don't have all of the answers when it comes to this issue and I hate to see the government mandate what people do with private property, but I truly hope that government officials and property owners aren't going to push this problem down the road to the point where future generations will have to deal with an issue that should have been dealt with years ago (which is now and in the short term future).