Developers that want to tear down something WANT it to be in bad shape because the more of an eyesore it is the less resistance there will be in demolishing it.

I used to live in Webb City near Joplin and there were a bunch of large old homes along a road that had become very busy over the years and there was increasing pressure to convert to commercial but there was a lot of resistance in the community. People really didn't want to live in the homes on such a busy road with 4 lanes of traffic. But others didn't like the idea of losing the large trees, pretty homes etc and just seeing more strip malls and fast food.

One developer bought a bunch of the homes and to appease the town he actually MOVED several of them. He was supposed to leave the large trees in place but all of a sudden oops one day the equipment operated apparently didn't get the memo and cleared them to make way for a large strip mall, parking lot and fast food restaurant.

Over time most of the homes have sat abandoned and rotted to the point no one cared anymore and one by one they've been torn down to make way for a dollar store, car wash, dominoes, dairy queen, several strip malls. It's a long game but eventually developers can win approval through basic neglect.