Last month, Mayor Wellington Webb's office said it dropped the condemnation, which is why Matrix was willing to buy Terracentre. But the special projects committee of the city council recently met in executive session to discuss whether it should go ahead with the condemnation.

''It's ludicrous to float this around and not make a decision,'' Spencer says. He adds an internal appraisal values the building at ''north of $14 million.'' Insiders tell GlobeSt.com that appraisals by the city, which have yet to be released, carry similar values.

The cloud of the condemnation makes it difficult to lease the building, Spencer says. Also, Matrix is in the process of paying some ''serious money'' in architectural and site planning fees, he says. In addition, Matrix plans to wire the building with fiber optics for a data center for its 1,000 employees across the country.

''It would be our nerve center,'' Spencer tells GlobeSt.com. The new bank also would create about 200 new jobs Downtown at a time when the market is softening.

But Seth Berger, who is trying to develop a $240-million Hyatt Regency hotel across from the convention center, says the city should condemn the building, even if it has to pay more money than it originally allocated, he says.

The city earlier earmarked up to $9 million for the building. If the city had to pay an extra $5 million for Terracentre, it would cost it about $275,000 extra a year, he says. By contrast, the auditorium would generate millions of extra revenues per year, he says.

''It's really pretty simple math,'' Berger says.