Comment by staplers

  why a bank would hold a completely vacant building for 15 years.

Allows for inflated valuations and hypotheticals which appear on paper as absolute but in reality are much lower.

By leasing for cheaper they effectively capitulate and sell at a loss which will hammer their funding ability. It's land speculation similar to tech speculation. Inflate valuations, get a longer runway from lenders, etc.

At some point it has to come back to reality, but as the saying goes: "The market (land owners) can remain irrational longer than you (businesses) can remain solvent."