Other savvy developers, meanwhile, have found success convincing L&I that their buildings are imminently dangerous, necessitating demolition, despite being historically designated. Developers Harvey and Robert Spear did so more than a decade ago at Front and Chestnut Streets, when an L&I inspector who was not assigned to the Old City area declared their two 1800s buildings as imminently dangerous. While the buildings were disheveled, they were not bad enough to convince the Historical Commission to give the Spears the financial hardship. So the Spears resorted to another way to take them down: Using L&I's dangerous declaration to their advantage.