The company had worked in with both the Napier City Council and the Historic Places Trust in the demolition of the 1935-built building.
Mr Walker said the trust had looked at the building and recognised that it had been greatly altered, which took away a lot of its originality, so had no issues with it coming down.
As well, he said the cost of strengthening the building to bring it up to required standards would have been very high, and if strengthening work had been carried out the resulting required steel reinforcing beams would not have made it an attractive proposition for any potential tenants to move into.
The change in plan meant what would have been the middle floor parking area would now be developed for office space.
The ground floor was being developed for outdoors and adventure clothing and equipment retailing company Macpac which had taken up the lease.
The business, one of 27 stores across the country, will relocate from their present site in Dickens St.
With its headquarters in Christchurch where it was launched by Bruce McIntyre about 40 years ago it also has 20 stores across Australia and its products are sold in 30 countries around the world.
"They will be moving in there around the middle of the year and the rest of the building will be pretty well completed by then - it is all well on track," Mr Walker said.
The top floor office space will house Colliers.
"There has been a lot of significant investment and improvement in that area and it is becoming quite a hub."
He said the development of Cosmopolitan House, the Katmandu building across the road in Hastings St, the revamped Post Office, Paxies Lane and now the new Albion Lane building had given the area a great look and a real spark.
And there was more to come with the planned development of a new restaurant on a nearby site along Marine Parade.