Proposals to redevelop Paradise Circus were first launched by the council in 2001.
Attempts to find developers with the cash and the ability to carry out such a complex scheme, given the proximity of listed buildings such as the Town Hall and Council House, and the difficulties posed by the Queensway inner ring road, were not successful - even in pre-recessionary times when money for investment in property was readily available.
Council leaders said they did not believe the Paradise Circus project would be up and running until after completion of the £500 million Arena Central scheme. That was five or six years ago, but there is still no indication of when Arena Central might be started, never mind finished.
The credit crunch will be troublesome, obviously, but we are talking about long term projects. The recession, slump or depression, call it what you will, won't last for ever and it is important that Birmingham has plans in place to benefit from the economic upturn when it happens.
All of the indications are that Argent have been asked by the council to come up with a Brindleyplace mark-two design. This would involve designing architecturally-superior largely, but not exclusively, low-level buildings.
Proposals floated by the council four years ago, for 1.2 million sq ft of high quality offices, 823 apartments, a new hotel, shops, bars and restaurants, were dropped following a storm of protest by conservation groups condemning over-development in a conservation area.
Even so, although political sensitivity remains, the council's Tory-Liberal Democrat leadership has recently supported and praised the granting of planing permission for a 35-storey British Land tower on the site of the NatWest Tower in Colmore Row. This soaring glass-fronted landmark, it should be noted, will be built less than 300 yards from the Victorian Council House and St Philip's Cathedral.
The main aim of the Paradise Circus redevelopment is to sweep away the concrete cluttter of appalling 1970s brutalism - the Central Library, Conservatoire, Copthorne Hotel and former Government Offices - and open up new pedestrian routes between the city centre shopping area and Centenary Square. But there is not enough money in tourism-related development to pay for something the size of Paradise Circus and it is inevitable that the finished product will feature a substantial amount of Grade A office space.
Do not be surprised if, somewhere within the boundary of the Paradise Circus roundabout, a tall tower is proposed.
It could be another tricky decision for the city Planning Committee.