Prime Real Estate

One of the most striking things about Beirut is the juxtaposition of war-torn buildings and new developments. It's fairly common to see an abandoned building with bullet holes right next to a brand new high rise with apartments that cost millions.

The picture above is a good example. We live a few blocks away and took it while wandering around Sunday -- but there are dozens of other buildings like this in our neighborhood.

These abandoned buildings are sitting on prime real estate. Apparently, the problem is that people aren't quite sure who owns them. Maybe the owners fled during the war, died abroad, and the descendants have no idea that the building exists. At least that's one explanation that makes the most sense to us. We've been told that there's no law of eminent domain in Lebanon, so the government has no ability to claim a damaged building and let somebody restore it; instead, they have to let it crumble to the ground.

So if anybody knows a producers of one of those HGTV house renovation shows, tell them that Beirut is a gold mine.

This is probably the most noticeable landmark in Beirut: the Holiday Inn. It was the site of the infamous hotel battles of 1975-1977. It used to be a prime location for snipers, now it's just prime real estate -- set for destruction in the not so distant future, so we're told.