I’ve pounded the table on this topic before, but it’s always worth a repeat, particularly when there are new examples. From the Urban Land Institute: What’s Old Is New: The Business Case for Adaptive Reuse.
The very short version: if you look at any measures of value other than first cost, reuse is a better business proposition than demolition and reconstruction. (Obviously this is assuming that the existing building is roughly the right size and shape for the new use, but one of the nice things about cities is that they have a lot of buildings.) The advantages of reuse are so great that they often win even the first-cost argument.
To use an over-dramatic example, would the New York Public Library be better served for a branch for Greenwich Village by a new building than it is by the reuse of the old Jefferson Market Courthouse?
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