After the Communists came to power, the building was no longer used as a trading house, but as the headquarters of various authorities. Until recently it belonged to the Russian military. At the beginning of 2007, four inner structures of the former trading rows were demolished and are currently being rebuilt; The plan is to reconstruct the entire building true to the original and to set up an exclusive hotel in it. These building measures have recently been criticized by both Russian and foreign media as circumventing the preservation order by cleverly exploiting a loophole in the law.