Where Bill McGonagle sees an opportunity to improve housing, Shirley Kressel sees a likely land grab.

McGonagle, head of the Boston Housing Authority, and Kressel, a longtime antidevelopment activist, have never met, but they anchor either end of a battle over one of the most coveted parcels in downtown Boston, the site of the Winthrop Square Garage. The city would dearly love to unload it in this hot real estate market, but has been thwarted — at least for the time being — by Kressel, who has devoted two decades to mastering the minutiae of city government.

Selling the dilapidated and shuttered garage has been a City Hall dream for years. Back in 2007, mayor Thomas M. Menino proposed selling it and building a skyscraper on the site. The economic collapse foiled that plan. But plans for a sale have been revived, and Mayor Marty Walsh also supports giving the bulk of the proceeds to the housing authority.

“We want to reinvest in the housing authority, because of federal money drying up,’’ Walsh said. “[The BHA] is in a budget crunch every single year.’’

The authority wants to use its share of the garage proceeds for renovations in developments in South Boston and East Boston that are now stalled because of lack of funding.

But selling it is complicated, procedurally speaking. The city wants the Boston Redevelopment Authority to take control of the sale, reasoning that it is the only city agency with the real estate expertise to handle such a large transaction. Once the sale is completed, Walsh said, the proceeds would go to the city.

But Kressel has never been one to take pronouncements about the BRA at face value. She has been a fierce opponent of the authority for 20 years, arguing that it circumvents and ignores laws.

She insists that the city charter calls for the garage to be sold to the highest bidder, no questions asked. The city would like more control over what happens to the parcel — thus, its decision to hand the sale over to the BRA. That, in turn, leads to Kressel's allegations of a BRA-orchestrated “land grab.’’

She sneers at the idea that the city should seek the best use for the land, which is not necessarily synonymous with selling to the highest bidder. She suggests that the mayor would like to steer it to a party of his choosing.

McGonagle, the BHA administrator, couldn’t care less about the disposition process. “What I care about is two very deteriorated public housing developments.’’

Kressel has already had some impact. In response to her charges, the transfer of ownership of the garage to the BRA has been placed on hold.

All of this would be fine if there were, in fact, any evidence of a land grab. The garage is run-down to the point of being unusable. The city should have rid itself of this eyesore years ago; the only upside of being forced to hang on to it is that it has likely appreciated in value.

And while Kressel casually accuses people of deeds and wrings her hands about process, the good that could come from a big chunk of money devoted to housing poor people goes begging.

The BRA has certainly been guilty of its share of misdeeds over its existence. But there is, in fact, a legal document that spells out that the money from the garage will go to the city, not the agency. Needed housing funding is being stalled over what is essentially a red herring.

But that isn’t the issue here. Eight developers have lined up to pitch ideas for the parcel, and anything they propose would surely be an improvement over what sits there now.

Tenants in the Orient Heights and Mary Ellen McCormack housing projects have waited for years for the living conditions they deserve. I haven’t heard a good reason for forcing them to wait even longer.

Adrian Walker is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at walker@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Adrian_Walker.