Cities struggle to fill 'The Big Empty'

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Driving around Fort Wayne, it doesn't take too long to see an empty store that's for sale or lease. Many of those retail locations are huge spaces and have been on the market for years.

"Having these empty buildings doesn't always look good, but we are looking to fill them with other things," Ashley Steenman, with the Economic Development Alliance, said.

In NewsChannel 15's special report, "The Big Empty," Alyssa Ivanson discovers why it can be so challenging for some of the empty locations to find new life. 

"Some of these buildings have been on the market for years. Even though the fundamentals of the location are still good for retail in terms of population, demographics, traffic counts, and visibility, in many cases, those fundamentals are fine, but there isn't the demand out there," Steve Zacher, the president of The Zacher Company, a commercial real estate agency, said.

In spite of what some would say can't be good for a community, Fort Wayne leaders maintain the city's economy is still strong.

"I don't believe Fort Wayne has any worse of a problem in terms of availability of large retail space than any other city. Many places are much worse," Greg Leatherman, Fort Wayne's Director of Redevelopment, said.

Monday, NewsChannel 15 takes a look at how Fort Wayne compares with other cities and finds out what the city's doing to help new businesses move in.

Don't miss "The Big Empty" Monday at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.