Biz Bits: Empty buildings? Five ideas for putting them to use

Intact downtowns with historic buildings are one of this area’s greatest assets, but keeping storefronts filled in those commercial districts can be challenging.

Becky McCray, co-founder of SaveYour.Town, offered advice at a recent meeting of Inland Northwest Partners in Pullman. Inland Northwest Partners is a not-for-profit economic development group that covers north central Idaho, southeastern Washington and northern Idaho. Its founding investor is Avista Corp.

Here are some of McCray’s recommendations:

• Any business, no matter how modest, is progress. Divide larger buildings into spaces for a number of vendors. Then offer smaller options such as closets, carts and tables where entrepreneurs can launch. A bookstore can be as small as a single wall of titles. “Look at this one table jewelry store,” she said. “Why not? Why not make this small step available to people? Not everybody has perfect credit, marketing genius, plenty of room (and) friends and family who will help them out.”
• Parking is a perceived problem in many downtowns. Frequently, much of the parking is behind buildings. Gaps between buildings can provide access to that underutilized parking, especially if they are landscaped to be attractive to pedestrians.
• Empty lots present opportunities even if they are rough around the edges. Events such as farmers markets, art fairs and concerts can be held in those spaces.
• Vacant buildings can serve as boutiques for local online merchandisers. One community allowed artisans to display examples of their work in empty windows of a building, along with the websites where the items could be purchased.
• Art can dress up empty spaces. Such projects don’t have to cost a lot of money. One town decorated windows by cutting snowflakes from white paper. Another enlisted a college student to design paint-by-number panels to install in bricked-over areas of an upper-story building. Community members volunteered to paint the panels at the community’s fairgrounds.