Helenas empty commercial space: Common or concerning?

Pedestrians in downtown Helena may notice some of the empty retail space.

Though the empty window fronts downtown may cause people to question, empty commercial space is not exclusive to downtown.

Its not just the downtown. People walk downtown and they see some vacant storefronts, but its not representative of what is coming out of the town, Randall Green, broker and owner of Green & Green Realty Associates, said.

Its no secret that there are several spots in Helena that have commercial space available for rent, such as the Capital Hill Mall, which holds only a handful of open stores.

Green said he thinks part of the problem is that such a large portion of Helenas economy relies on government employment.

The state, Green said, rents about 700,000 square feet of office space in Helena. And while the stability of government employment is good for some aspects of the economy, it isnt expanding into more rental space.

Green also said the financial climate right now is ideal for construction and redevelopment of space. As companies move out of their old spaces into new buildings, its common that no one comes in to fill the old space.

Green pointed to some of the properties that Green and Green is responsible for, including an old health club where the property is sitting vacant, and old fast food places on Prospect Avenue that are vacant.

Helenas economy, in my opinion is floating on a very slow current right now, Green said.

Tracy Reich, director of the Helena Business Improvement District, said thats not the case downtown. She said the downtown economy is healthy and that turnover in retail space is expected to happen anywhere.

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Helenas empty commercial space: Common or concerning?