It is prime real estate space.  Smack dab in the middle of upper Peach.  K-Mart is closing leaving some 86 thousand square feet of commercial retail space available.  K-Mart is not renewing their lease.  Some 60 employees will be jobless.

Signs advertising commercial space can be seen throughout our region.  Like home values, commercial values have also dipped.  That's according to Jack Munch, the director of commercial development for Baldwin Brothers real estate services in Erie.. He says its all part of the ebbs and flows of real estate.

"The commercial market is traditionally on the backend of an economic downturn and the last to come out," said Munch.

In Erie, in the 50's and 60's it was all about manufacturing.  Most of the buildings remain on West 12th.  Some left to rot.  A reminder of an era that is long gone, taking with it hundreds of jobs.

More recently, GE has laid off hundreds, Riley Stoker has closed a plant, and last week Carrara Steel closed its Payne Street facility.  Jim Dible heads the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership and since June, he tells us, they have begun an aggressive campaign to lure business to the region.

"We're not going to look at someone who is going to bring 2000 jobs overnight to Erie, your talking smaller job growth over time," said Dible.

K-mart will be closing their doors on June 6th.