(COLORADO SPRINGS) — If you frequent the east side of Colorado Springs, you may be noticing a growing number of empty storefronts after numerous large retailers announced their closures. That got us wondering, with such enormous and unique spaces, what happens to these buildings after their inhabitants move out?

While a business closing up shop is not an unusual occurrence, the east side has seen a noticeable number of large retailers announce closures recently–Party City, Big Lots, and soon-to-be-closed JOANN Fabric and Crafts. Typically, another business moves in where an old one once lived, but with the size of these spaces, the number of options for filling them dwindles.

FOX21 News reached out to the Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (PPRBD) to find out what the process is like when a space like this becomes available, and what it takes for new businesses to make their homes in an existing building.

According to PPRBD, the only space among the aforementioned businesses that already has permits pulled for a replacement is the old Big Lots on New Center Point, off North Powers Boulevard. PPRBD said permits were pulled in March to turn the space into an indoor pickleball facility.

While permits are a good indicator of whether a new business might be eyeing a space, they’re not always required. If a business plans to move into a space and it doesn’t require any remodeling to fit the business’s needs, then permits aren’t necessary.

For the Big Lots off North Powers to become a pickleball facility, though, PPRBD said walls need to be removed and bathrooms added, so permits are needed. When the two previous K-Mart locations in Colorado Springs became VASA Fitness, those, too, required permits.

For a retail space to move into an existing retail space, however, permits don’t always indicate whether the space is spoken for. This appears to be the case for the old Party City, also on New Center Point near Big Lots. The Hill reports that several discount retailers are among the top bidders in an auction for nationwide Party City leases, including Dollar Tree and Five Below, according to a Texas court filing.

Dollar Tree appears to have won a bid for the Party City location on New Center Point, according to The Hill.

As for the large retail spaces that don’t appear to be spoken for yet, PPRBD said the possibility of them sitting vacant for a while is not uncommon, like the K-Mart locations on Fillmore Street and Palmer Park Boulevard that sat vacant for years before becoming VASA Fitness.