Broadway Avenue, which is lined with empty or nearly empty retail plazas, vacant restaurants and a lot that could be part of an adjacent park, is getting a close look by a Merrillville committee on blight.
"We're leaving no stone unturned on Broadway," Town Council President Richard Hardaway, D-2nd, committee chairman, said Thursday.
Disappointed that the Sav-A-Lot grocery store in the Broadway Plaza on the north side of town didn't spur other activity in the retail center as he had hoped, Hardaway said he would tell the owners they need to register all the empty spaces with the town at $200 each.
Vickie Bunnell, a town enforcement officer focusing on blight, said there are eight or nine vacant spaces in the plaza.
"It's an eyesore on Broadway, seeing all those places empty," Hardaway said, adding that high rent prices could be a problem.
Hardaway said he also will give the same registration message to the owner of a small plaza at 5550 Broadway, where two of four units are vacant.
"I don't want to give the owners incentives to lower their rents. I want to give them incentives to rent the places," he said.
At 7220 Broadway, Hardaway noted a vacant lot that formerly housed used cars could be added to the adjacent Union Park property to enlarge the park and enhance the walking trail next to it.
But Bunnell said the taxes on the property are up to date, meaning the town can't acquire it at a tax sale, and the owner is seeking more than the town may be willing to spend.
Hardaway said a boarded-up Mexican restaurant at 6515 Broadway may be up for sale.
The town is acquiring several adjoining small parcels on the north end of Broadway and combining them into one larger parcel. Town Attorney John Bushemi said tax certificates for the parcels have been transferred to the town and he's in the process of re-titling them.. After that, they could be sold.