Fill This Space: Empty Storefront in Chatham Plaza

Between and the , there once was a branch of Washington Mutual Bank. By 2009, however, Washington Mutual had been purchased by JP Morgan Chase and the new owners decided to close the Chatham branch.

Since then, the expansive storefront has remained empty. Levin Management Corp., which manages leasing of the storefronts in the Chatham Plaza, wants to find the perfect tenant.

"We definitely want to put something in there that will stay for a long time," said Alison Horbach, the leasing agent for Chatham Plaza. "Someone who has a good track record, will do good marketing. ... It's never good for a tenant to come in and then go out of business."

The storefront, known as Lot 5 of the plaza's 10 available areas, has an area of 4,640 with high cielings and finished walls and floors. It also contains two single-sex bathrooms, a coat closet, a closed kitchen area and private room in the back. The bank safe has been removed.

"These spaces are large, that kind of narrows down what you can put in there," Horbach said.

With a and four food shops or restaurants already in the plaza, including and , Horbach hopes for something a little different to fill this space.

"We have pizza, bagels, ice cream, [the bakery]," Horbach said, and the plaza also has .

Horbach hopes to find a service tenant, such as the existing or World Champion K Tae Kwando, to fill the space rather than a soft goods business (such as a clothing store.)

With traffic from Main Street and both parents and students from passing by the area daily, she hopes to find a business that can "thrive off of the traffic that's already there, as well as bring more traffic to [existing] tenants," Horbach said.

The plaza used to hold a bookstore, and Mayor Bruce Harris said the borough's clothing boutiques and home decor stores are doing well.

"I used to ask why there was no mens clothing store in town, and the response I got is men don't shop," Harris said.

If you could fill it with something new, tell us: what would it be? Vote in the poll below, or tell us in the comments!