Since Barnes & Noble left, the space has left a large hole downtown, leaving the city without a large book retailer to attract visitors.

Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications at The Christman Company Angela Bailey said in a statement the company still is searching for a tenant to occupy the space, and there are no new updates on the property.

The empty building takes up almost half a block on Grand River Avenue, a space once filled with students and residents studying and searching for the perfect book to buy, such as political science and pre-law junior Mac Corcoran.

Without Barnes & Noble, Corcoran said the only major bookstore downtown is the Student Book Store, 421 E. Grand River Ave.

“I used to get a lot of books and CDs there,” Corcoran said. “I don’t want to go to the library to rent a book.”

East Lansing Planning, Building and Development Director Tim Dempsey said in a previous interview the sheer size of the building might discourage potential retailers to lease the space out.

“There are just very few retailers right now across the country that can fill a space that large,” he said. “You’re looking at over 30,000 square feet of space.”

“It’s also configured well for a book store, but it’s not necessarily configured well for other types of uses.”

Although vacated for more than a year, the space hasn’t been left for dead. In the past, the space has been used for art exhibits and building parts of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum homecoming float.

“What’s important is (the space is) being used,” MSU School of Planning, Design & Construction Associate Director Mark Wilson said. “But it would certainly (be) nice to see it in a more permanent use.”

Wilson said the space might need to be divided to get someone to lease it, but Community and Economic Development Administrator Lori Mullins said Christman has maintained interest in leasing out the space to one tenant and are pursuing that direction instead of splitting the space up.

She said the city has helped to try to reach out to possible tenants, such as grocery store operators, a venue students and residents have shown interest in bringing downtown.