What will happen to all those empty Borders stores?

Would an empty Borders bookstore make a good bowling alley? Or a church? The Tampa Bay area could soon find out, as a range of retailers, shops and organizations are checking out the soon-to-be empty bookstores across the region.

"Right now it seems like someone from every industry is calling us," said Andy Graiser, president of DJM Realty, a New York-based specialist in liquidating real estate that Borders hired to market more than 200 properties that will close. "Gyms, bowling alleys, churches, supermarkets, even some cosmetic companies are curious about these locations."

Borders will exit all but one of its Tampa Bay area locations within a few months as it works through the bankruptcy process in hopes of surviving as a much smaller retailer. Only the Borders in Tyrone Square in St. Petersburg will stay open. That leaves five empty Borders in the Tampa Bay area to fill with new tenants.

While the spots could stay vacant for a year as the liquidation process unfolds, real estate and bankruptcy experts say they probably won't say empty forever.

The retail market is improving, and those locations have some huge advantages. They're typically two-story structures with open space inside, surrounded by lots of parking with busy traffic passing by in especially affluent neighborhoods. Some locations have an average household income of more than $100,000 within a mile.

In theory, a new tenant could move into the old Borders location very quickly, said Noel Boeke, a bankruptcy lawyer in Tampa with the law firm of Holland & Knight. That's because the bankruptcy law gives Borders the ability to exit existing leases quickly, and hand over the lease to a new tenant.

That process isn't used often, Boeke said, because there's a long list of steps. New tenants have to follow local zoning rules. (So something like a strip club could not swoop in and take over a Borders if the zoning wouldn't allow it before.) And landlords can object in court if they have complaints. When CircuitCity filed bankruptcy, and put more than 100 locations on the market immediately, only a handful were directly assumed by a new tenant.

"But this happened in prior times when the economy blew up," Boeke said, because a new tenant can basically assume a former retailer's lease and pay what's considered below-market rent if the nearby real estate has risen in value. "And these days, it seems like CVS and Walgreens are putting up locations on every corner."

More often, the properties end up back in the landlord's possession, meaning they have to find a new tenant from scratch.

As long as the potential new tenant doesn't upset the retail mix of the neighbors, pretty much anything could move in, real estate experts say.

Many big tenants have leases with their landlords that prohibit a direct rival from moving next door. For instance, a Publix would not likely appreciate a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market to move into an adjacent spot.

While executives with rival Barnes & Noble booksellers said they may move into some former Borders locations, that's less likely here. The Borders stores in South Tampa, Carrollwood, Clearwater and Brandon all already have a Barnes & Noble store nearby.

DJM's Graiser said he's fielding calls from a range of companies interested in the Borders spots in Tampa Bay. "Some regional electronics chains are calling," Graiser said. While he declined to name names, he also said some interesting regional and specialty grocers are calling. "Generally, Borders has done a very good job of picking sites around town."

The buildings are relatively new, with between 20,000 and 30,000 square feet of space; room enough for a small company or a very large restaurant. Two locations are on one of the highest-traffic streets in the region: Dale Mabry Highway.

According to DJM statistics, within a mile of the South Tampa location, 60 percent of the population owns its own home, and more than a third make between $50,000 and $100,000 per year. The location in Carrollwood, just south of Fletcher Avenue, has an average annual income of $63,513 within five miles, and $102,810 within a mile.

Meanwhile, the retail economy in Florida continues to improve a bit each season.

Retail rents have basically flattened out to about $15 per square foot per year, according to John Crossman, president of the realty broker Crossman & Company. The current Borders locations are being offered at between $14 and $21 per square foot per month, which Crossman said could be higher than the market will bear at this point, depending on individual client interests and location amenities. Though rates vary on each deal, many large "box" stores in outparcel areas are renting for about $8 to $10 per square foot, Crossman said.

"I could see these as good spots for gyms or something like that," Crossman said. "Because they have such good locations and parking."

Most national retail chains remain on the sidelines when it comes to opening new locations, said Paul Royak, director of retail for the LWC Commercial Real Estate Advisors in Tampa. There are always case-by-case exceptions, but that means the new tenants will probably be local or regional companies, he said.

A new tenant would probably take at least six months to a year to open, he said, "But if Books-A-Million wanted to get into the South Tampa market, they could take over that location and be open in a couple months."