A new tenant has been found for the former Harcourts office on Eat Streat, while another high profile Rotorua site is up for sale.
Harcourts Rotorua recently moved into its new site around the corner from Eat Streat to the new Lakesyde development on Whakaue St.
The spot has not been empty long and has been snapped up by local greenstone carver and businessman Niki Nepia for his new business Puawai Jade.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the CBD, the old Valentines restaurant building on the corner of Fenton and Amohau streets is up for sale after plans by its owner to turn it into a large bar have been scrapped.
Mr Nepia said his retail gallery and souvenir store should be open for business by December 9.
He said puawai meant "to blossom".
"I think it's the best place in town to set up a gallery and souvenir shop.
"I'm trying to cater for all of the market, not just the high end."
He said since he had been studying his craft and working in China in 2014 and 2015 he had made some valuable contacts and had been trained in different Chinese art forms that now also influenced his traditional Maori style.
"I studied under some master carvers over there doing bowl forms, animals, landscapes and human forms."
He said his new shop would have a small showroom where people could watch carvers at work as well as a gallery where carvers would display and sell their work.
"This place has a lot of foot traffic, even on Sundays there are hundreds of people walking past.
"I guess I'm a little bit nervous, but also excited."
Eat Streat Collective chairman Tamati Coffey said he welcomed the new business and hoped it was successful as it was on a prime site.
"A retail shop like Puawai Jade will increase the variety of reasons to visit our end of town and will no doubt increase foot traffic bringing a different kind of customer to Eat Streat."
Across town, Rotorua's Valentines Restaurant went into liquidation and was closed, with the loss of 22 jobs, in February.
The building's owner, Rotorua lawyer Richard Charter, said he wanted to make the building more up to date and modern and serve simple Kiwi-style meals with great coffee and reasonable prices.
However, he has since decided to sell the building and adjoining land.
Colliers International commercial sales and leasing agent Mark Rendell said the ex-Valentines site was on leasehold land owned by the Ngati Whakaue Education Endowment Trust which is leased in perpetuity.
Mr Rendell said the site did not have an asking price, just a deadline for inquiries, which will be December 8 at 4pm, unless sold prior.