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There was a time Main Street downtown was the heartbeat of the city.

"That's what this was. This was the center of it. This is where you went,” said Patrick Teague.

A thriving entertainment district packed.

Now it is barely beating. 

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Along Main Street the For Lease signs outnumber the Open for Business signs.

In place of the pulsing beats and flashing lights are locked doors and eviction notices.

Sign after sign on windows read, “For Lease.”

Main at Prairie four years ago was the busiest part of the action.

Now every space on the block is vacant. And the next block over.

"There is actually about 20 spaces in the historic district,” said Teague.

Over the past four years the original club and restaurant owners have moved on, people moved in, but success did not follow.

Angie Bertinot is with the Downtown District.

"You look around here and you see a lot of empty space and some people say that is scary, but to us we see it as an opportunity,” she said.

An area with a huge concentration of nightclubs and not much else may make great nightlife, but not a great neighborhood.

"Quite frankly we are really looking at repositioning this entire part of downtown,” said Bertinot.

There’s hope a unified vision can attract a mix of high-end restaurant and retail. Only if the building owners are patient enough to wait.

"It's kind of sad. You wish it could be the way it used to be,” said Bertinot.

Maybe someday will be again. Where it was hopping.

Houston is sending a delegation a major national restaurant trade show in a few weeks.

They hope to persuade significant restaurant developers to at least check out the Main Street area. The restaurateurs will certainly have plenty of open spaces to choose from.