This is a vacant business on Water Street in St. John's. (Submitted by Vanessa Mary Wade)

A St. John's city councillor says the number of empty spaces in the downtown doesn't tell the whole story of the area.

While a photographer has been posting pictures of empty downtown buildings on social media — with more than 50 vacant storefronts documented so far — Debbie Hanlon says there are positive signs downtown.

"What I do know for a fact is that we've had over 20 new businesses open up in the last little while downtown," Hanlon told CBC Radio's On The Go.

"I don't think they're doing enough to keep the vibrancy and vitality downtown. You know, the people who are struggling to keep their businesses open … they're the ones doing that. Not the council," said photographer Vanessa Mary Wade this past week.

Hanlon said the empty buildings are often the result of landlords who live outside the province. Because they don't live in the area and can have multiple properties, some buildings often get left behind, she said.

"Some of them are owned by outside landlords, and the buildings are not in great enough shape for people to rent right now," Hanlon said. "And the tenants are not prepared to put the financial investment in, and the landlord is not. You do get situations like that where the landlord is not even in Newfoundland, and the properties are not ready to rent."

When landlords live outside the province, Hanlon said, there are limits to what the city can do.

"We work with them to make sure it's not an eyesore, if there's garbage or if it's unsafe." Hanlon said. "There's only so much we can do. I mean if you're a business owner and you own a property downtown, as long as that property is not in an unsafe condition, it's allowed to be there."

Wouldn't it be nice to put a positive spin on it? - Debbie Hanlon

Hanlon said some of the buildings posted on social media are having new tenants come in.

"It's nice to see people going around concerned about our downtown," Hanlon said. "But wouldn't it be nice to put a positive spin on it? Take pictures of all the new businesses as well? So that would foster a more positive feeling and want people to come downtown."

St. John's Coun. Debbie Hanlon says the city is limited in what they can do when landlords live outside the province. (Gary Locke/CBC)

Hanlon said the city is working on different ways to further the downtown, including trying to attract more businesses and residents to move into the area.

"Downtown [is] unusual because people live there, people work there. It's more than just an area, it's a lifestyle," Hanlon said. "We need to encourage and foster more … residents living downtown. We need about another thousand people living in the core of downtown to make it a viable community."