Is the Mall in Bangor, Maine Finally Getting Some Real, New Housing?

This subject has been brought up many times.

In other states around the US, there's been a push to do something with all the malls that are either totally empty, or even mostly empty. The Bangor Mall seems to fit the latter idea quite closely. A quick walk through the mall shows a lot of empty storefronts and minimal activity. After all, we live in an age of online shopping.

READ MORE: This Cool Video Will Make You Feel Kinda Sorry for Bangor's Malls

Maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise at this point. After all, it's often a lot easier to shop from the couch in your PJs, than it is to carve out time to head out and do some old-fashioned shopping. Across America, this attitude has brought most malls to their knees. The Maine Mall in South Portland doesn't seem to be suffering quite the fate that Bangor is, but that's the exception, not the rule.

The City of Bangor is super interested in moving people into the mall.

According to the BDN, Bangor is looking over at the "dead" mall as a potential source/location to begin adding some form of housing. There's a substantial need around here for workforce and senior housing. Around the country, cities have been looking at this approach of re-purposing due to low terrestrial inventory, and like was said above... Online shopping has killed malls.

The city sees the move as crucial. After all, around a third of the mall is basically empty. How cool would it be to have some more space for traveling nurses, or for new residents, who are coming into Bangor more and more every year? There just seems to be one crucial element standing in the way, at the moment...

No one will answer the phone, literally.

The BDN says that people from the city have reached out repeatedly to the owners of the Mall, a company called Namdar. The company owns a few dozen malls around the country, and have become essentially impossible to get hold of. Repeated phone calls have literally gone unanswered.

READ MORE: Bangor Mall Blvd. is In Way Better Shape Than It's Been In Years

Additionally, not all of the tenants are on board with this idea. That's to be expected. Some businesses claim the mall just isn't set up for this kind of mixed use facility. And that may be true. But until the owners of the mall actually pick up the phone and have a legit conversation with the city, this is all on hold. But hey... at least we're at the stage where the city is talking about new ways to use Bangor's "dead" mall.

How many of these businesses were once in the mall?