BANGOR — Local leaders in Bangor met with potential developers to talk about the future of the Bangor Mall Wednesday.
This comes as the city is in the midst of an ongoing legal battle with the owners of the mall, Namdar Realty Group, over various code violations.
State Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, who has been a proponent of the mall’s revitalization, said the meeting’s purpose was only to start a conversation and see what developers had to offer.
“These are potential developers,” said Baldacci. “We want to see what they’ve done in the past, in other states, and kind of test out what their abilities are and what they can provide us.
He also stressed that this is just the beginning of a long process.
“It is early,” said Baldacci. “But it’s important to get these conversations going instead of just sitting there and seeing this mall self-destruct, which is what’s happened and is a drag economically, not only on the city of Bangor, but on the greater Bangor region.”
Wednesday’s meeting included city officials, Baldacci and members of the ATI Group and the engineering group McLure.
Baldacci said the ATI Group is based out of Iowa and is involved in multiple mall construction projects.
He also said that the Bangor Mall property has seen a significant dip in value over the years.
“It was worth over $100 million, tax-assessed value maybe 10 years ago,” said Baldacci. “Now, it’s worth $13 million. So, that has a serious economic impact.”
Baldacci added that the mall property has a variety of potential uses, including housing and retail.
“This is a prime commercial property,” said Baldacci. “And the city has changed the ordinances to allow multi-uses, so it could include both retail and housing.”
A judge ruled in April that the owners of the Bangor Mall violated multiple city ordinances. However, a final hearing is still expected this month.
During the first half of Wednesday’s meeting, city officials mentioned that they would not discuss many details about the potential of redevelopment and any potential partnership with a developer at this time amid ongoing litigation with the mall owners.
The latter half of their meeting was held behind closed doors, and it’s not yet clear if or when the city would hire a developer.
“Any decision would ultimately have to be made by the city council, the city of Bangor, so it’s going to be a long process,” said Baldacci. “This won’t happen overnight.”