A new bill in the Maine Legislature could direct the Maine State Housing Authority to take the Bangor Mall through eminent domain.
The legislation, proposed by Sen. Joe Baldacci, will allow MaineHousing to negotiate with the mall owner to buy the property and develop the area for residential and commercial use. If that fails, the bill directs the housing authority to take the property through eminent domain, Baldacci said.
This is the latest tactic that local and state governments have taken to try to force the mall owner to improve the property or sell it to an organization that will. Two lawsuits from the city of Bangor allege Namdar Realty Group has failed to fix a broken sewer pipe, a leaking roof, large potholes and the dilapidated sign.
The text of the bill isn’t expected to be ready for about two weeks, Baldacci said.
“At some point we have to do something because the properties around the mall are doing well,” Baldacci said. “To let that continue on as an eyesore is detrimental to businesses in Bangor in general. It certainly doesn’t help the taxpayers.”
The bill will direct MaineHousing to negotiate with Namdar to buy the mall for a reasonable price, Baldacci said. Namdar bought the mall for $12.6 million in 2019, a little more than half the city-assessed value of $24.6 million.
As of April 2024, the property was assessed at $13.2 million, meaning it lost $10 million in value in five years.
MaineHousing, a state agency that helps provide affordable housing, has no comment until the bill is available, Communications Director Scott Thistle said.
New York-based Namdar Realty Group did not respond to a request for comment.
If a reasonable purchase price cannot be reached, the mall property will be taken through eminent domain, Baldacci said. The process allows the government to take property and pay the owner for moving and other expenses.
It’s very early in the process and there are a lot of hurdles that have to be cleared before anything can happen with this proposed bill, Bangor City Councilor Rick Fournier said.
No matter how the property is obtained, once MaineHousing has it, they will turn it into housing and mixed use commercial development, he said. The bill will have funding from the state for the project, he said.
The Bangor City Council made zoning changes in 2022 to allow housing, hotels, indoor recreational businesses, light industrial development and reduced parking requirements at the location.
Current commercial tenants at the mall will be able to remain, Baldacci said.
“It’s really important to redevelop this property, make it economically useful for the city,” he said.
