55-room dormitory-style apartment building proposed in Bangor

The Bangor Planning Board will consider a proposed dormitory on Stillwater Avenue to house people who are entering the workforce and don’t have enough money to rent an apartment or buy a home. If approved, the roughly 21,000-square-foot co-living dormitory would have 55 rooms and 45 parking spaces. City zoning rules restrict buildings in that area to be 35-feet-tall or lower. The proposed building would sit at 416 Stillwater Ave., which was previously home to Little Angels Daycare and Preschool, next to MaineSpace self-storage facility. The Bangor Planning Board will consider the application for a land development permit on Tuesday. The dormitory is intended to serve as an extended stay hotel for transient workforce in the Bangor area, according to the application. Guests could be people who are new to the workforce and don’t yet have the income or savings to secure permanent housing or a vehicle. The dormitory is the latest unconventional proposal aimed at addressing the Bangor area’s housing shortage. Other recent ideas range from building communes in Bradford to establishing a community of 120 tiny homes for people who are homeless. “In order to work, [people] need a stable residence that also has the ability to use public transportation,” the application reads. “This project is intended to meet that need.” Guests would stay for a few months while they work toward financial stability so they can eventually upgrade to more permanent housing. In addition to being on the Community Connector line, the building would have storage space for residents’ bicycles, the application states. The applicant, listed as Paul Woods, did not return multiple requests for comment.