Photo / Courtesy of Epstein Commercial Real Estate
Bev Uhlenhake, a broker with Epstein Commercial Real Estate in Bangor and a former mayor of neighboring Brewer, sees positive, stable, incremental growth in the region.
Updated: January 10, 2022
2022 Economic Forecast
2022 Forecast: Even with remote work, Bangor’s office space in short supply
In Greater Bangor, offices are full and businesses are doing well.
“Everyone thinks that offices are emptying out, that we have lot of vacant space and that businesses are closing,” says Bev Uhlenhake, a broker with Epstein Commercial Real Estate in Bangor and a former mayor of neighboring Brewer. “That’s not true. In fact, we don’t have enough vacancy and prices are starting to rise.”
The same is true in the industrial and housing sectors.
“That leads to the next trend,” she says. “We’re seeing renovations and also new construction.”
At the same time, Bangor is experiencing the same difficulties seen in other regions, including high construction costs and a supply chain crunch that’s extending construction timelines by months. But Bangor is seeing an impact that may be greater than other regions.
“Bangor developers don’t overbuild in boom times, so we don’t have an overabundance of vacancy in hard times,” she says. “Our roller coaster never runs as erratically as other regions. That’s good in down times because we don’t hurt as much. But in good times, when businesses want to expand, we don’t have as many places for them to go.”
The tight market does have a positive message, though. There’s a lot of interest from businesses looking to expand or relocate in the area.
“Most of it is small business looking to grow bit by bit,” she says. “That’s the best thing for us. When they do better, that helps everyone. They employ more people. And if you multiply that over all of the businesses, we actually have a significant amount of growth. But people don’t recognize that, because it’s not one big project.”
Issues facing the region include shortages of materials, housing and employees. The opioid crisis and broadband access are also major concerns, she says.
Overall, she says, the region cultivates a sense of pride in collaborating on positive, stable, incremental growth.
“I feel confident that we’ll continue to see more of our businesses grow,” she says. “And our schools are doing really well. Investments of the recent influx of federal dollars have been made very thoughtfully — by our schools, cities and counties — in ways that will help us for decades to come.”
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