He Built A Secret Home In A Mall, And Lived There For 4 Years Before Being Discovered

back in 2007 a young man called michael townsend was showing a woman around his apartment when all of a sudden three burly men turned up at his front door without any explanation they rushed forward and detained him but these weren't regular cops they were mall cops that's right police of the paul blart variety what were they doing outside michael's home and why were they detaining him well if you want to find out go grab some popcorn and get comfy because i promise you're not going to believe this story [Music] if we're going to start at the beginning then we need to rewind all the way back to 1999. this was the golden era of bell-bottom jeans britney spears and most importantly mall development in providence rhode island the brand new providence place mall had just been built the 1.4 million square foot development boasted 160 stores and services straddling the wuna squatucket river as well as amtrak's northeast corridor train line with so much going on this wallet-busting 500 million dollar project was clearly designed to be a one-stop shopping destination that would help revitalize the city but as it was being constructed our protagonist michael townsend a local providence resident and artist noticed something unusual his running route took him past the mall's construction site every day and as it was being built up he spotted a section of the site that didn't make sense right by the river there were two large walls that almost touched but not quite leaving a gap in the middle that led to a large spot where nothing was going on the space was too oddly shaped to be a store and too angular to be a part of the parking complex it looked like some sort of design accident a strange space that existed purely because of the angles of the other purposefully designed areas around it weird as it was michael didn't think much of it and carried on running by however a little over four years later in 2003 another group of developers set their sights on providence seeing the success of the marvelous mall they began scouring the city for sites to plant even more retail units after a thorough search they figured that the city's historic mill district would be the perfect place to rejuvenate and rebuild unfortunately this was where michael lived he and a group of artists resided as a collective in one of the district's old warehouses known as fort thunder devastated by the decision michael spent two years alongside many other residents to save his home in the mill district but sadly it was all in vain and the colorful fort thunder ended up being replaced by a parking lot while being displaced would kill most people's motivation the devastating event hit michael with a bolt of inspiration at the time he was a drawing instructor at rhode island's school of design and a founder of the city's tape art movement so he reached out to his artistic friends for help after much discussion he and seven other artists decided to create a project that would highlight the amount of livable space being sacrificed to soulless retail development in providence they named the project trimmerkind a german term that poetically translates to children of the ruins to bring tremorkinds to life they would daringly try and live for just one week inside of providence place mall without leaving to do this they needed a space inside that was safe from the eyes of the mall's security team so it couldn't be a part of a store nor could it be a section of the parking lot it was at this point in a streak of creative justice that michael suddenly remembered the weird void he'd spotted all those years ago he went to investigate whether or not it was still there and sure enough the developers had never bothered to seal it up even though it was difficult to make out a long dark crevice meant the space was still accessible from the ground level the concealed space was crammed full of things that the construction company had left behind six years before like broken wood and bags of zip ties clearly no one had been here since and being behind such a slight gap meant it was safe from any meddling mall security even though the room was undeniably narrow it was big how big at least 750 square feet big that's around the average size of a one-bedroom apartment in new york city this meant that michael and his group was sitting on some prime yet completely free real estate right in the middle of the mall now i think we can all agree everything is better when it's free free food free parking and obviously free youtube content that's one of the reasons why you're watching this video am i right well if you love free content as much as i enjoy making it be sure to hit those like and subscribe buttons down below now let's get back to providence the hidden space was more perfect than michael could have dreamed and upon seeing how much potential it had the plan suddenly changed they began wondering what a developer would do if they were in their shoes and so they decided to turn the unused space into their own private condo instead of living in the mall for a week now they'd tried to live in the mall indefinitely but the room just wouldn't do in its abandoned state so michael and co got to work clearing it up they hauled out all the debris by filling their backpacks and buckets with all the dirt and grime they could carry dumping it outside without anyone noticing but when they came back in they brought gallons of water tinned food power cords lights blankets silverware everything they needed to slowly start turning the space into a home they set about building a wall out of cinderblocks to hide the naughty nook from anyone else who might be lurking around in the cavernous complex then with a stroke of ingenuity they installed a plain white utility door to conceal the entrance making the entire setup look like any other innocuous storage space from the outside by plugging a series of extension cables into the mall's internal power system they soon had electricity to power all their everyday gadgets clamp lights lit the space up and an old tv hooked up to a playstation provided all the entertainment they needed the only thing they were missing was running water but thanks to the mall's late night movie theater even nighttime trips to the mall's toilet didn't look that suspicious unless they had the guts to waltz over there in their pajamas they decorated the place with items they bought from the mall but they also brought some of their own furnishings as well like that couch and that absolutely huge china cabinet but it wasn't an easy task to access the room every piece of furniture had to ascend this incredibly steep metal ladder michael even filmed one of their attempts to show just how much work getting a single cabinet up the steps really took so imagine the amount of elbow grease these young artists had to use to get that gigantic china cabinet up there i'm getting out of breath just thinking about it but this begs another question how did they manage to sneak all this stuff in without anyone noticing well it turns out that by blending in with the crowds of people visiting the mall they could conceal all their comings and goings pretty easily so much so they actually moved most of their stuff into this place in broad daylight even though they were confident about their concealment they didn't want word about the room to spread so all eight artists made an agreement not to share the space with anyone else i guess that meant the first rule of secret mall condo was you do not talk about secret mall condo and the second rule of secret mall condo was you do not talk about secret mall condo this secret setup was so perfect that people often stayed in the walls of the mall for up to three weeks at a time it was all shared equally with the friends often lending it out to whoever needed it most it was a bit like a real life room of requirement shout out to all the harry potter fans who got that reference they fully expected that the mall cops would eventually find their crafty condo but as the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years security never came knocking after the stealthy setup reached its fourth year of undiscovered glory all eight artists were starting to get quite comfortable so they decided to see if they could actually live in the space full time for a year they began looking at plumbing options which would involve bringing in a huge water tank so they could have a fully working kitchen as well as a flushing toilet michael was even considering installing some stylish hardwood floors but that's ironically when they had the rug pulled out from under them one day in 2007 they returned to the apartment only to discover they'd been well and truly rumbled their utility door had been kicked in and their precious playstation had been stolen along with some of their art and a photo album weirdly though nothing else of value had been taken not the tv not the silverware just the really personal stuff it became stomach churningly clear that this wasn't an ordinary break-in even so they couldn't exactly call the police the mall was private property meaning the cops would probably arrest them for trespassing but the worst part was it was clear someone else knew about the room it looked like someone had broken the first rule of the secret mall condo badly spooked they decided to switch things up they would no longer use the room during the day sneaking in only under the cover of night when their chances of getting caught were much lower they also doubled down on their one and only rule don't talk about secret mall condo or share it with anybody but what's the point of having a super cool hideout if you can't show it off to anyone else unfortunately this is where michael made a huge mistake he was hosting a visiting artist from hong kong called jaffa and desperately wanted to show her the project that turned into a four-year labor of love without thinking he guided her into the mall in the middle of the day and showed her the room michael gave her the full tour and needless to say she was very impressed but then just as they were about to leave the eerie crackle of several walkie-talkies sounded from the other side of the door oh no they'd been found by mall cops michael panicked and tried to think but there was no other way out they were trapped as he opened the door three security guards stormed forward and detained michael on the spot it turned out that two newly hired mall cops had discovered the room and were responsible for the earlier break-in instead of clearing everything out they'd taken personal items so they could try and identify the culprits clearly they'd been stalking the entrance waiting for someone to return on their watch and the foolish decision to visit during the day meant michael's four-year project was about to come to a crashing halt he and jaffa were handed over to the police and arrested for trespassing but after being interrogated jaffa was released without any further action michael on the other hand wasn't so lucky he was sent to criminal court where the mall's owner general growth properties had hired a lawyer who was ready to take michael to the cleaners the prosecution brought out a long list of charges including breaking and entering and felony trespass but as they did they also listed every single item michael's cohort had brought onto the property this included the couch the china hutch the silverware with matching glassware for eight a coffee table the playstation a copy of grand theft auto the lights the list went on as the long list was read out the judge became less concerned with the charges and more impressed by michael's sheer audacity so impressed was he that the judge eventually declared that the creation of the apartment was not a criminal act instead of hard time or a hefty fine he handed michael a misdemeanor for trespassing and sent him on his way this slap on the wrist was nothing short of a miracle somehow michael had lived on and off in the mall for four years and even though he'd been caught it cost him absolutely nothing but it didn't mean he walked away unscathed after vacating the mall security handed michael this slip of paper on it was a map of the mall with a thick red line around the outside indicating michael was no longer allowed to step foot inside the property this was usually handed out to brawlers shoplifters or anyone else caught causing trouble on the premises clearly they thought michael might try to whip up another secret apartment in the walls of the mall maybe they thought he'd try and colonize a corner of macy's or make a fort out of towels in the bed bath and beyond either way michael was banned even now almost 15 years later michael still isn't allowed to step foot near the mall he still lives close by but if he wants to go downtown he can't use the paths lining the river that cut underneath the mall sure it's a small price to pay compared to all the charges he faced but after more than a decade you'd think the mall's owners would be big enough to forgive and forget so michael is taking his punishment on the chin and diligently he hasn't set foot on the property since while michael has been shy about sharing the incredible story of this unique space there's a chance he might not be telling the whole truth i don't know if you've been to a mall recently but almost nothing escapes the ever watchful eyes of mall security they usually check every nook and cranny of buildings like this so being able to build and hide a secret room under their noses without being discovered sounds slightly suspicious surprisingly the rhode island reddit community helped shed some light on this matter some users claim they were friends with the security guards who knew about the apartment but instead of crying to their boss they used it as a glorified break room if they'd managed to strike a deal with michael and his friends turning a blind eye to the room's existence could explain why security sweeps never picked it up although i'm not sure i buy that story either i mean could you picture a typical mall cop struggling through this impossibly narrow entrance and clamoring up that super steep ladder all just to spend a few minutes hanging out in a space that probably had fewer features than their own break room yeah i don't know whether i can believe that but i bet every mall cop who worked there tells the same story what do you think let me know down in the comments thankfully this wasn't the end of michael's story and technically it wasn't the beginning either during the 1990s michael's cohort had constructed several installations like drummer kind all over providence their piece tunnel for instance was set up in an old drainage tunnel that was only accessible through a manhole cover here they put up a bunch of malevolent looking mannequins all uniquely dressed in just one of the artists belongings all along the tunnel mannequins were poised and pinned into position making it look like an elaborate underground spiderweb it was locked up and left for adventurers to discover although i bet it scared the life out of the first person who unwittingly found it as weird as it may look what this means is that there might be more installations like tremorkind and tunnel hidden throughout providence that nobody has discovered yet maybe there's an underground apartment underneath the taco bell could there be a secret rooftop pool in the rhode island hospital what about a tennis court hidden inside a cathedral yeah okay that last one does sound ridiculous but considering there was an apartment hidden inside a mall for four years i guess anything's possible have you ever heard of anyone who managed to sneak into this room when it was still around or do you know of any other cleverly concealed apartments like this one let me know down in the comments below and thanks for watching you

Channel: BE AMAZED

Views: 4,727,446

Keywords: beamazed, be amazed, top 10, secret hidden homes, amazing secret homes, amazing secrets hidden in mall, amazing secrets everyday things, man builds secret house in mall, man secretly lives in the mall, how to secretly live in the mall, man lived in the mall for 4 years

Id: JSd8oLUKjXU

Length: 17min 36sec (1056 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 31 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/youarelookingatthis]

You can read more about it: here

[u/added_chaos]

So much stock footage

[u/passporttohell]

Great story!

I actually did something similar years ago when I worked as a daytime janitor in a high rise that was half built out.

One of the floors was used for storage for office furniture as well as ceiling tiles on pallets.

I would go up there to hang out sometimes and while poking around got an idea.

So I went downstairs, got a pallet jack and went back up to build myself a hidden room.

I stacked full pallets side by side in a square shape and made a narrow two foot wide entrance close up against one of the walls that curved at a 90 degree angle a couple of feet in, then curved again at another 90 degree angle a few feet down from there, creating something of a maze that looked like it went nowhere.

Before I closed off the walls I moved office furniture in, a couch, some end tables, a couple of lounge chairs, some magazines on the table, a couple of lamps that weren't plugged in for 'aesthetics' and otherwise made it look very much like a corporate lobby. Because work loads were so light there many of us took extended breaks all over the floors that weren't built out. This was mine.

I kept this going for several months before it was finally discovered and building management and staff all went on a tour of this 'special place' that I never confessed to, never acknowledged as mine.

Everyone got called up to check the place out, hence the reason I was there when the 'tour' took place.

[u/victorcaulfield]

“Oh this looks interesting”….17minutes long….or not…”

[u/sivadneb]

Umm, what? 1999 was not the "golden era of bellbottom jeans".

[u/brey_elle]

TLDR from an article:

"The group made headlines and captured imaginations worldwide in 2007, when mall security nabbed Townsend in the secret space they had made their home on and off for going on four years.

The 750-square-foot apartment was situated in the belly of the mall, beneath an I-beam and above an unused dusty storage room in the parking garage. It was furnished with a sectional sofa, a love seat, a coffee table, a breakfast table with four chairs, lamps, a throw rug, a hutch for china and paintings. Although the group had bold plans to add plumbing and install wooden floors, the apartment lacked running water, a refrigerator and a toilet.

The group got electricity via a power cord running from the storage closet, but fastidiously slid an envelop containing $20 under the mall manager’s door. It was Townsend, who is fascinated with architecture, who spotted the “dead zone” inside the mall on his jogging route.

He is barred for life from the Providence Place mall after being charged with trespassing."

[u/gh0sti]

I'm more impressed that he was able to live like this for 4 years without being caught.

[u/aqouta]

I find it funny that they refer to it as an art project and not just like, people who want to live rent free.

[u/SadPenisMatinee]

4 years unnoticed seems wild.