MOUNT DESERT — Nancy Ho hasn’t been actively seeking tenants for the commercial building that she and her late husband, Bob, had designed for the vacant lot next to their Kimball Shop Boutique on Main Street in Northeast Harbor. But she isn’t giving up on the project.

“Absolutely not,” she said Tuesday. “I think it’s a good idea. We have plans for the building, and I think they’re viable plans.”

Those plans are for a three-story building with about 6,000 square feet of space for retail shops, professional offices and possibly a restaurant or small bed-and-breakfast inn. The lot was the site of the Joy Building, which was destroyed by fire in July 2008. The Hos bought the lot in 2009.

“Our hope is to create an innovative, robust retail venue … to help restore and revitalize our community,” the couple said in a statement when they announced plans for the building in March 2011.

They said at the time that construction would begin once at least 60 percent of the space was pre-leased. That goal hasn’t been met. Mr. Ho passed away in February, and Ms. Ho said she hasn’t had time to aggressively market the project.

Ms. Ho now co-owns the lot with a sister-in-law who lives in the Boston area. Ms. Ho said their plans for the lot are “up in the air.”

She said they might be open to selling it, but she would like for people to come forward who are interested in leasing space in the building that she and her husband had planned.

“I think it would be exciting,” she said.

The types of tenants that Mr. Ho had envisioned for the building included a café, wine bar, bookstore, spa, hair salon and dentist’s office.

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