By David Harry

Staff Writer

It takes a strong set of legs to keep up with developer Doug Sanford as he walks around Biddeford’s North Dam Mill.

His steps cover five floors and three buildings, all as he greets business owners and tenants in the 380,000-square-foot North Dam Mill along the Saco River.

Encompassing Biddeford’s industrial past, the residential and commercial uses of the mill are what Biddeford officials City Manager John Bubier and planner Greg Tansley envision for the future of the mill district.

“This is the fifth, or sixth or eighth transformation,” Bubier said of changes on the waterfront that span about 300 years. The latest change culminates with the expected closure of WestPoint Home on Aug. 22.

With the closure, Biddeford joins other national, New England and York County towns confronting how to preserve and reuse their industrial pasts. 

The Mill District Master Plan developed by Biddeford officials and the architects Crosby, Schlessinger and Smallridge at a cost of almost $60,000 looks to Lowell, Mass., Minneapolis and Baltimore for inspiration as it details the ways a district bounded by Main, York, Lincoln and Elm streets and the Saco River can thrive in the future. 

Developers Greg Bennett and Nathan Szanton say the work requires a collaboration between the public and private sectors, while Sanford bubbles over with his vision of integrating residential and commercial interests to draw startup businesses, students and workers to easily converted working and living spaces.

Sanford has been transforming North Dam Mill, adjacent to the Main Street bridge, for the last five years after buying the building from Sunbeam Corp.

Bennett and his business partner, Chris Betjemann, bought the former Lincoln Mill in January 2008 and have 38 commercial tenants in the five-story building on Lincoln Street.

Szanton and his business partner, Robert C. S. Monks, expect to close next month on the purchase of 80,000 square feet of the 380,000-square-foot Riverdam from Steve Goodrich.

With those buildings occupied or on their way to it, Bubier said he is optimistic about the future of the 713,000-square-foot WestPoint Home space.

“This is not going to be a major difficulty to do conversions,” Bubier said.

The 38-acre mill district, including Saco Island, was added last December to the National Register of Historic Places, administered by the U.S. National Parks Service. 

The Maine Historic Preservation Committee, comprised of 11 members, refers applications for the register to the parks service. The commission Web site details how state and federal tax credits totaling 45 percent of the redevelopment cost are available if the work conforms to guidelines and preserves the historic integrity of the site.

“This could not get done without the tax credits,” Szanton said.

The Riverdam project, just upstream from North Dam Mill on the Saco River, is his first full renovation of a historic building, Szanton said. He has built apartment buildings such as One Walker Place in Portland and added four floors to an old garage to create Casco Terrace, also in Portland.

His business partner, Cape Elizabeth-based developer Robert C. S. Monks, is a partner in a variety of investment companies, including Northland Enterprises, which plans a $12.5-million conversion of World War I-era Sanford Mill using tax credits.

Szanton said the $9.5-million renovation, to be called The Mill at Saco Falls, will create 33 one-bedroom, 25 two-bedroom and eight three-bedroom apartments. Some will be available specifically for renters who earn 50 percent of the area median income and have monthly rents that start at around $550.

Regular rents will start at around $800 per month, Szanton said.  Sanford said he has taken on the conversion of North Dam Mill largely on his own, based on integrating living and working spaces in clusters throughout the buildings. 

Sanford said he began with a cabinet-making venture and then began luring startup businesses as renters. Rents are competitive and businesses have been able to swap services for rent as well, he said.

With three buildings, Sanford said he has been able to group artistic ventures, heavier manufacturing and white-collar consulting or social service agencies in common areas of the complex. 

The clusters encourage interaction, Sanford said, noting how Tim Hewitt, owner of myOstrich Golf, and Dee Weaver, owner of Sweet Specialist, collaborated when she baked white chocolate, golf ball-shaped cookies for Hewitt to distribute at his display at the Doral Open golf tournament in Florida this year.

The Riverdam and North Dam mills are common in their features of elongated rooms that can be easily segmented. The ability to customize is important when attracting renters, Sanford said.

“It’s all about people creating their different pieces of space,” he said.

Sanford declined to comment on the cost of renovation work except to say Sunbeam had cleaned up environmental hazards from the site, making it ready for tenants immediately.

At what will become The Mill at Saco Falls, removing lead paint and asbestos, and covering soil contaminated with polychloride biphenyls, or PCBs, will cost about $280,000, Szanton said. By contrast, environmental cleanup of Sanford Mill is estimated to cost $700,000.

Because Sanford Mill is currently a town-owned property, federal grants from the Environmental Protection Agency are available to help pay for the cleanup.

Filling the apartments on the upper floors of North Dam Mill is also critical, Sanford said, and he offers amenities including electric heat and Internet and cable service as part of the rent.

Szanton said renters at The Mill at Saco Falls will have wireless Internet service included with the rent and be able to enjoy a fitness center and a private screening room for gatherings.

Bennett declined to comment on future plans for Lincoln Mill, but said he was excited to be part of redevelopment in the area.

“I believe this is where urban areas are going,” Bennett said. “The city of Biddeford enjoys the same vision as many of us business owners.” 

The mill district master plan, which is available for view at www.biddefordmaine.org, details plans for a parking garage in the space between Lincoln Mill and Westpoint Home to help lure shoppers and residents. It is part of selling Biddeford’s location in conjunction with what the mills offer, Bubier said.

“I think the market place is Portsmouth, Lowell and Lawrence because the rents are half the price of those towns,” Bubier said. Having the Maine Turnpike and Amtrak Downeaster close by are additional selling points that promote the convenience of the city.

Szanton said the river is also a selling point. Once used to power the mills, it is now the foacl point of views in converted apartments.

In October, a national conference called Railvolution will be held in Boston. The conference, which promotes railroad travel, will offer a side trip to Biddeford and Saco for the architects and designers, Bubier said.

“It is hard for me to see this as a negative if you can see the rebirth process,” Bubier said.

Staff writer David Harry can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 219