By ANGELO J. VERZONI

Staff Writer

BIDDEFORD — As of now, not much can be gleaned from peering into the windows of the Lincoln Mill from the sidewalk on Lincoln Street. The windows ”“ some splintered with cracks ”“ reveal little more than a dark interior.

But there’s certainly more going on there than meets the passerby’s eye. Tim Harrington of Kennebunkport-based Atlantic Holdings LLC, which purchased the mill in January, can tell you that.

“It’s really pretty spectacular,” Harrington said last Friday, estimating that construction crews have already completed more than 60 percent of the sandblasting that needs to be done inside the mill. “The building is now vacant. ”¦ We’re in construction now.”

Atlantic Holdings unveiled plans late last year to add an 81-room hotel, 96 rental units and two restaurants to the Lincoln Mill, and the $50 million project was hailed by many as the crowning accomplishment of Biddeford’s long-sought downtown revitalization. Harrington added that construction will mainly take place inside of the mill, thereby preserving the building’s “historic shell.”

Last Tuesday Mayor Alan Casavant said in a written statement that the city has also received “a large matching grant” to rebuild Lincoln Street, which runs for about 450 feet along the western side of the Lincoln Mill. “The project will include the burying of the unsightly power lines that adorn the roadway, as well as new sidewalks and curbing,” he said.

Daniel Stevenson, the city’s economic and community development director, said last Wednesday that he expects to “see a lot more construction activity” at the Lincoln Mill as the summer progresses. But that’s not the only development folks in downtown Biddeford can expect to see this summer, he said.

Plans for the former Maine Energy Recovery Company site, at 3 Lincoln St., which the city purchased in 2012, will soon evolve, said Stevenson. Most recently, Yarmouth-based architecture firm MRLD LLC drafted a memo that outlines three development scenarios for city officials to consider for the property, which sits about 400 feet north of the Lincoln Mill.

“They’re just basic blocks we’re going to be discussing,” Stevenson said of the buildout options. The memo, which is dated June 20, lists filling the property with office buildings, multi-family housing units, or a mix of housing, offices and retail space as the three recommended development scenarios.

Stevenson said in the next few weeks, Camoin Associates, which the city contracted last summer, will work toward completing a more comprehensive study to determine the best use for the property.

Nearly 1,000 feet east of Lincoln Street and the Lincoln Mill, toward the Saco River, developer Nathan Szanton is about to break ground on another project ”“ the Lofts at Saco Falls ”“ in the Riverdam Mill complex. In his statement, Casavant said the $15 million housing project is slated to begin in July.

“You’ll see a lot of construction activity starting up this summer,” Stevenson said of the Lofts project.

Similarly, Chief Operating Officer and General Manager for the Pepperell Mill Campus Scott Joslin said in an email last Thursday that 19 market-rate apartments in the North Dam Mill, which already houses a throng of businesses, have recently been completed and will see their first tenants this week.

Joslin said the apartments ”“ half of them two-story town houses ”“ have “gorgeous views of the Saco River Falls,” and all have been pre-leased, with tenants moving in Wednesday.

When asked about future Pepperell Mill development projects, Joslin said plans for the addition of 71 affordable senior housing units to Building 11 of the mill, which sits about 200 feet north of the corner of York and Laconia streets, are currently before the Planning Board. At a meeting on June 3, the board gave its unanimous approval to the preliminary site plan for the project, which replaces the previously approved Laconia House project.

But Joslin said this project is a little further out than others, with construction expected to start next summer.

— Staff Writer Angelo J. Verzoni can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].