BIDDEFORD — For the most part, 3 Lincoln St. ”“ formerly the site of the Maine Energy Recovery Company’s trash incinerator, which was purchased by the city for $6.7 million in 2012 and torn down shortly thereafter ”“ is currently not much more than a dusty slab of concrete.

The site ”“ flanked on every side by metal fencing and signs warning pedestrians, “Danger Construction Area Keep Out” ”“ is dotted with a few waist-high piles of rubble and patches of overgrown vegetation.

The only thing on the 8.5-acre property that stands higher than one story is a large, gray smokestack, which is situated about 950 feet east of Lincoln Street, near the banks of the Saco River, and now serves as a cell tower. But that is slated to change in a big way in the coming years.

“We can get anywhere from five or six buildings on that (property), upwards of five stories high,” Daniel Stevenson, the city’s economic and community development director, said Wednesday.

Stevenson said last summer, the city agreed to pay Camoin Associates about $100,000 to determine the best use for the property based on Biddeford’s location and demographics, market trends, and even factors that emerged in the past year ”“ such as Kennebunkport developer Tim Harrington’s decision to turn the Lincoln Mill, at 17 Lincoln St., into a hotel and apartment complex. The city also established the 3 Lincoln St. Steering Committee to work with Camoin along the way.

“We started with seven different scenarios of build out,” said Stevenson. “We have to narrow it down to one.”

In the coming weeks, Camoin’s work will essentially come to an end, he said, and although there are technically three development scenarios still standing, a mixed-use, phased development approach is what the city will be pursuing for the site.

“It makes sense by the numbers,” Stevenson said of the approach, which will essentially fill the property with a mix of commercial, retail and housing space over an extended period of time. “It also makes sense because it’s how the mill district is growing right now.”

Stevenson stressed that maintaining patience will also be key in developing the site to ensure that the development is carried out in an intelligent way.

“It’s a matter of asking, how do we responsibly develop this property and plan for future generations?” he said. “We do not anticipate selling it to someone just to put something on it. What we anticipate is a phased approach over three phases.”

Stevenson, as well as Christine Ohman, grant writer and special projects coordinator for the city, also said this relatively slow, careful approach to developing 3 Lincoln St. will guarantee the development of the city’s mill district is not halted.

After all, Stevenson indicated that “without even putting a shovel in the ground” at 3 Lincoln St., the city is seeing economic growth to the tune of 38 percent absorption, or filling of space, in the mill district.

“We are filling a lot of the space in our existing mills very rapidly,” said Stevenson. “We want that to continue to happen. We’ll still market the site, but it’s important to be patient.”

“The whole purpose of that site is not to cannibalize what’s going on in the mill district,” added Ohman. “It’s to provide a different kind of commercialization opportunity in Biddeford.”

In other words, the property will be appealing to somebody who wants or needs a newly constructed space, such as a life sciences company that has technological needs prohibiting them from operating out of a historic mill building, she said.

In an email Friday, Mayor Alan Casavant expressed optimism over what newly constructed buildings will bring to the city’s downtown.

“With Biddeford’s architecturally significant mill buildings … creating a new development on the old Maine Energy lot provides an opportunity to beautifully blend the old and the new,” he said, adding that he hopes the project will make Biddeford a destination point for more individuals and businesses.

Additionally, plans for 3 Lincoln St. are not simply to put buildings on it.

Stevenson said the city is looking into bringing the currently battered Pearl Street, which runs along the south side of the property, up to city standards, paving and adding a sidewalk to it. With $240,000 in EPA funding, he said the city will also make a triangular parcel of land on the southeastern edge of the property part of the Biddeford RiverWalk.

“It makes it a lot more interesting to a developer,” Ohman said of the small park.

Whether it sits beside Lincoln Street or is squeezed between buildings, Stevenson and Ohman said another important feature of the developed site will be a parking garage.

Stevenson said a parking garage must be included “to accommodate the growth on that site.”

“It has to provide its own parking,” Ohman added.

On July 16, residents will have the opportunity to weigh in on the development plans for 3 Lincoln St. at an informational meeting at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

The meeting will allow the public to “come in, walk around, talk with us, learn about the project, ask questions,” said Ohman. “What we decide now and what the community decides now has far-reaching impact.”

“This is Biddeford’s most-recognized piece of real estate in the downtown,” said Stevenson. “It’s important that the public comes in, can ask questions, see what’s being done and provide input.”

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