A project to turn a Sanford mill building into apartments is underway, with the developer planning to welcome the first tenants this fall.

Chinburg Properties is redeveloping the Jagger Mill, located at 5 Water St. in the village of Springvale, into an 86-unit apartment complex.

The complex will contain market-rate housing, with studio apartments expected to rent for around $1,500 and the largest two-bedrooms topping out at about $3,000 per month, said Paul Goodwin, director of commercial development at Chinburg Properties.

Onsite amenities will include bike storage, laundry facilities, a fitness center and a club room, Goodwin said.

Keith McBride, executive director of the Sanford Regional Economic Council, said the project is another important step forward for the city’s revitalization efforts amid a national housing crisis.

“Sanford has been very proactive in investing in things like infrastructure, our schools, but if companies can’t find places for their employees to live, it’s very hard to convince them to bring those businesses and relocate to these communities,” McBride said.

For years, Sanford has been facing the complex question of what to do with its several abandoned mill buildings, especially those that have fallen into disrepair over the years.

But the Jagger Mill was in use until 2024, leaving the building in perfect shape for redevelopment, McBride said.

Goodwin said the Jagger Brothers Company, which had owned and operated the mill since 1956, produced its “Jagger-Spun” yarn in the building right up until the keys were handed off to Chinburg Properties.

“It has great bones,” Goodwin said.

Honoring that history is important to the developers, Goodwin said, which is why the apartment building will continue to carry the Jagger name.

Chinburg Properties anticipates that the leasing process will begin this summer.