SANFORD — A New Hampshire development company ”“ whose name is synonymous with mill conversions ”“ wants to transform the mill at 72 Emery St. into upwards of 140 apartments on the upper floors with commercial space on the lower level, a town council member said Tuesday.

Brady Sullivan Properties of Manchester, N.H., whose portfolio contains more than three million square feet of mill, office and industrial space, will appear before the Planning Board in a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The Planning Board will decide whether the conversion is consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan, a first step in the process toward a contract zone.

The conversion project, called The Lofts at Number Four, as the property was once called the Number Four Mill, is expected to cost between $10 million and $12 million, Councilor Bradford Littlefield told the council Tuesday.

“This is great news for us,” said Littlefield.

Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council Chairman Robert Hardison said Brady Sullivan Properties has entered into a purchase and sale agreement with mill owner Eric Stone and has an 18-month construction schedule for 120 to 142 workforce apartments. Brady Sullivan Properties manages their properties onsite, Hardison noted.

He pointed out that the project is financed privately, along with the use of historic tax credits.

“It is the first private investment” in the millyard, Hardison said.

And, Hardison said, housing is a significant component of redeveloping the community’s old textile mills.

“It will never be back as manufacturing,” said Hardison of Sanford’s one million square feet of space spread over several vast buildings in the historic millyard.

The conversion of the mill at 72 Emery St. would be Brady Sullivan Properties’ first foray into Maine. Established in 1992, the company has undertaken a number of mill conversions in New England, including the old Jefferson Mill and Waumbec Mill in Manchester, N.H. Slater Cotton Mill in Pawtucket, R.I., and the Great Mill in Providence, R.I., among others. In Hooksett, N.H., Brady Sullivan Properties converted a former college, Mount St. Mary’s, into residential spaces. The company owns properties in other New England states and in Florida.

Hardison said company officials, who couldn’t be reached by press time this morning, have said they like to build about 500 units annually. Sanford would be their first location in Maine, but is unlikely to be their last, he said.

While the Emery Street mill would be apartments, Brady Sullivan Properties is also a developer of condominium units.

Stone, of Greenland, N.H., purchased the mill at 72 Emery St. in 2004 and over the years a number of tenants, mostly industrial, have leased space in the 278,000 square foot mill, built in 1919 as part of the Goodall Textile complex.

Both Littlefield and Hardison have said that company officials have told them one reason they chose Sanford for the project was the new roadway that opens up the millyard. The roadway was built with grant money, tax increment financing dollars and pledges of labor and donations, in an effort to help attract developers.

Some locals had been skeptical of its merits, but Littlefield said the roadway opens up the millyard and may be seen as a demonstration of commitment by the town to mill development.

He said the project will enhance the millyard and downtown area.

“I’m excited about it,” Littlefield said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.