BIDDEFORD — Pepperell Mill Campus owner Doug Sanford is looking forward to  the future development of his mill holdings. In order to provide the greatest ability for development of his property, he is planning to subdivide the property, which includes North Dam Mill and the former WestPoint Homes, totaling approximately 17 acres and more than 1 million square feet of available building space.

“We need flexibility with this, with tenants and financing,” said Sanford, as the reason behind the plan to subdivide.

Through this subdivision and plans for increased parking in Biddeford, Sanford believes he can attract more tenants and more jobs to the city.

On Wednesday, Sanford’s associate, Scott Joslin, presented a conceptual plan for the subdivision to the planning board. It calls for subdividing the current five lots into 17 separate lots, following the natural division of the buildings, which are interconnected.

The plans would subdivide the property into 16 separate buildings and a separate lot for the open land. By keeping the land separate, Sanford said, it will be easier to allocate parking for the needs of different tenants.

By subdividing the property, he said, it’s easier to sell buildings if a new business coming to the area or another developer wanted to own rather than rent.

In addition, it allows for different types of financing to pay for redevelopment. For instance, he said, some may utilize historic tax credits to finance building improvements while others would not.

According to City Planner Greg Tansley, Sanford could sell the property without having to come back before the board, however, most new projects with new uses would most likely come before the planning board to seek approval for those site plans.

Sanford initially purchased a portion of WestPoint Home, which was owned by Sunbeam, in 2004 and created the North Dam Mill. After WestPoint closed in 2009, Sanford purchased the remainder of that property in 2010 and created the Pepperell Mill Campus.

There are 55 renovated and leased apartment units within the complex, as well as approximately 140,000 square feet of leased space containing offices, light manufacturing, retail and warehouses. An estimated 700,000 square feet of space is available for a variety of uses.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.