BIDDEFORD — Two new projects that would add more than 120 new residential units in the mill district are in the works. On Tuesday, the city council approved financing programs that will allow the projects to move forward.

“This is an exciting day for Biddeford,” said Councilor David Bourque.

If the proposals go forward as planned, they will generate new property tax revenue, increase economic activity in the downtown, create construction and other jobs, preserve the mill district’s historic architecture and reduce suburban sprawl, said Economic Development Director Daniel Stevenson.

Both projects are backed by developers who have completed other housing projects in Biddeford.

The Laconia House LP is being proposed in one of the Pepperell Mill Campus buildings. Scott Joslin ”“ who has worked closely with Doug Sanford, owner of the Pepperell Mill Campus and North Dam Mill, in developing housing units in North Dam Mill ”“ presented the project to the council.

The Laconia project would consist of 43 workforce or affordable housing units, a combination of one- and two-bedroom residences. Households that would be eligible for these units must earn no more than 50 to 60 percent of the area median wage.

The project, which was approved by the planning board last year, would use historic tax credits, said Joslin. The developers are also applying for affordable tax credits through MaineHousing, the Maine State Housing Authority.

The Lofts at Saco Falls is being developed by The Szanton Company, of which Nathan Szanton is the principal, in conjunction with Robert Monks, of Monks O’Neil Development. Szanton’s company also developed the Mill at Saco Falls, which contains 66 units. The Lofts at Saco Falls, like the Mill at Saco Falls, would be in one of the Riverdam Mill buildings

The Szanton Company plans to construct a 78-unit residential complex, a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments with both affordable housing and market-rate units.

The developers of both projects appeared before the council to request the designation of new Tax Increment Financing districts for each of their respective projects. While both properties were already in the TIF district that encompasses the mills and a portion of Route 111, developers said they needed the projects to be in different districts to allow them to receive credit enhancement funds.

This would allow a portion of the tax from the new assessed value of the projects to be returned to the developers to be invested in the projects.

The Laconia House project requested 50 percent of the taxes for the new assessed value to be used for the project, for 16 years, with the other 50 percent to go to the city’s general fund. After the TIF expires, all of the taxes would go to the city.

Stevenson said currently the property where the proposed project would be built generates just under $5,200 in tax revenue. When the project is completed, it will generate nearly $93,000 in new tax revenue.

The building where the Lofts at Saco Falls would be built, if approved, currently generates less than $10,000 in property tax, said Stevenson. If the project were approved and improvements completed, the new tax revenue would be more than $114,000.

In addition, he said, the value of TIFs is that they allow a community to shelter the new tax value in the district so it is not counted toward the state valuation of the city. The higher the valuation of a community, the less it receives in state revenue sharing and in education subsidies.

The Lofts at Saco Falls also requested a TIF. Szanton requested a credit enhancement TIF to last for 30 years. For the first 15 years, the developers would receive 75 percent of the newly generated taxes, and that amount would decrease by 4 percent each year until the end of the 30 years.

While some councilors objected to the high percentage the developers requested and the length of the TIF, Szanton said the project was untenable without it.

He said he was asking for what was necessary to complete the project.

Without the TIF, said Szanton, “we go away.”

Patrick Tinsman said with this project the rest of Riverdam Mill could be redeveloped.

Tinsman, who works with Stephen Goodrich, the owner of that mill complex, said that with the redevelopment of that project, and since Maine Energy Recovery Company waste-to-energy incinerator is in the process of being taken down, he has fielded a number of requests from other investors interested in placing a restaurant or brew pub in the mill.

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