At a time when many businesses are just hanging on, David Flood and Caleb Johnson are offering downtown Biddeford a Thread.

Thread is the name of their real estate renovation and development company, which just wrapped up its first purchase – a vacant century-old, three-story brick building on Main Street that they hope will become the centerpiece of the downtown's revitalization.

Flood and Johnson bought the building at 265 Main St., which was in foreclosure, for $275,000.

The building at Main and Jefferson streets has huge windows, vast open rooms, tin ceilings on the first floor, wood floors and, the partners believe, a lot of potential.

"This has always been my favorite building on Main Street," said Johnson, an architect who plans to move his office onto the second floor this summer, about the time he hopes to see tenants moving in.

Flood and Johnson said they will bring a "shopping center mentality" to the property. That means taking into account the other businesses along the street and around them in downtown Biddeford. Just as a shopping center wouldn't put shoe stores next to each other, the partners will try to stir up a mix of businesses in their space.

The first floor will offer retail space, the second floor will provide studios for artists, and the third floor will be a mix of living and work space, they said.

If they don't think a business is right for their building, they will have no problem steering it to a building owned by someone else, said Flood, a former newspaper publisher who ran for mayor in Biddeford last year.

"If a building is empty right now and it's owned by someone else, I would want it filled because then it's going to be easier for me to get tenants," he said. The idea is "to create a community of businesses that work together" along a stretch that now has vacant storefronts.

Johnson and Flood said they have found some information on the history of the building, which went by the name Deering Block when it opened in the late 1800s.

The records, Johnson said, suggest that it was originally home to grocery and dry goods stores. It has also housed a hardware store and a smoke shop.

The new owners are intrigued by two rooms in the rear that are accessible only from the outside. The rooms will be opened up to the interior as part of the renovation.

Johnson said the renovation won't be extensive. He will try to hang on to features that are attractive, like arched doorways, make the space more accessible and upgrade the heating, electrical and plumbing systems.

Tenants, particularly in the first-floor retail space, will get an open area that they can configure as they want, he said.

They plan to offer lease rates below "Portland rents," they said, but the exact numbers depend on how the floors are finally configured.

Next door, Craig Cote, the owner of Jonesy's Main Street Cafe, is happy that the building has new owners – and not just because it means avoiding a repeat of last year, when the vacant building's pipes froze and water poured into his basement.

"Filling all the stores would be great," said Cote, who likes the idea of more downtown tenants.

He said he remembers when Biddeford's sidewalks were busy, "and it's certainly not that way now."

Daniel Stevenson, Biddeford's new economic development director, sees the private investment as a positive force, especially when coupled with investments being made to renovate mills and create living and working space elsewhere downtown.

"You do achieve a multiplier effect" with the investments because they can ripple through the economy, he said.

Having professionals and artists downtown also would help, he said, especially since many Main Street apartments are occupied by low-income residents.

"It's not just mixed use. You want mixed income in your downtown as well," Stevenson said. "Downtown is a lifeblood of a community, and mixed use and mixed income and mixed housing all add value."

Johnson and Flood said Thread won't stop with one building and noted that they have begun negotiations on another structure downtown.

They said the name of the development company is a nod to Biddeford's legacy of textile manufacturing and suggests a common thread running through downtown businesses and property owners, who are looking to see the area turn around.

"We're going into this project to make a buzz," Johnson said, "and we plan to keep on going."

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at: emurphy@pressherald.com