SANFORD — When Benjamin Meggs and his wife Sarah contracted with Ken Ray to buy two buildings at Sanford’s Mid-Town Mall on Main Street a year ago, the vacancy rate was hovering at 45 percent.

Fast forward 12 months, and the vacancy rate, Meggs, 44, said on Wednesday, is now at 15 percent. There are some new retail shops and restaurants. A new childcare and learning center has transformed what once was a long vacant nightclub space in the lower level, and a career training school has moved into another space on the lower level.

“We can make this a nice walking mall with offices, retail and restaurants,” said Meggs on Wednesday. “Lets fix it up.”

The Mid-Town Mall was built in 1969 following a spate of urban renewal. While the buildings are privately owned, the city of Sanford owns the parking lot. Once a bustling retail center, the mall has struggled in later years.

Meggs has been busy, turning that around. And, he said, the businesses in the mall do well.

He and his wife Sarah moved to the area a few years ago. Meggs had been a yacht broker in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but the couple’s youngest child is now 9 and they were looking to move to “small town America,” he said.

“I love this community, there are so many wonderful people here, and they’re not pretentious,” he said. “We decided to make a life change.”

Now, he’s in the process of purchasing the remaining building in the downtown mall, as well as the former bank building at the corner of Washington and Main streets known as the Trust Building, and some associated storefronts. He said he’s entered into a three-year agreement with an LLC owned by Massachusetts developer Peter Chen to purchase the properties and has taken over operations.

The Trust Building was constructed in 1915. Inside, in the first floor coffee shop, Meggs opened what looked like a closet door. Looking up four floors, one can see the tops of the engraved columns — a small glimpse at some of the more elegant touches to the former bank building.

Meggs is looking for a renaissance of Sanford’s downtown district and so are city economic development leaders.

Part of that will come with an application by the city to the Department of Economic and Community Development for a $300,000 Downtown Revitalization Grant. Meggs has pledged the required $75,000 developer match.

If funded, the grant would help spruce up the city-owned parking lot and more. Meggs has sketched out a walkway to the Sullivan steps leading to the lower level and improvements, like new lighting, tree plantings and other touches. As well, he is looking for better pedestrian access from St. Ignatius Street, and to make the area more attractive and user-friendly.

“I think its great there’s new interest in the mall,” said Ian Houseal, the city’s director of Community Development. “It’s great to have him there.”

“He is a bright and enthusiastic guy and so I was real pleased to watch him begin to invest in Sanford’s downtown,” said Sanford Regional Economic Growth Council Director James Nimon, who met Meggs a couple of years ago.

Sprucing up the Mid-Town Mall is part of a larger look at downtown revitalization.

With the exception of the mall, Sanford’s Main Street core — loosely defined from the intersection of Route 109 to Roberts Street, is made up of offices and a handful of retail merchants — a florist, hair salons, a jewelry store, coffee shop, a second-hand appliance dealer, a senior maker space and some others.

“Commercial growth downtown has not kept up with the rest of the city,” said Nimon, of the growth council. A year ago, the City Council asked staff to address Main Street and the rest of the downtown core. Some areas that have been talked about are improvements to the major thoroughfares, to the public parking lots like the Mid-Town Mall, the School Street lot, the Mill District and so on; better public parking management, business improvement revolving funds, improved signage and more.

“The growth council is working with downtown property owners and city officials to determine how best to harness this new owner energy and commitment of others into a public-private partnership that results in the economic vibrancy that all stakeholders desire,” said Nimon in an email.

As to the Mid-Town Mall, stay tuned. With the increased occupancy creating more commerce, Meggs plans to rebrand the mall as The Sanford City Center and is eyeing a spring time frame for the change.

He said he’s explored the demographics, and determined that the mall space should appeal to local retailers and restaurants owners.

It’s that small town America thing.

“Local business six times better for the area,” he said.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 780-9016 or twells@journaltribune.com.

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