LINCOLN – Hoping to ride what is, for Lincoln, a groundswell of new businesses and economic development, town officials have hired a Bangor realty company to market and sell the Main Street property devastated by an arson fire four years ago.

Maine Commercial Realty will get $15,000 in federal Rural Business Enterprise Grant money to start marketing the half-acre property of the three-level Lake Mall once owned by Robert Enochs and another building once owned by Eugene Ayer, which housed three businesses.

The arson fire of Jan. 20, 2001, claimed about 22,800 square feet of retail and office space of the property. Local officials estimate replacement costs alone to be more than $858,000.

The Town Council voted 5-0 Monday night to do the deal with Maine Commercial Realty. If the company sells the land, which is valued at $115,000, it will get an additional 10 percent commission.

“The timing is more appropriate right now for us to sell that parcel,” Town Manager Glenn Aho said Tuesday. “Our business climate has changed 180 degrees from 15 months ago when the mill was closed. It [the mill] is operational again, tissue is coming off the lines, property sales still abound and we have a lot of new businesses coming into town or expanding within town.”

The Lincoln Paper and Tissue Co. closed its first fiscal year operationally in the black in December after rehiring about 350 workers when it reopened in June 2004. The company was born after investors completed their purchase of the abandoned Eastern Pulp and Paper Co. for $23.7 million in May 2004. Bankrupt since September 2000, Eastern Pulp devastated the town’s economy by laying off 750 people when it abruptly shut down last year.

The mill’s rebirth keys a series of much smaller business startups and expansions that, while tiny for other, larger municipalities, bode well for a rural community such as Lincoln, especially when coupled with an increase in water and sewer permit applications that usually signal new housing starts, said Ruth Birtz, the town’s economic development assistant and tax assessor.

“We have had many new business startups and expansions between November and April that we usually see from May to October,” Birtz said. “This is much better than average for us.

“This is just the beginning of the real, real estate business season for us,” she added. “It looks like it will remain steady for us in the summer for commercial [economic development], but in new housing and cottage development, I’m thinking that we’re going to see a big increase.”

Among the new or expanded businesses in town since November or slated to open soon:

. Paul Ericson’s Uechi Ryu Karate, 60 W. Broadway.

. Maine Cooking Woods, LLC, 42 Main St.

. Linkin Donuts, 236 W. Broadway.

. Robinson’s Equipment, 564 W. Broadway.

. Extreme Hobbies R/C, 407 Transalpine Road.

. Dawson’s Family Fitness, 310 Main St.

. After Hours Auto Sales, 742 Mohawk Road.

. Hartford Plumbing and Heating, 33 River Road.

Aho didn’t want to speculate as to what kind of business Maine Commercial Realty might draw to Lincoln.

“They have a lot of commercial and chain tenants, but I will let them do their work,” he said.