BY RICHARD LEE
Hearst Connecticut Media
The owner of a retail center that is a mainstay for a Greenwich neighborhood and nearby New York residents said he is working hard to sign an anchor store.
Greenwich businessman Guy Sutton, owner of Sutton Properties, has been overseeing the reconstruction of North Street Shopping Center in the Banksville section of town with the goal of luring an anchor tenant to replace an IGA store that closed about four years ago.
“We”™re actively looking for an anchor tenant. We”™d like to find a food provider, but we have to have an open mind,” said Sutton, whose family has owned the shopping center, which measures about 20,000 square feet, for nearly four decades. “Once it”™s done, it will fill up.”
Commenting that the retail center was built about 60 years ago, Sutton said replacement of the facades, windows, roofs and the parking lot are all part of the project and much of it is well underway.
“We”™ve done substantial work. We hope to have the exterior renovations done by the end of November, and the lot will be repaved,” he said. “It will look like new. I like improving real estate. It”™s a job I enjoy.”
Tenants have been patiently waiting for the work to be finished, including Robyn Criscuolo, co-owner of Banksville Pizza with her husband, Alfonso.
“I think it (the reconstruction) is fabulous. It”™s happening slowly but surely. We”™ve been here almost 19 years,” said Criscuolo, a Banksville resident who is looking forward to the signing of a new anchor tenant to replace departed IGA. “We wish for a grocery store. That”™s what everyone in town wants.”
In a four-page brochure devised to market the property, Sutton is offering a 6,500- to 10,000-square-foot space for an anchor store. Having an anchor tenant will improve business at the center, which is occupied by an art gallery, a dry cleaner, computer store, kitchen business, tile store, a caterer, a Chase Bank branch and a pharmacy.
Criscuolo isn”™t the only one at the retail center who hopes that Sutton lands an anchor tenant, preferably a grocer.
“We want our grocery back. People in town do, too. At least two dozen people come in a day and ask when it (an anchor tenant) is going to happen,” said Sean Moore, a technician who has worked seven years at North Street Pharmacy. “We”™re the grocery store for now.”
The pharmacy offers eggs, milk and beverages in a cooler, along with snacks and household products.
The North Street Shopping Center is a destination for the entire area, said Sutton, confident that shoppers and prospective tenants will be impressed by his efforts.
“We”™ve got momentum now. We”™re doing a complete makeover,” he said. “We have three small storefronts that are vacant. We”™ve made a big commitment financially. Everyone will do a lot better when we have an anchor tenant.”
The revitalized retail center should benefit not only nearby residents, but also visitors to the area, said Marcia O”™Kane, executive director of the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce.
“That specific area in northern Greenwich sees a lot of activity ”” people going to Grand Slam for tennis, to LaCremailliere to dine or to the polo fields ”” but it has been underserved by not having enough shopping options,” she said. “Folks not only from Greenwich but from surrounding towns such as Stamford and Armonk frequent that specific area and could benefit from having more accessible local stores. The completion of this shopping mall should definitely help fill the gap.”
Hearst Connecticut Media includes four daily newspapers: Connecticut Post, Greenwich Time, The Advocate (Stamford) and The News Times (Danbury.) See greenwichtime.com for more from this reporter.
