By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — It might be the longest-vacant storefront in town, but 58 Saugatuck Ave. recently had a face lift and appears ready to rent.

Could the long-disused storefront finally be ready for its close up?

The 306-square-foot retail space, recessed in a steep hill in the heart of Saugatuck, was built 101 years ago. It has sat vacant about three decades, last being home to a catering operation, Cabbages and Kings.

Recently, it’s been renovated, including interior work, a new set of windows, and the century-old bricks getting a modern-looking coat of white paint, matching the three abutting houses also being overhauled by the developer, Daniel Riccio (58 Saugatuck, and 1 and 3 Sunrise Road).

There is a narrow sidewalk between its front door and a very busy state road, and no parking. Clear challenges.

But what’s it got going for it, in real estate terms?

“Location and the amount of cars and traffic” passing by, Riccio said.

He noted a Westport address is valuable in itself, and also in the world of search engines and their algorithms.

Anyone who’s driven by the site — and many do, being on a busy state road — knows it’s short on frontage.

“It has a true Westport address,” Ricco said. “You can’t reproduce that with a PO Box.” That’s important in today’s digital age, he said, and will organically perform well.

He said the spot might be good for an attorney, and that he’s had inquiries about other entities, including an art gallery.

The space includes a small bathroom, or a “powder room,” Riccio said.

Riccio’s redevelopment of three properties in the heart of Saugatuck has been ongoing for months.

The retail site has an existing zoning approval. But the rebuilt houses at 58 Saugatuck Ave. and 1 and 3 Sunrise Road need Zoning Board of Appeals approval for a reconfigured parking area and driveway plan, and for a patio within a setback.

The Zoning Board of Appeals will discuss those issues at its online meeting  at 6 p.m. Tuesday,

The storefront, modest as it is, has a long history. Town directories at the Westport Library don’t have much information about tenants before 1940, but after that show it was home to a florist, a package store (aka liquor store), and in the groovy ’60s, a ceramics studio, and then in the ’80s and ’90s, catering operations.

Gloria Gouveia of Land Use Consultants, who represents Riccio in his application, said the storefront was owned over the years by three different members of the DeMeo family, and in its early years also was a barber shop.

A century ago, traffic wasn’t what it is today, so parking issues weren’t what they are now. And, Gouveia said, when the state cut Saugatuck in half with construction of the Connecticut Turnpike (Interstate 95) in the 1950s, “The thruway was notorious for abbreviating all the frontages along Saugatuck Avenue.”

Gouveia said that when the houses were built, Saugatuck was a poor area of town, and few people had cars. Parking wasn’t such an issue.

The DeMeo family owned the properties Riccio has rehabbed. Back in the day, nearby neighbors included other old Saugatuck families — the Gilberties, Lucianos, Romanos, Valiantes. And right across the street from 58 Saugatuck, the Nisticos opened their family restaurant at the triangular corner of Franklin Street — The Arrow.

Thane Grauel grew up in Westport and has been a journalist in Fairfield County and beyond for 35 years. Reach him at editor@westportjournal.com. Learn more about us here.