By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Brooks Corner, the recently sold downtown commercial landmark, will be undergoing a facelift.

The six-decade-old retail and office complex at Main and Elm streets, once the centerpiece of the Brooks family’s local real estate holdings, was sold in June for $12.75 million to Aubuchon Realty Co., or ARC, of Concord, Mass.

The new owner plans to refurbish the center to attract new tenants, Eamon Moran, the ARC president, told a Tuesday night meeting of the Architectural Review Board and Historic District Commission.

Among the current retail tenants of the the 23,954-square-foot center are Lux Bond & Green, Brooks Brothers and birddogs, as well as business offices. Previously, it was the site of the local Williams Sonoma store before it moved to Church Lane and the headquarters of the Brooks family’s community newspaper chain.

The center currently has several retail vacancies, according to Moran, and the new owner hopes to attract new tenants with the project.

“We want to breathe some new life into the property,” which was built in 1963, he said.

Changes being planned include new lighting, removing some “old, tired awnings” on the storefronts, taking down some shutters and repainting trim to reflect a more contemporary appearance, Moran said. 

Members of both panels seemed to agree with Architectural Review Board member Jake Watkins that the plan is a well-done “light touch in modernizing the building,” but the applicant narrowly missed having to wait for approval until the September joint meeting of the ARB and HDC.

The potential delay arose when ARB member Vesna Herman pointed out the application was not complete.

Herman wanted to see drawings of the new lighting proposed for the building, and other members noted the renderings showed trim on the Main Street side of the structure had a different color than trim on the Elm Street side.

Moran apologized for both omissions to the proposed renovations. 

After Moran assured the panels he would provide specific information about the new lighting and revised drawings with the planned color scheme before the end of the week, the plans were approved unanimously.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.