Westport’s Compo Shopping Center sells for $45.5M

WESTPORT — Compo Shopping Center, a familyowned property that is one of the oldest shopping plazas in Connecticut, has been acquired for $45.5 million by a large real estate investment firm.

The Brooks family, which owned Compo Shopping Center since its opening about 70 years ago, completed last week the sale of the property to Jacksonville, Floridabased Regency Centers. The 76,368-square-foot, two-building complex on Post Road East is anchored by a CVS store and houses about 20 other establishments, as well as some office space.

“Basically, my brother and sister pretty much wanted to cash out,” Torrey Brooks, president of Brooks, Torrey & Scott Inc., the company that previously managed Compo Shopping Center, said in an interview on Friday. “They have no kids that are involved in the business, and that was the motivation.”

In the past few years, Compo Shopping Center has weathered the disruption unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic — a resilience highlighted by a 100 percent occupancy rate for the property’s retail space. In addition to the CVS store, which operates 24/7, Compo Shopping Center’s other tenants include: Awesome Toys & Gifts, Body Fit Training, Club Champion, Club Pilates, Cohen’s Fashion Optical, Dunkin’, European Wax Center, Gold’s Delicatessen, Legacy Martial Arts, Music & Arts, Nail Factory, Patriot Bank, Planet Pizza, Stretch Zone, The Fine Wine Company of Westport, The Little Kitchen, The Whale Tea, Verizon, Westport Cleaners, Westport Hair & Co., and WindowRama.

“Westport is on the Gold Coast. It’s the last to go down and first to come back,” Torrey Brooks said. “That’s why this has been a very successful shopping center.”

Recent improvements have helped maintain the property’s competitiveness. Its façade underwent renovations that were completed last year and based on a design plan by the Westport-based Frederick William Hoag Architect.

“Compo Shopping Center has been a highly sought-after investment for decades, and Regency emerged as the successful bidder in early February,” Matthews Real Estate Investment Services Vice President Joanna R. Manfro, who handled the transaction, said in a written statement. “This time around, I’m thrilled to have represented the sellers in this transaction as a broker, transitioning from the principal side. It was gratifying to help secure

the right buyer through a competitive process, ensuring the property received market value.”

For Regency, a real estate investment trust that is a member of the S&P 500 index, Compo Shopping Centers joins a portfolio of nearly 40 shopping centers in Connecticut. Those sites include Compo Acres, a property anchored by a Trader Joe’s store that stands across the road from Compo Shopping Center.

“This center is a natural fit into Regency’s expertise and ability, not to mention our existing center across the street,” Jack deVilliers, senior market officer and senior vice president for Regency, said in a statement. “We have had so much activity in this incredible market, and for good reason. The communities, the quality of centers, and the opportunity to bring a time-tested strategy to those environments is what we pride ourselves on. It’s why we

planted our flag here and continue to call this place home.”

Regency had already demonstrated its confidence in Connecticut through its acquisition last year of Greenwich-based Urstadt Biddle Properties, in an all-stock deal worth about $1.4 billion. Through that deal, Regency added about two-dozen shopping centers across Fairfield, New Haven and Litchfield counties to its portfolio. It had acquired Compo Acres in 2017.

While the sale burnishes the reputation of Compo Shopping Center, Torrey Brooks recalled that many people in the community were skeptical when Compo Shopping Center was constructed in the 1950s. He praised his grandfather, B.V. Brooks Sr., for proceeding with the project, at a time when Westport was much less developed.

“They told him he was crazy to build ‘way out there,’” Torrey Brooks

said. “And now ‘way out there’ is ‘way in here.’ I’ve got to give him the credit for the foresight to determine that we could do this.”

Through the years, the Brooks family has owned through various real estate companies a number of other properties in Westport, including Brooks Corner and Sconset Square in the downtown, and Westfair Center on Post Road East. They previously sold Sconset Square and Westfair Center, while Torrey Brooks said that there is an agreement to sell Brooks Corner. He also cited a letter of intent for the sale of the “medtail center” that they own at 1 Sasco Hill Road in Fairfield.

At the same time, the Brookses plan to keep their building at 1687 Post Road E., in Westport, Torrey Brooks said. The Tina Dragone women’s clothing store is located at that property.

Torrey Brooks added

that his family chooses buyers who they believe are committed to maintaining and improving their properties.

“I think Regency is going to do more. They always do,” he said.

The Brooks family is also well-known in Westport and neighboring communities because of their newspaper ventures. In 1964, B.V. (Dexter) Brooks, and his parents launched the Westport News. Dexter Brooks, the father of Torrey Brooks, went on to serve for 35 years as chairman and publisher of Brooks Community Newspapers, which published eight award-winning newspapers in Fairfield County. The newspaper group was sold in 1999 to Thomson Newspaper Group of Canada, and its newspapers are now part of Hearst Connecticut Media Group.

Dexter Brooks died on Aug. 31, 2011, two days before his 85th birthday.

File photo Compo Shopping Center on Post Road East in Westport, Conn., has been acquired by Regency Centers for $45.5 million.