Groton — Several downtown Mystic business owners say the growing number of vacant storefronts on West Main Street is threatening the vibrancy of downtown, and they want something done about it.   

Four vacant properties — soon to be five — are owned by the limited liability company Jerome Properties LLC, with the principal listed as Brian Navarro and a business office on Essex Street in Mystic, according to town and state records.

Jerome Properties LLC owns 2-6 W. Main St., 23-25 W. Main St., 27-29 W. Main St., and 36-44 W. Main St. Historic Mystic LLC, which has the same P.O. Box as Jerome Properties, also owns the former Central Hall block, which burned in 2000. 

It has changed hands since the fire and Historic Mystic LLC is the most recent owner. The block has yet to be rebuilt.

Eric Burns, a partner with Jerome Properties, said Friday the management just completed a lease on its largest property in downtown Mystic, the former Cooper Shoppe.

The new tenant, a men's and women's clothing store, is expected to open in May, he said.

The property group is also nearing agreement on a second vacant property, he said.

"We know that a vibrant, full downtown is what everybody wants. It's what we want," he said.

"I think there's a greater obligation when you own that amount of property," said Bryan Murphy, owner of Trade Winds Gallery at 5 W. Main St. "Now, he can do whatever he wants with his properties. But the choices he's making are to the town and the merchants' detriment. And we want to know why."

Tricia Walsh, president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce, said Thursday she understands the merchants' concerns, but said of the property owner: "He understands that they do need to be filled, and he does have the best interests of downtown in his heart, so he is working on that."

"I acknowledge that there is a problem when you see something empty," Walsh said.

But the overall footprint of Mystic has grown with the addition of new shops on side streets like the bakery planned for Water Street, she said.

In the case of the former Cooper Shoppe at 23 W. Main St., Burns said the store remained closed because the initial plan was to convert it into a restaurant. 

That required a lengthy permitting process, and when plans changed, the management group had to renovate the space, he said.

Work was done in August, searching for tenants began in October and the group quickly found interested parties, Burns said.

"The spaces are really not leasable until they're done, and by done I mean finished floors" and other work, he said.

Burns said he's aware that the vacancies have been a concern but finds it a strong sign that high-quality stores are looking at Mystic and seeing potential for success.

He declined to discuss the LLC's plans for the Central Block.

The merchants' concerns have reached the attention of the town manager and Town Council.

Paige Bronk, Groton's recently hired manager of economic and community development, said the issue in downtown Mystic is emotionally charged and he wants to listen first, learn the facts and understand what's happening.

On Friday, a subcommittee of the Downtown Mystic Merchants Association met with town and chamber members to talk about solutions and the future.

The group decided to survey business owners about what they'd like to see in Mystic, what Stonington and Groton can do to help, and what merchants' most pressing issues were.

The group will also write a letter to the landlords of empty properties to suggest help to move the process along. Business and chamber members at the meeting also discussed whether to throw out parking restrictions.

Murphy moved his business from 42 W. Main St., which was managed by Jerome Properties, two and a half years ago. The space he left remains unfilled, he said.

Cost per square foot was an issue, although the new space is also smaller, Murphy said. 

"We can only keep Mystic a vibrant community that attracts shoppers to Main Street if there are shops that offer something to buy, not empty ones," Annie Philbrick, owner of Bank Square Books, wrote in a letter to the editor sent to The Day.

She said her bookstore has seen an increase of more than 10 percent in sales during the past few years.

She said, however, that there's "a growing concern among our customers that this upward trend will not continue unless the real estate company will negotiate with potential businesses that are interested in their available retail space."

Vacancies hurt because downtown Mystic has weathered not only the 2000 fire that destroyed the 160-year-old Central Hall block, but the recession, Superstorm Sandy, floods, the Mystic Drawbridge repair and a streetscape project that brought new sidewalks, curbs and buried utilities but also tore up sidewalks.

Thomas Dexter, owner of Dexter and Company, which sells and repairs jewelry, is moving from 36 W. Main St. to a space on Pearl Street at the end of the month. It's better suited in size to his desire to handcrafted jewelry, he said.

"I have loyal customers I've been taking care of for years, but for someone new," it might be more difficult, Dexter said.

He started more than 40 years ago, when stores offered everything people needed to live downtown. Trade Winds, under a different owner, was also an early business.

"The landlords who were in town, they had a waiting list of people wanting to come downtown," Dexter said.

A lot has changed since, he said — parking, the streetscape, the economy, the Internet.

He wants downtown Mystic to keep its high-quality stores and have the mix people want.

To Murphy, that means understanding that business is tougher than it used to be.

Before the recession, "we more or less had eight or nine good months a year and three or four rough ones," Murphy said. "Now it's almost exactly flipped."

d.straszheim@theday.com

Twitter: @DStraszheim