Sterling Organization’s facade upgrades are the first phase of a broader plan to modernize the 439,644-square-foot shopping center.
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The new owner of Bloomfield’s Copaco Center has won town approval to begin renovating the aging shopping plaza, the first visible step in a broader overhaul of the 439,644-square-foot property on Cottage Grove Road.
The Town Plan and Zoning Commission on Aug. 27 approved a facade improvement plan from Sterling Organization, the West Palm Beach, Florida-based firm that bought the center for $54.2 million in September 2025 from affiliates of AmCap Partners.
Dustin Hicks, a Sterling representative, told the commission the facade work is the first phase of a multi-part plan to modernize the property.
“It’s a little tired and needs some renovation,” he said, calling the location “a great opportunity.”
The approved phase covers the multi-tenant building anchored by Chase Bank and the building anchored by Stop & Shop. Plans call for removing dated metal sign rails, installing new storefront systems on the Chase building, adding stone column bases and building up the parapet near the Rainbow store to give the long, flat facade more vertical definition.
Hicks said Sterling intends to follow the facade work with additional improvements over time, including new landscaping, updated signage, public art, repairs to asphalt and curbing, and marketing of undeveloped outparcels. Some work has already begun under a permit for structural changes.
Bonnie Burger, chair of the town’s economic development authority and a member of the family that previously operated the plaza, urged the commission to view the center as central to Bloomfield’s planned Granby Street and Toby Road revitalization.
“Whatever happens to the shopping center happens to that whole area,” she said.
Sterling Organization did not immediately answer questions from the HBJ about the cost or timeline of the improvements.
