New strategy for closed dealership
by Jane Larson – Apr. 16, 2009 02:09 PM
The Arizona Republic
The former Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership in south Scottsdale could turn into a retail showroom or office space if its new real-estate broker’s marketing strategy succeeds.
SRS Real Estate Partners has split the property into three separate listings and is marketing them for a variety of uses, SRS Vice President Rick Breuer said.
“We’re going back to fundamentals and exposing them to a lot of types,” he said.
SRS, headquartered in suburban Dallas and formerly known as Staubach Retail Services, hopes that potential buyers can break the perception that only an automotive dealership will work on the properties at Pima and McDowell roads.
Plenty of eyes will be watching the effort, with the city and its business community eager to find new uses for vacant properties along the aging Motor Mile and in areas surrounding the McDowell Road corridor.
Georgia-based Bill Heard Enterprises Inc. built new- and used-car dealerships on the site in 2006 for a reported $12 million, but abandoned them when it went bankrupt last fall.
The lender recently submitted the winning bid in U.S. Bankruptcy Court and hired SRS to sell the properties, Breuer said.
The firm is already negotiating offers for the vacant 5.4 acres Heard owned on the northwestern corner of Pima and McDowell roads, he said. The parcel is listed at $2.1 million.
SRS also has received interest in Heard’s large new-car showroom on the intersection’s southwestern corner, he said. The 29,236-square-foot building sits on 5.6 acres and is listed for $6.1 million.
SRS is positioning the used-car dealership next door as office or flexible space, with land available for expansion. That parcel will take more work, given the market’s glut of office space, Breuer said. The 7,018-square-foot building on 5.5 acres is listed for $3.5 million.
Elsewhere on Motor Mile:
• SRS is seeking a tenant or multiple tenants to sublease the former Scottsdale Jaguar and Scottsdale Land Rover dealership at 6725 E. McDowell Road, Breuer said. Annual rent on the 41,800-square-foot building is pegged at $10.48 a square foot.
The dealership closed in November when owner Penske Automotive Group Inc. consolidated the two brands at its Northeast Valley auto mall.
• A new company that aims to help individual car sellers and buyers do business safely has opened on Motor Mile.
A Lot 2 Offer took over the former Unique Truck & SUV Center building at 7520 E. McDowell Road and will hold its grand opening May 29-31, co-owner Deanna Fero said.
The firm offers a gated sales lot, a Web site and sales-related services for private parties seeking to buy or sell vehicles, she said. Fero said she and two partners started the business to offer a neutral location that reduces the potential danger and fraud that come with going to a stranger’s home to preview or test-drive a car for sale, or having strangers come to the seller’s home.
The company also offers financing, warranties, escrow and notary services. It charges sellers a monthly fee that starts at $49.99 for a Web listing to $749.99 for full services.
Fero expects the sales lot to hold up to 75 vehicles for sale. It will be open daily, and its Web site is www.alot2offer.com.