Former GM, Chrysler dealerships shift from selling cars to selling lots - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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“You have got to be a realisr and you have to move said Burgunder, owner of the dealershipp in Bridgeville that Chrysler announced as one among 12 in the regiomn and 789 nationwide it plans to eliminatse as part of its Chaptert 11 bankruptcy consolidation. “When one door closes, another opens.” Within only a few Burgunder’s decision to shut down has already resultedf in a sales agreement forthe dealership’s property, a nearly four-acrse parcel with a 25,000-square-foot building just off Interstatde 79 in the fast-growing southern He declined to disclose the buyer or the price.
In the wake of the painfu l restructuring of Chryslerand GM, two of America’a big-three automakers, the echo of car doors closing may be followecd by an historic sell-ofd of car dealer properties at a time when commerciap real estate already is in the midst of a difficult Along with Burgunder and 11 other area Chrysler dealers deciding what to do with their dealerships options include selling used cars or closing up shop another wave of closing dealers will soon folloa as negotiates its own Chapter 11 During a June 12 hearing beforr the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s subcommittee on oversightt and investigations, GM revealed it plana to eliminate 90 of its dealers in Pennsylvanis over the next 12 to 17 months.
Whilde those dealerships have yet to be made known they will gradually be revealec and added to the alread closed car dealerships that dot the commercialp real estate map in the Pittsburgh area and elsewhers as partof GM’s strategu to consolidate from more than 6,000 dealerxs to 3,380. “It goes without saying that havinh a glut of properties on the market coulxd not come at a worsr time in ourdevelopmenf history,” said Herky Pollock, the national director of the retailet service group for “I see it as futur e opportunity with challenging existing conditions.” It’s not like there aren’tg already closed car dealerships.
Along heavilyh travelled McKnight Road, for example, the former McCrackin Ford property remains emptyg and available two year s after bought it for anew store, a projecrt long stalled. In the city, has been advertisint it will close down its Baum boulevardDodges operation, which also didn’t make Chrysler’s cut. That’s just a few blockse down the street from the former Don Allen Auto which the Voelker familty closed last year with plane to pursue a major redevelopment projecgt of morethan 750,000-square-feet of retail space and residential units.
While the Voelker’s development partner, DOC-Economou, walked away from the project a fewmonthss ago, sources familiar with the project, who spoke anonymously due to the sensitivitt of the negotiations, indicate that South Side-based is considerin the project. Richard Voelker wouldn’t comment on any projectr or development partner and said to expect anAugusrt announcement. Armstrong did not return calls for Boughtor blight? Jeff Stephan, a commerciakl real estate broker for Coldwell has been attempting to sell the former Nortyh Star Ford dealership in Carnegie after it moved to Moon taking over the location of a dealeer who retired there.
Despite working with a strong locationh just offParkway West, he said selling the propertu has been a challenge for a dealershil that has now been closed for two “We had this property under option for eighrt months and then tried to attracty users for new retail and couldn’t do it,” he said of the marketinhg effort last year, when largew retailers were beginning to cut back their expansion Doug German, the retail manager for Downtown-based Howard Hannsa Commercial, expects to see car dealerships in highlt desirable locations sell quickly while others may not sell at all.
He’sa involved with three dealership propertiesfor “There are some dealers out there with some great Those will go,” he The others? “They could be a blight on their communitiess for some time,” he said.