Haley Toyota paid the City of Roanoke just over a million dollars for a 17-acre parcel near Williamson Road and I-581 – a new home for the car dealership now located on Franklin Road. The new 70,000 square foot showroom and service center will be far bigger than its current operation – and the parcel is about four times the size.
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers and City Council members helped break ground on the site recently. At one time the former public works tract had been prepped for possible used as the home of a new civic amphitheater – but that never got off the ground of course, and it was built at Elmwood Park.
Noting that Berglund Chevrolet and Magic City Ford are just down the block on Williamson, Bowers dubbed the growing auto dealership strip as the “Motor Magnet,” comparing it to Christiansburg’s Shelor Motor Mile. Wendy Jones, executive director for the Williamson Road Area Business Association, likes the “synergy” that Haley will help bring to Roanoke’s busy commercial corridor.
“Natural competition is very positive and is great for the area. I think it will be good for the car industry in the area,” said Jones. “City Councilman Bill Bestpitch called it a “great day for Roanoke. We’ve had this surplus property marketed for a long time, hoping something like this would come along. We can get it back on the city tax rolls and have a much larger business that will add additional jobs. It’s just a win-win for everybody.”
General Manager Chuck Baker – well known for those “Haley has it for less” TV commercials, said the Richmond-based auto dealership group had been looking to make a move to larger quarters for some time. “We’ve just outgrown the property [on Franklin Road] and were able to get together with the city. A much better place to do business, a whole lot more parking, a nice waiting area – a better customer experience.”
A block off of Williamson means less visibility from a busy thoroughfare than Haley has on Franklin, but VDOT will allow Haley to take down two grass-covered berms along I-581. That will give the dealership visibility to thousands of passersby daily. The new home for Haley Toyota should be completed in the first quarter of 2015.
By Gene Marrano
