A future car dealership and outparcels are slated for some vacant land in Orlando.
Christopher A. Holler, vice president for the Holler-Classic Automotive Group, filed an application for the proposed project on 9.1 acres across two parcels at 3801 and 4053 L.B. McLeod Road. The property would include the proposed dealership over 7.1 acres and the potential for two 1-acre outparcels.
Winter Park-based Great American Land Management is listed as the purchaser of the site, while First Baptist Church Orlando Campus Inc. is the current owner.
The church bought the 8.23-acre property at 3801 L.B. McLeod Road in 2000 for $3.2 million, and the 0.87-acre property at 4053 L.B. McLeod Road for $400,000 in 1989. The site currently hosts overflow for the church and a retail building.
Great American Land Management is seeking to change the growth management plan for the site to allow for the planned dealership. A tentative meeting on the change is projected to occur in November.
Great American Land Management, Holler-Classic Automotive Group and First Baptist Church of Orlando were not available for comment.
Meanwhile, demand for auto dealership investment is high, according to Las Vegas-based Kerrigan Advisors. The dealer purchase advisory firm said one out of every three buyers in its database seeking dealerships in Florida.
“Demand for dealerships remains at record high levels given the industry’s robust profitability and attractive business model," Erin Kerrigan, founder and managing director of Kerrigan Advisors, said in a prepared statement. "Kerrigan Advisors expects 2022 to be at or above 2021’s record level for transactions, as valuations remain high and dealers continue to allocate record amounts of capital to acquisitions.”
There are 889 auto dealerships in Florida that focus primarily on new car sales, according to the Florida Automobile Dealers Association. Those dealerships have total annual sales of $103.1 billion and an average of 91 employees per dealership.