investigation
A car dealership based in Raleigh, North Carolina, is making plans to remodel its workshop and turn it into a showroom near dealerships owned by wealthy automaker Norman Braman.
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Car-rich Norman Braman is facing a new festival in his neighborhood.
Johnson Automotive Dealership Group, based in Raleigh, North Carolina, paid $25 million for a development at 2121 Biscayne Boulevard in Edgewater, Miami, which currently houses a Staples store, records and a Vizzda lounge.
Johnson Automotive plans to convert the assets into a new Kia showroom and dealership, said Rani Hussami of Apex Capital Realty. The progression is approaching Braman’s car stores, adding the budget brands Honda and Hyundai.
Hussami represented the buyer. The seller, a subsidiary of Plano, Texas-based Sikka Investments managed through Shirin and Barkat Daredia, paid $20 million in 2021 for the one-acre site, records show. The 21,501-square-foot Staples store was completed in 2008 and is still open. Hussami declined to comment on Staples’ lease, citing a nondisclosure agreement.
Johnson Automotive, his client, bought the assets in an off-market transaction, Hussami said. The car dealership needs to expand into South Florida and is interested in a site in downtown Miami, Hussami said.
“The asset is not for sale,” he said. I called the owners and asked them if they wanted to sell it for a profit. “
Johnson Automotive has 11 dealerships in North Carolina and two more in Annapolis, Maryland, and Stuart, Florida, the company says. The company sells 10 car brands, in addition to Kia, Honda, Maserati, Porsche, and Subaru.
Car dealerships have stepped up their real estate game in South Florida in recent months. In January, Hollywood-based Craig Zinn Automotive Group paid $23. 5 million for a project in Kendall. The 8. 3-acre allocation is approved for a two-story retail car construction. encompassing approximately 76,000 square feet and 580 parking spaces.
The Kendall complex sits next to a 14-acre asset that Craig Zinn Automotive leases in Miami-Dade County, where the company plans to build a $15 million Subaru dealership.
In August, Birmingham, Alabama-based Dream Motor Group paid $150 million for two Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Coral Gables and Cutler Bay, an auto body repair shop in Cutler Bay and a construction site in Coral Gables.