The buildings that house the Commonwealth Audi and Volkswagen car dealerships at the Santa Ana Auto Mall have been sold to a private investor for more than $18 million.
Oxnard-based BLT Enterprises recently snapped up the properties at the new- and used-car center located off of Edinger Avenue, a few blocks from the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway.
BLT Enterprises paid about $10.7 million, or about $365 per square foot, for the two-story, 29,281-square-foot Volkswagen site at 1450 Auto Mall Drive. It spent another $7.5 million, or about $235 per square foot, for the one-story, 31,900-square-foot Audi site at 1425 Auto Mall Drive.
The two Commonwealth dealerships themselves—owned by Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Penske Automotive Group Inc.—did not trade hands in the property sales. Penske, the second-largest publicly traded automotive retailer in the U.S. by revenue, has long-term leases for both properties.
The two Santa Ana sites are believed to be the first sizable Orange County properties owned by BLT Enterprises or related entities—according to area brokers with the Newport Beach-based private capital group of CBRE Group Inc. who worked on the deal.
BLT Enterprises is primarily involved in the recycling and solid waste industries. It bought the two properties strictly as investments.
Penske bought the Audi and Volkswagen dealerships in early 2010 from the Keuylian family. Penske recently put the finishing touches on a nearly $7 million overhaul of the Commonwealth Audi site.
The newly upgraded property includes two buildings that hold a showroom area three times its prior size, as well as a new parts and service department. The upgrade was modeled after a cruise ship terminal, according to the dealer.
Penske
Penske has been expanding its presence at the Santa Ana Auto Mall in recent years.
It also owns the nearby Crevier BMW and Mini Cooper dealerships, which it bought about a year ago.
The Crevier BMW dealership is Orange County’s second-largest dealership by sales, after Newport Beach-based Fletcher Jones Motorcars.
Crevier BMW posted more than $280 million of new and used car sales last year. It’s the top BMW dealer in the Western U.S., according to trade data.
Penske owns and operates about 300 auto dealerships, including about 150 in the U.S. It trails only Florida-based AutoNation Inc. among publicly traded dealer groups.
Brokerage data show both Santa Ana properties being sold last month by affiliates of the Keuylian family, the former owners of the two dealerships.
The properties were originally listed for sale at a combined price of about $21.2 million.
The Keuylians bought Commonwealth Volkswagen-Audi in 2007. They also used to own and operate Lamborghini Orange County in Santa Ana, which at one time was the largest dealership for the luxury brand in the U.S.
Viken “Vik” Keuylian owned the Lamborghini dealership and ran it with his sisters, Nora, Astrid and Sossi Keuylian. The dealership abruptly closed in late 2008.
History
Vik Keuylian also owned Lamborghini of Calabasas, which closed about the same time.
He was charged with misusing $12 million in borrowed money from the credit arm of Lamborghini’s parent company Volkswagen AG. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2009.
Lamborghini Newport Beach, owned by the principals of Ferrari & Maserati of Newport Beach, now runs Lamborghini’s only OC dealership, in Costa Mesa.
