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New dealerships add to north Glendale’s luxury amenities

Posted 3/25/20

Peoria has long been the place to buy a car in the Northwest Valley, but Glendale is beginning to carve out a role in the market by building several luxury dealerships near Union Hills Drive and Loop …

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New dealerships add to north Glendale’s luxury amenities

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Peoria has long been the place to buy a car in the Northwest Valley, but Glendale is beginning to carve out a role in the market by building several luxury dealerships near Union Hills Drive and Loop 101.

“This is a big deal for the West Valley,” said Brian Friedman, Glendale’s director of Economic Development, adding car shoppers won’t have to drive to the East Valley to look for luxury brands. “It’s a big deal for a lot of reasons, because it keeps our citizens off of the Loop 101 eastbound. It keeps them off all of the freeways. It reduces congestion and collision. It provides for a better quality of life for our residents, not having to go anywhere but Glendale.”

The Van Tuyl Group has already opened a BMW dealership in early 2019 and recently announced Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo will be added to the property along with a collision and cosmetic repair facility.

There will be more to come, as Van Tuyl still has room for one more dealership on its north Glendale property.

“I am pleased to welcome these market leaders to Glendale,” stated Glendale City Manager Kevin Phelps in a news release. “We will continue to move Glendale forward by developing and maintaining superb business partnerships that create jobs and generate revenue for Glendale.”

The dealerships at Union Hills Drive and Loop 101 join another Van Tuyl dealership, Arrowhead Cadillac on Bell just east of Loop 101. Arrowhead Cadillac had long been the only dealership in north Glendale and the only dealership on Bell Road on Glendale’s side of the freeway. West of Loop 101 on Bell Road, Peoria has more than a dozen dealerships in Peoria’s Auto District.

The collision and cosmetic repair facility will create a new opportunity for many Northwest Valley drivers, as it will carry parts for all major luxury car brands — not just those sold at the nearby dealerships. This will mean luxury car owners have a place in the Northwest Valley to get the parts their car needs, rather than having to drive across the Valley for them.

“They’ll be one of the pinnacle operations in the Valley for service of luxury vehicles,” Mr. Friedman said.

Once Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo are operational this will be the first luxury auto mall in the West Valley. Mr. Friedman mentioned the luxury auto mall in Scottsdale near the northeast curve of Loop 101. The northwest curve of the Loop 101 have similar demographics to that part of Scottsdale.

“Glendale’s demographics in that area are a six-figure household income demographic,” he said. “So, it’s exactly the type of consumers that expect to have dealerships right next to their home that they can go shop for, then get the vehicle serviced there.”

Demographics aren’t the whole ballgame though, Mr. Friedman said. He stressed the city’s relationship with Van Tuyl went a long way in getting them to expand their operations in north Glendale, both through years of a successful Cadillac dealership and by the city facilitating Arrowhead BMW to be the fastest construction and opening of any North American dealership in Van Tuyl’s history.

“You have to have the basic bones of demographics to support the dealerships… but in the end, we were a choice because of the relationships and because of that capital built with them for a long period of time,” Mr. Friedman said.

Van Tuyl’s real estate director Mike Pacheco echoed a very similar sentiment when Arrowhead BMW was under construction in 2018.

“Location is important, but without the hard work and dedication of great people, a project may fail, even if in a good location. And it’s not easy to find the right combination of location and people. It is in the city of Glendale that we found that combination,” Mr. Pacheco said.

The coming luxury auto mall is not the only thing branding Glendale and the West Valley as a luxury landing spot for high income residents. Mr. Friedman mentioned the opening of the newly-expanded Desert Diamond Casino near Westgate. In north Glendale, the luxury dealerships add to luxury housing and shopping options to go along with some attractive new eateries coming soon to the north side of town: Lou Malnati’s, Portillo’s, Barrio Queen and Matt’s Big Breakfast.

“Our marketplace is maturing heavily, and those outflowing dollars of household income that would seek an East Valley location in the past will no longer be doing that. We’ll keep our exceptional workforce and those dollars circulating in our own community,” Mr. Friedman said.

Cholla District City Councilwoman Lauren Tolmachoff similarly said these dealerships are one step in improving Glendale’s quality of life.

“In April of 2019, Council passed an ordinance which approved rezoning of this property to allow new and/or pre-owned vehicle sales and associated operations,” Ms. Tolmachoff stated in a news release. “We believe developments such as this elevate Glendale and coupled with the unique lifestyle offerings make it a top place to live, work and play.”

Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@newszap.com or found on Twitter @mwcarlisle.