NEW YORK CITY — Volkswagen Group of America (VW) has purchased the Potamkin General Motors Building and dealership located in Manhattan, New York City, for $84 million. The 265,000-square-foot property is ideally situated at 798-804 11th Avenue along the “auto sales autobahn” of Manhattan's West Side, and the automaker plans to take advantage of this location by using the property as the flagship New York City dealership for its Volkswagen and Audi brands. Once the automaker completes its $41 million renovation of the property, it will join the likes of Mercedes, Lexus, BMW and Toyota on 11th Avenue.
“As Volkswagen and Audi move forward on our aggressive plan to increase sales in the United States, there is no better place to demonstrate our commitment than in New York City,” said Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group, in a statement. “New York has always been a leading market for the Volkswagen and Audi brands, and these new store fronts will serve to strengthen our base even more.”
VW was represented in the sale by a CB Richard Ellis team that included Jedd Nero and Michael Kadosh of the firm's New York City office; Lauren Scarpace, Paul Beitz and Allen Dresselhouse of the firm's Detroit office; and Tim Luke of the firm's Herndon, Va., office, and alliance director for the VW account. Allen Potamkin, Robert Potamkin and Peter Paris provided in-house representation for Potamkin.
— Coleman Wood