Nero, Kadosh, Scarpace, Beitz, Luke and Dresselhouse of CBRE broker $125 million sale

CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has represented Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., in the $125 million deal for the Potamkin General Motors building and dealership. The 265,000 s/f space will be the flagship N.Y.C. dealerships for Audi and Volkswagen, which purchased the building for $84 million and will invest another $41 million in renovating the space. Volkswagen was represented by the CBRE team of Jedd Nero, executive VP, and Michael Kadosh, senior associate, in N.Y.; Lauren Scarpace, VP; Paul Beitz, first VP; Tim Luke, alliance director for Volkswagen Group of America account, and Allen Dresselhouse, VP, project management services, in Detroit. The dealerships will occupy the current Potamkin General Motors facility at 798-804 11th Ave., located on the "auto sales autoban" of the West Side. Audi and Volkswagen will be added to the Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Toyota and other dealership showrooms on 11th Ave. "Volkswagen Group of America engaged CBRE in the search for a flagship Manhattan site back in February 2007, and identifying opportunities on 11th Avenue, which eventually stood out as a preferred location, was extremely challenging," said Nero. "However, Volkswagen was committed to its strategic plan to grow in the U.S. market and the Potamkin site ended up fitting perfectly into their business and marketing plan in New York. In order to turn Volkswagen's vision into reality, we undertook an enormously complex and detailed financial analysis of every potential site in Manhattan to determine not only the best location, but whether their best option was through a lease or a purchase. Among the obstacles we had to overcome were the needs of the two distinct brands, Volkswagen and Audi, the changing environment in the auto industry and Potamkin having to work out its side of the equation in order to make our deal work for them." "After multiple evaluations, we determined that 11th Ave., which is one of the few Manhattan areas zoned for auto showroom and servicing, was Volkswagen's best option," said Kadosh. Allen and Robert Potamkin, the sons of the company founder, along with Peter Paris, of Potamkin, negotiated the deal on behalf of their company. "Volkswagen sets their goals deliberately high in the quality and engineering of their vehicles, and locating and designing a flagship location in Manhattan was no different for them," said Scarpace. "The current Potamkin building will be recreated from the inside out, leading to specific efficiencies and an extraordinary Volkswagen and Audi brand experience, with two distinct, cutting-edge architectural experiences." "As Volkswagen and Audi move forward on our aggressive plan to increase sales in the U.S., there is no better place to demonstrate our commitment than in New York City - a town synonymous for bold actions and big thinking," said Stefan Jacoby, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. "New York has always been a leading market for the Volkswagen and Audi brands, and these new store fronts will serve to strengthen our business even more. We are proud to be investing in the New York economy, excited to showcase our brands and look forward to seeing more Volkswagens and Audis on the streets of New York."