With a desire to expand their Madison operations, the Fields Automotive Group chose The Redmond Company to pursue the purchase of an abandoned building across the street from their Jaguar Land Rover Volvo dealership. The plan was to move their service department and car wash to the new property while maintaining the sales operations at the existing dealership. After reviewing the desired site and the proposed construction plans for a new facility, it was determined that the project would not be financially feasible.

As a next step, the Fields ownership engaged Redmond’s Real Estate Consulting Team to search for alternative sites that would better suit their quickly-growing business. On the wishlist: to be near Madison’s highly-trafficked ‘Beltline’ Highway, and to be near the other luxury dealerships. A thorough in-person search yielded several options, but the selected site was a ‘hidden gem’. Lacking a ‘for sale’ sign on the physical building, it was discovered by the Redmond team via a commercial real estate website. The widely-known ‘Badger Bowl’ bowling alley was deemed a great site choice for the Fields group as it is located at a main intersection just off the Beltline and adjacent to the existing Madison luxury dealerships.

A unique challenge to the acquisition of this ideal property involves the local government: half of the 5-acre parcel lies within the Town of Madison, and the other half is taxed by the City of Madison. The dissolvement of the Town had already been scheduled for 2023, but with Redmond’s due diligence and assistance from other brokers and lawyers, the City and Town were able to reach a revenue sharing agreement to share the incremental tax revenue the dealership will bring.

The 34,000 sf dealership will be built on the 5-acre site and will house the Fields’ Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo brands. The location of the site itself could not be more perfect, both from a retail synergy perspective and for the convenience of luxury auto shoppers. The addition of the Fields group to the area will create a “luxury auto mall.”

The dealership owners have requested the inclusion of several exclusive features including an in-house staffed snack and beverage café. The owners have also proposed the reuse of two bowling lanes from the iconic alley to entertain and engage the dealership’s customers.

This exciting project is currently in the design phase and will have construction completed in February 2018.

See our other projects for the Fields Automotive Group here:

• Fields Jaguar Land Rover Volvo – Madison
• Fields Jaguar Land Rover Volvo – Waukesha