Euro Motorcars is one of the businesses that’s had a front row seat throughout the Lot 31 construction project in downtown Bethesda.
After switching out car brands and a showroom renovation, the dealership was hoping the project’s Woodmont Avenue closure would be reopened by Monday, when it will open a new Volvo dealership in the 7106 Woodmont Ave. space.
But despite Montgomery County’s 20- to 24-month timetable for the reopening (given upon closing the road in September 2012) the county said this week that the road will remain closed until December or January because of safety concerns.
That means a bit more waiting for Euro Motorcars and general manager Gil Hofheimer, who moved out the dealer’s Bentley and Rolls Royce sales departments last September amid clouds of dust and construction dirt.
“Woodmont Avenue is going to be a thriving area, there’s no question about it,” Hofheimer said. “We suffered through the early stages of the building. It’s finally coming to fruition.”
Euro Motorcars opened the showroom as a Rolls Royce and Bentley dealer in November 2012. But as Lot 31 construction started — and crews began blasting and excavating the site a few blocks north on Woodmont Avenue — Hofheimer said it was clear the ultra-luxury cars that sell for upwards of $200,000 weren’t a good fit for the location.
With hundreds of dump trucks a week hauling away dirt past the showroom, employees had to clean the pricey cars parked outside three or four times a week.
“It was a very difficult scenario to deal with because there’s not a lot of volume and you have salesmen there to earn a living and the traffic was minimal,” Hofheimer said. “It just wasn’t conducive to our business model.”
But rather than abandon the Woodmont Avenue showroom, Euro Motorcars decided to make it a Volvo facility. About a year-and-a-half ago, Euro Motorcars bought the Martens Volvo dealership at 4800 Wisconsin Ave. in Northwest D.C., knowing that Martens was about to sell the land to next-door Georgetown Day School.
The new Volvo showroom will officially move from that location to Woodmont Avenue on Monday. The renovation process was extensive, requiring new furnishings, flooring and signage. There will be about 20 cars in the showroom with six sales representatives, a waiting lounge, coffee bar and other amenities.
“This is truly Volvoland, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW D.C., Potomac,” Hofheimer said. “It is a very family-oriented, safe vehicle. Volvo has the reputation for being the safest car on the road an some of the systems it’s developed over the years that they now share with other manufacturers are astounding.”
The vehicle service will continue off-site at 5206 River Rd. That facility will also undergo a renovation starting in September. Euro Motorcars is the region’s biggest seller of Mercedes Benz, which its well-established Euro Motorcars Bethesda showroom stocks at 7020 Arlington Rd.
Ourisman Volkswagen, which bought the Martens Volkswagen unit next door at 4800 Wisconsin Ave., will move to the five-story, 140-unit apartment under construction at 7001 Arlington Rd., the former site of a U.S. Post Office.
