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Grubbs Volvo Cars Central Houston At 7620 Washington Ave.


CrockpotandGravel

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The Western Brick Company building at 7620 Washington Ave was for sale earlier this year.  

JLL marketed the sale of the building as an investment property/

The building is in the Cottage Grove neighborhood in Houston.




Loopnet listing:

https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/7620-Washington-Ave-Houston-TX/14898144/  (archive link)



Brochure:

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/vPTlvZiaKREibBTVYKqZZ5Wq5ov0-u_M1SNIEqUdWo4/document.pdf  (archive link)




From the listing:

  • Located in the Design District one block from I-10
     
  • 31,845 square foot building available on ±2.4552 acres of land
     
  • 12,595 square feet of showroom and offices, 19,250 square feet of storage, and 36 parking spaces
     
  • Built in 2008, the building is fully sprinklered with concrete deck construction
     
  • Sale Type     Investment or Owner User
     
  • Property Type: Industrial 
     
  • Property Sub-type: Warehouse,  Industrial Showroom



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Land survey

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  • The title was changed to New Volvo Dealership At 7620 Washington Ave

Automotive co. enters Houston with planned Volvo dealership on Washington Ave.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2021/06/07/grubbs-automotive-volvo-dealership.html

Grapevine, Texas-based Grubbs Automotive has entered into a long-term lease for a 31,845-square-foot property near Memorial Park with plans to build a Volvo automotive dealership.

This will be Grubbs Automotive’s first Houston-area car dealership.

The company negotiated a 20-year ground lease at 7620 Washington Avenue, which includes a 12,595-square-foot showroom and a 19,250-square-foot warehouse building, which Grubbs Automotive plans to renovate.

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16 hours ago, hindesky said:

I wonder if the Volvo dealership just down the road lost their right to sell Volvos? Star Motor cars sells Volvos and other high end cars.

https://www.starmotorcars.com

They did indeed. They were super convenient but stopped being a Volvo dealer a few months ago (though still pitch themselves as an independent Volvo repair shop).

 

I wonder if this is because they never really updated the look. Used to be very 1970's Volvo chic inside and any newer Volvo dealership (West Side comes to mind) is like walking into the Minority Report. Curious to see what Grubbs does with Western Brick!

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We went to Star back in June 2020 when looking at the XC60, the guy working did not even get up to help us. Just pointed to the lot when we asked to see an XC60. We immediately left. 

This is a Chron article from 2019. 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Volvo-wants-a-premium-experience-Its-oldest-13789674.php

 

"According to Volvo, the dealership was the brand’s worst-performing outlet for six years running — not just in Houston, but in the entire country. Unaware of, or uninspired by Star, local shoppers were fleeing the neighborhood to purchase their new Volvos elsewhere." 

"In February 2016, Volvo informed Seureau it was terminating his franchise. “Star Motor Cars has consistently failed to adequately represent Volvo Cars…and has failed to achieve any reasonable degree of sales penetration in its assigned area,” the manufacturer wrote. Seureau protested, grinding the separation to a halt. When mediation failed, the case moved to the State Office of Administrative Hearings."

 

Edited by Justin Welling
clarified year
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My initial thought when seeing this thread was that Star wasn't going to want to invest the cash to focus on electric cars. Volvo has announced that they will be electric-only by the end of the decade.

When Cadillac announced something similar, they offered buyouts to franchises that didn't want to invest the $$$ on the service side. 

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Volvo and Star Motors did go to a hearing over the termination of the franchise and Star lost.  Star is a bit of an auto dealer anachronism with a relatively small store trying to hold down multiple franchises in an age where highline dealers in Houston are all fighting each other for national sales rankings (and have mostly been bought up by publicly traded dealer groups).  

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  • 3 months later...
  • 5 months later...

My father bought a new Volvo from Star in 1973. The service after the sale was abysmal. He thought it was because the Mercedes-Benz customers were getting better service and Volvo customers were the "step-children." A family friend who owned a 1972 Mercedes-Benz told my father that he wasn't satisfied with Star's service either. See what happens when you don't treat your customers right - almost 50 years later they pull your franchise.

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9 minutes ago, Specwriter said:

My father bought a new Volvo from Star in 1973. The service after the sale was abysmal. He thought it was because the Mercedes-Benz customers were getting better service and Volvo customers were the "step-children." A family friend who owned a 1972 Mercedes-Benz told my father that he wasn't satisfied with Star's service either. See what happens when you don't treat your customers right - almost 50 years later they pull your franchise.

All I have to say is their name is not too good in these Houston streets there's no way I would buy a Mercedes-Benz from them there's too many other options in Houston.

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  • The title was changed to Volvo Dealership At 7620 Washington Ave.
  • 5 months later...
  • 9 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

So as a Grubb Volvo client it has been hard to see the work for a while even though it was going hot and heavy for at least 6 months, but finally this week you can now see inside and obviously outside and its really well done. They are truly showcasing an old building and doing some awesome work.

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  • The title was changed to Grubbs Volvo Cars Central Houston At 7620 Washington Ave.
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