Fayetteville, N.Y. -- Demolition of a long-vacant former Chevrolet dealership in Fayetteville has begun, making way for construction of a new Honda dealership.
A groundbreaking for construction of the Friendly Honda dealership is scheduled for Nov. 30 at the former Chevy store at 534 E. Genesee St. The dealership is expected to open in August 2019.
The 25,000-square-foot Honda store will be the sixth dealership owned by Poughkeepsie-based Friendly Auto Group and the group's first in Central New York.
Eric Kahn, president of Friendly Auto Group, said the dealership will have a five-car showroom and 15 service bays.
"It's going to be a state-of-the-art facility, with a very comfortable setting for consumers," he said.
Demolition of the former Jay's Village Chevrolet/Powerhouse Chevrolet dealership in Fayetteville has started. (Rick Moriarty | rmoriarty@syracuse.com)
The site was the home of Jay's Village Chevrolet and later Powerhouse Chevrolet for many years until the dealership closed in 2008. The building has been vacant since then.
Friendly bought the four-acre site for $1.2 million. Marty Dowd and Ed Kiesa, senior brokers at CBRE, represented the buyer in the transaction.
Friendly Honda will be the third Honda dealership in Onondaga County and the first one in the eastern side of the county. The other two in the county are Honda City in Clay and Lamacchia Honda in Syracuse.
"American Honda and Friendly Auto Group think it's a great opportunity for a Honda partnership in the East Syracuse market," said Kahn.
Friendly Auto Group operates Honda and Ford dealerships in Poughkeepsie, an Acura dealership in Middletown, and Jaguar Land Rover and Volvo dealerships in Albany.
Kahn said his company is open to expanding further in Central New York.
"We're always looking to strategically grow our group," he said. "If the right opportunity came up, yes, we'd be interested in growing our presence."
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