Beaman Automotive changes sites, moves 500 cars out of downtown Nashville

The downtown Nashville landscape continues to evolve.

The latest change saw Beaman Automotive move away from Broadway over the weekend after decades at the familiar site just off the interstate. 

Beaman Toyota is moving about 9 miles south and the Beaman Buick GMC is moving about 13 miles south into the Antioch area. Nelson Mazda previously occupied the Mt. View Road location. Officials with South Carolina-based Hudson Automotive Group, owner of the Beaman dealerships, said both locations are larger and represent an $82 million investment. 

“With Nashville’s expansion and growth toward Murfreesboro, these locations offer great visibility and the larger footprint we needed to thrive,” said Hudson CEO David Hudson.

Hudson said the Broadway location faced space constraints that were "stifling."

Why move? 

Brentwood-based GBT Realty bought the Broadway property in late 2021, about a year after Hudson bought Beaman. 

Hudson noted that the two new dealership locations are larger and will, therefore, have more selection. The company states that nothing has changed or will change other than the location. 

Upon purchasing Beaman in 2020, Hudson said, “Part of our company’s strategy when making a purchase is to look for companies that are already operating well, and when a brand is already trusted in the community, there is little reason to change it.”

What’s moving?

The Toyota and Buick-GMC operations are moving as well as the Beaman Automotive Collision Center, currently at 1000 Hawkins St. in Nashville. The collision center’s new home is an existing Beaman parts warehouse at 620 Crutcher Street in downtown Nashville. 

The Beaman Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram and Ford dealerships currently located in Murfreesboro and Dickson will not be moving. 

How’s inventory being moved? 

Vehicle inventory on the Broadway lots was scheduled to be moved by employees and not by car haulers. Before the weekend, there were more than 300 vehicles on the Toyota lot and about 200 on the Buick-GMC lot. All of those vehicles were supposed to move to the new dealership locations prior to the dealerships' Monday opening dates, officials said.

Ownership change, history 

Hudson bought Beaman about three years ago after two generations of Beaman family ownership. Former CEO Lee Beaman’s father founded the company in 1945, and it has long been a fixture of the Middle Tennessee automotive industry. It ranks as one of the largest dealer groups in the Southeast, according to a company news release.

Beaman Automotive Group employs about 450 people.

Hudson owns 49 dealerships in eight states, with locations in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina and South Carolina. In 2022, across all of Hudson’s 49 dealerships, more than 77,000 new and used vehicles were sold – with 6,500 of those being sold in just the two Beaman dealerships. The company anticipates even greater sales in 2023, since the move will allow increased inventory. 

New locations

Beaman Toyota

343 Harding Place in Nashville

Beaman Buick GMC

5300 Mt. View Rd. in Antioch

More:Nashville-based Beaman Automotive Group to be sold to Hudson Automotive Group