Auto Row Gets a 2nd Chance From Nissan : Central Avenue: A dealership will open on the site of the failed Duarte Nissan. The auto mall plan ran into trouble last year.

Duarte’s ill-fated Auto Row, beset in the past by dealer bankruptcies and pullouts, has been revived with the announcement that a Nissan dealership will open Oct. 1.

The new dealership will be located on the former site of Duarte Nissan, which went bankrupt and closed in 1990.

Michael E. Cronin, vice president and general manager of Mossy Nissan in National City in San Diego County, will own and operate the new dealership, said Phil Bres, a Mossy spokesman in San Diego County.

Cronin expects to display 500 cars and trucks and sell 4,000 vehicles yearly in what will be a major dealership in the San Gabriel Valley, Bres said.

The city expects to receive at least $300,000 in new sales taxes annually, said Manuel Ontal, assistant to the city manager. “In terms of Central Avenue, you’re seeing a resurgence of Auto Row,” he said.

City officials hope the new dealership, to be located on a 5.5-acre Central Avenue parcel owned by Nissan Corp., will soon be joined by at least three other dealerships.

The city had at one time expected 10 dealerships to open along Central Avenue. After those plans collapsed in 1990, the city temporarily switched gears and tried to sell a vacant 14.5-acre parcel--next to the Nissan site--for use as a 500,000-square-foot office building and restaurant complex.

Last week’s Nissan announcement signaled a return to the original Auto Row concept. “With the recession, (the office space plan) didn’t materialize,” Mayor Ginny Joyce said. “We’re pleased that dealership interest has renewed itself.”

The City Council two weeks ago helped breathe life into the Auto Row idea by agreeing to let Nissan put in a Nissan-only dealership. The site had originally held Nissan, Suzuki and Isuzu dealerships, all of which closed in March after dealer Robert Low declared bankruptcy.

The Nissan Corp. bought the land this year for a combined Nissan and Infiniti dealership. But the Infiniti dealership now is expected to be on a separate lot in the 14.5-acre parcel, Ontal said.

Meanwhile, along Central Avenue, Toyota of Duarte remains closed while its ownership changes. Construction recently began on a neighboring Mitsubishi dealership, Ontal said.