Chevrolet Dealer to Move to Auto Center

In a further boost for the rebounding Ventura Auto Center, Paradise Chevrolet will move to a 6-acre plot south of the Ventura Freeway, a landlord for many of the auto center dealers announced.

“The further expansion of the auto center is a direct result of the $2.7 million in road improvements and $18 million in freeway interchange improvements by the city,” John Hofer, who owns the bulk of the land the auto center is built upon, told the Ventura City Council on Monday.

Paradise will move from its current location at 1177 S. Victoria Ave. to a new 44,000-square-foot facility at the southwest corner of Leland Street and Lake Drive.

Bob Gregory, the owner of Paradise Chevrolet, said he expects his dealership to open at its new location by fall of 1998.

He said that General Motors encouraged the move to the auto center.

“We feel that the relocation to the Ventura Auto Center will benefit Paradise Chevrolet and the other auto dealers in the center,” Gregory said. “We expect the increased traffic in the Ventura Auto Center location to increase our sales by 15%, and we anticipate similar impacts to other dealers in the city.”

Paradise’s move is the latest in an influx of dealers flooding into the Ventura Auto Center--the strip of auto dealers running along the south side of the freeway near the Johnson Drive exit.

Last month, Vista Honda moved into Jack Weber’s old Nissan and Mazda site, and used-car dealer Budget moved into a spot left vacant by McDonald Mercedes in July 1995.

The auto center is one of the city’s major sources of tax revenue. The new company will extend the Ventura Auto Center farther west and make for a total of 11 dealers.

Gregory thanked the City Council and Mayor Jack Tingstrom for their efforts to bring the Ventura Auto Center back as a healthy economic engine.

“We look forward to a long and prosperous business in the Ventura auto center that will benefit everyone in the city,” he said.