Charlotte’s historic Coliseum Center is about to be redeveloped into a massive new $35 million retail center called ‘Coliseum Crossing’. We just found out that it will be anchored by Sonic Automotive’s new flagship ‘Echopark’ dealership brand.
In Sonic’s last quarterly earnings report, Sonic said it plans to open over a dozen new dealerships in North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, and Texas and the Carolinas over the next year.
Jeff Dyke, Sonic’s EVP of Operations, stated, “Given our performance at EchoPark, we are accelerating our expansion into the Carolinas, Florida, Georgia and Texas markets. Our Colorado stores were cash flow positive in the quarter. Currently, we have more than 15 locations in the aforementioned markets that will break ground in 2017 and 2018.”
Sonic will also be opening Echopark dealerships in Huntersville and Gastonia.
According to recent building permits filed with the city, Sonic’s new Echopark location in the Coliseum Crossing development will take up a total of 10 acres, and will feature a massive pre-owned car lot, offices, interior showroom, repair facility, and state-of-the-art customer service center.
The remaining 8 acres of Coliseum Crossing will be developed into over 59,000 square feet of retail space and would connect to the neighboring Walmart.