Tamiami Hyundai owner buys, redeveloping King Richard's site

BUYER: Top Hat Imported LLC (principal: Robert Zellers), Naples
SELLER: BIC's Investment Corp.
PROPERTY: 6780 Airport-Pulling Road N., Naples
PRICE: $5.1 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $1.5 million, March 1997
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Coleman Yovanovich & Koester PA, Naples

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Auto dealer Robert “Tim” Zellers purchased the King Richard's Family Fun Park on Airport-Pulling Road for $5.1 million.

The price equated to $448,944 per acre. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per acre for retail space ($746,593) in Southwest Florida, according to the CoStar Group.

The new owner plans to develop the 11.36-acre property into the new home of the Tamiami Hyundai auto dealership. Currently, the Hyundai dealership's operations occupy space on Tamiami Ford's site and land to the south of it. Construction of the new dealership is scheduled to start in July.

David Stevens of Investment Properties represented the seller and George Vuko of the Welsh Cos. Florida Inc. represented the buyer.

“The King Richard's was not really a terribly profitable venture, so when we learned the Hyundai dealership was interested in moving we were able to put something together,” Stevens says. “It took 16 months to get the rezone.”

The project currently calls for construction of a single 30,000-square-foot building with showroom, office and service space, according to Vuko. However, there is room on site for a second building to be built sometime in the future.

A general contractor is still being finalized for the project, but the owners are working with Davidson Engineering for the planning and civil engineering.

The new dealership is scheduled for completion in 2014.

Zellers did not respond to request for comment as of deadline.