A long road trip

Developer Wayne Ruben beams at a $262,000 Bentley prominently featured in Dimmitt Automotive Group's new downtown Sarasota showroom, a gallery-like space where the gun metal-colored flooring is overshadowed by the artwork on the walls and on four wheels.

“Isn't this something?” he says of the Bentley, one of more than a dozen luxury cars from brands like McLaren, Rolls Royce and Lamborghini that fill the 7,000-square-foot showroom.
Today, Ruben is basking in the success of a deal that has brought one of the most talked-about and unorthodox tenants in years to downtown Sarasota, to space he bought from the city for $1.77 million on the ground floor of a new parking garage.

But landing Dimmitt was no joy ride.

There were dozens of trips to Dimmitt showrooms in the Tampa area to haggle over terms and study the dealer's design aesthetics. One sticking point was where the estimated $3.5 million in annual sales tax from Dimmitt's Sarasota sales would go. Ruben wanted it to stay in Sarasota. Though Dimmitt desired to contribute to the Sarasota community, it initially balked at the complexities associated with splitting its auto dealer's license between Pinellas County and Sarasota County. Ruben prevailed.

Even after a deal was struck, though, Ruben and designer Hoyt Architects made changes to widen windows and doors to accommodate vehicle entry, and added pounds per inch to flooring concrete for the heavy automobiles.

There were also insurance issues to contend with. “The Dimmitt folks being car guys, things took a while. There was a lot of negotiation,” says Ruben, a former Benderson Development Co. executive who also developed a Staples office supply store and Bank of America branch in downtown Sarasota. “But we had a good feel for each other.”

Dimmitt officials agreed.

“The Sarasota area has been on our radar to establish a place there for a long time,” says Scott Larguier, Dimmitt's chief operating officer, adding that almost 50% of the luxury dealer's business comes from south of the Sunshine Skyway. “”It's a very, very important marketplace for us.”

Downtown, however, wasn't the only place Dimmitt considered. It also looked at spots on St. Armands Key and elsewhere, Larguier says.

Ruben had to convince city officials at first, too, who thought a luxury car dealership might not dovetail with surrounding retail. He also had to secure 10 spaces in the city's 400-space State Street Garage for inventory; obtain additional vehicular storage in back of the building; get special exemptions to knock out concrete in favor of glass; and pay the city for the right to lease space for Dimmitt in the front of the building.

Ruben and Dimmitt say the moves were worth the extra effort to showcase the vehicles. “Our idea was a Madison Avenue effect,” Larguier says.

“I knew I didn't want to do a hair salon or a T-shirt shop,” Ruben says. “Not that there's anything wrong with them, but I wanted to make this area special. I want State Street to become Sarasota's Rodeo Drive. So I began looking at the demographics that are here, and came up with what I thought was a really cool, sexy idea.

“I know I could have just put a chain restaurant in here and it would have been a lot easier,” Ruben says of the Dimmitt studio, gesturing with his arms outstretched. “But it wouldn't be this.”

Ruben also had to learn about Dimmitt's corporate culture. “I knew the Dimmitts to be a very civic-minded family, and I think what really sealed things with me was they said they wanted this to be more than a showroom, more like an event space that could hold up to 200 people at a time.

“We really worked together to make it a 'jeans-and-sport-coat' sort of aesthetic, a lifestyle experience,” Ruben says.

Dimmitt's expansion is paying off. The firm sold a dozen high-end cars in December and four on a single Saturday in January alone, Ruben says.

With Dimmitt open and flourishing, Ruben is training his attention to the balance of the State Street Garage space. He hopes to land a high-end retailer to a portion of the space, and an upscale restaurant.

To secure the latter, he's working with Richard Rivera, a former Darden Restaurants executive with decades of experience.

“Just like Dimmitt, I want the restaurant to be special,” Ruben says. “And I only want to have to lease the space one time, so we have to get it right.”

- K.L. McQuaid