The sale was made by the Coopersmith Group that has owned the dealership site in Melbourne’s eastern suburb of Ringwood since October 1981.

The 8878 square metre property and showroom at 391 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood, was bought by Coopersmith for $400,000 at auction in 1981.

Agents CBRE said the sale represents a yield of 4.33 per cent.

CBRE senior director David Aiello said in a statement that: “Over the course of four decades, Coopersmith Group has built a landmark, and growing hub of car dealerships in Melbourne’s east.” 

Ringwood Mazda is one of Australia’s biggest Mazda dealerships and forms a key part of Ringwood’s automotive ‘Golden Mile’ that also includes Car City and Ringwood’s Mercedes-Benz dealership that is owned by Eagers Automotive Ltd.

The family-owned commercial building and development company Coopersmith Group, and its partners, control about seven hectares of land on the prime highway strip, with its Nissan, Volkswagen and Ford dealerships. 

Over the past 14 years, the Coopersmith Group has built and owned Etheridge Ford Ringwood, Ringwood Volkswagen, Ringwood Nissan and Ringwood Mazda.

CBRE said that under Coopersmith Group’s ownership, the Mazda site at 391-397 Maroondah Highway has also been home to various garden and nursery tenants, and prior to its purchase was held by Patterson Cheney Holden as a vacant paddock in the 1970s.

Coopersmith Group is now building a multi-storey BMW dealership in Ringwood which will be leased to Autosports Group.

The purchase of the dealership property by the leaseholder is becoming more common. 

APE recently acquired a group of properties on which its dealerships are situated, while earlier this year prestige used vehicle dealer Nick Theodossi and partners bought the 1.8 hectare site occupied by Subaru Interactive at the Docklands in Melbourne for $50.5 million.

By Neil Dowling