By Kathy Lee Scott/Garden Grove Journal
A new Kia Motors dealership will move into the Brookhurst-Triangle space that Hyundai held before it relocated to the Garden Grove Auto Center on Trask Avenue.
On Tuesday, the Garden Grove City Council unanimously agreed to amend the original lease with Hardin Hyundai, Inc. and let Garden Grove Automotive take over.
The Anaheim-based company will manage the Kia dealership.
Before it moves onto the site, the company would need to pay $167,500 to improve the site, which includes resealing and re-striping the asphalt, painting the structures, repairing fences, landscaping and installing new signs.
To compensate the company for its upfront costs, the city will rent the site for $3,000 a month for two years. After that, the rent would increase to $10,000 a month.
The new tenant added two parcels, which increased the lot size from 3.38 acres to 4.1 acres.
One of the new parcels is currently being used for parking junk cars, according to the staff report. Until the city can locate the car owners, the new tenant can’t tow any away.
The Hyundai dealer last paid rent on Sept. 1, 2009, two months before he moved to the former Dodge site on Trask Avenue. The city has received no rent for the site for five months. Under this agreement, the new tenant would begin paying on the lease in mid-March.
An analysis by city consultants showed the Kia dealership could generate $154,000 new sales taxes yearly.
Kia is a strong brand, and the consultants felt its sales would grow by 15 percent, according to a staff member.
In exchange for the lowered rent, the tenant agreed not to ask for any financial relocation help from the city when construction on the Brookhurst Triangle begins.
