Lexus of Chattanooga is leaving its longtime home on Lee Highway and hitting the road for a new site on Highway 153, officials said Friday.
"It will be very luxurious," Ed Emerson, Lexus of Chattanooga's general manager, said about the new location. "It will give customers a much more pleasant place to do business."
Lexus is shifting to a site that for many years held Economy Honda, he said in a phone interview.
"Honda was very successful," he said about the parcel that faces Highway 153 and sits amid an array of auto dealerships off Chapman Road. Honda opened its new store in 2019 at 6001 Lee Highway and made the Highway 153 tract available.
Lexus' current facility at 5800 Lee Highway is next to sister dealership Capital Toyota, which will grow its footprint and take over the vacated space, said Robert Graham, Lexus' new vehicle sales manager. He said the McKamey family owns both of the dealerships.
"It will help both of us," Graham said by phone.
Work at Lexus' new showroom is expected to start this year and be ready in about 12 months, Emerson said.
The Lexus general manager wouldn't give a price tag for the work, but he added that "it's substantial." Plans are to tear down part of the existing structure, which was vacant for a couple of years, and rebuild while remodeling other space under the guidance of Dillard Construction, Emerson said.
Staff photo by Mike Pare / The Lexus of Chattanooga dealership is shown in a Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, photo. The dealership is moving from its longtime site to Highway 153 next year, officials said."We're going to make it really nice," he said.
He said both Lexus and Capital Toyota are growing.
"With the growth of the two stores, it's something they've been considering," Emerson said. "It's good timing."
The late Bob McKamey was one of the original Lexus dealers in the United States, he said. McKamey, who died in 2019 after more than 50 years in the auto business, also was one of the earliest American Toyota dealers.
McKamey recalled in a 2016 event marking his long association with the automaker that he had been approached by a salesman for the then-little known Japanese company who wanted him to sell some vehicles.
He said he checked out a Toyota car that was parked nearby, closed a door and was impressed by what he termed "a click" that to him indicated quality.
"I think I've got Toyota blood in my body," McKamey said then at his Capital Toyota dealership. "I grew up with Toyota. It has been such a big part of our life."
Emerson said the new showroom and auto lot will be "a huge contributor" to the local economy.
"We wanted to stay in Chattanooga," he said.
Graham said the new Lexus space will be "a lot bigger" than where it's currently located.
"There's not enough space here," he said. "Business is good. We've increased business and need for space for cars, and service is growing."
Steve Gates, a longtime friend and business associate of Bob McKamey, in 2020 became a partner in Capital Toyota and Lexus of Chattanooga.
Gates, who owns dealerships in Kentucky and Indiana, said at the time he was the dealer-principal for the Chattanooga stores, though McKamey children Karla and Jeff remained majority owners.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.