Porsche dealership paving the way for business area development
One of North America’s busiest highway interchanges is about to become busier as Porsche launches its fourth Greater Toronto Area dealership this summer.
“We have many luxury buyers in this area, and the convenience of the location is ideal for those who want to drop off their Porsche for service on the way to work in downtown Toronto,” said John Cappella, Managing Director of Porsche Centre North Toronto.
The dealership, located near the Sheppard Avenue and Victoria Park intersection where the 401 and 404 highways connect, is expected to contribute to the business development of the underdeveloped area, according to Consumers Next, a City of Toronto business renewal initiative.
Capella said the dealership has service customers “ready to go” and sales customers who are soon going to pick up their vehicles.
He explained that the dealership site is going to act as a “destination” and not simply a location where people shop and then leave.
Amenities such as restaurants are being constructed adjacent to the new dealership, and landscaping features such as the addition of 70 trees will also add to the atmosphere of the redevelopment, turning it into a new quadrant of the area.
“Think of a Saturday, when someone wants to come in for service — if they want to have a nice lunch, on an outdoor patio, they can do that, or relax in the dealership lounges, which are great too,” said Cappella.
The idea for the Porsche Centre North Toronto first began to crystallize about three years ago. Since then, Cappella and staff members have been working through the process of getting approvals and overseeing the dealership’s design elements. Construction has taken 14 months.
“At the beginning, you have to lay everything out: What is the business case going to be? How many units can we sell? It’s a very extensive process,” explained Cappella.
One of the main challenges in getting the site launched has been completing the exterior of the building.
May 2017 had a record rainfall of
140 mm — the same month last year saw 30 mm of rain. The ground became saturated with water which caused a delay in installing certain electrical aspects and the sidewalks. “We’ll now be able to complete this process very quickly,” said Cappella.
The service area is fully transparent, “almost like a glass box,” said Cappella.
He pointed out that the facade of the dealership is made up of eight-feet of glass with a silver trim on top, which is part of the design language of Porsche dealerships worldwide, but also serves the purpose of bringing public attention away from the building and towards the brightly-coloured cars sitting in the showroom, whether in daytime or at night.
“It’s pretty clear that consumers today are finding their dealerships online,” said Cappella, adding that Porsche Centre North Toronto’s website has been instrumental in driving customers to the dealership.
Nevertheless, Cappella underscored the importance of the location, its highway visibility and the redevelopment of the area as factors that he believes will draw high volumes of activity.
Porsche Centre North Toronto contains 14 productive bays, one alignment rack, two diagnostic bays for programming issues and diagnosing vehicles.
It will employ 40 people and has made provisions for electric charging stations on both the sales and service sides of the dealership.
The dealership’s showroom will showcase 28 cars while the basement will store approximately 50 cars.
