Page 49 - Club Braman Magazine Fall / Winter 2018

VISION, IMAGE AND OPTIMISM
FUEL MASSIVE GROWTH
Everything’s Targeted to the Customer with the Best of Technology
Automatic sliding doors are a small thing. But they’re a big thing.
When it comes to constantly rebuilding, renovating and modernizing an auto dealership, those doors don’t just
make it e ortless to walk into one of the new Braman Motorcars facilities
on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach. They send a message.
“That’s something that stands out
a lot,” says Erik Himmel, vice presi-
dent of the automotive division of Hedrick Brothers Construction, which has built much of Braman’s newest Porsche, Rolls‐Royce, Bentley, Mini
and parking facilities. “They don’t
want anybody to have to push a door open. They want people to be greeted by that door opening up, right into service, right into sales.”
It’s indicative of building state‐of‐the‐art facilities with the customer in mind, says Braman Motorcars General Manager Stephen Grossman. “We’re changing the landscape on Okeechobee Boulevard and modernizing it,” Grossman says. “We’re taking what used to be an abandoned strip mall, a pancake house and a movie theater and giving our customers a level of service that really is unmatched in the industry.” Moreover, Grossman says, “Bra-
man’s investment shows its con dence in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. Years ago, somebody wouldn’t have put multi-millions of dollars into this area.” Observers have watched dramatic
Luxury Preowned vehicles and services advisors’ o ces will be completed.
A boutique and completion of remaining site work is also set to be completed in
early 2019,Ferrara says. In addition, an auto reconditioning facility has opened on the garage’s fth oor, upgraded lighting and ooring have transformed the second oor into an exterior showroom and an existing single‐bay car wash has been demol- ished and replaced with a two‐bay car wash.
High‐tech electronics, eye‐popping video and high‐speed charging stations for electric vehicles are hallmarks of the new Braman deal-
erships.
“We’ve got boutiques, we have cafes, we have seating areas with large‐screen TVs and updated graphics,” says Ferrara. “Everything’s targeted to the customer with the best of technology.”
Once all the current work is completed, Braman’s focus will return to the BMW area, and the redeveloping, improving and upgrading will start over, according to Grossman.
Owner Norman Braman, Grossman
says, “has a vision and an image and an optimism that leads us to think we’re in
a very bull market in the economy and in the car industry. We keep developing and building and buying property to expand our business going into the next gener- ation.”
transformations of the Braman com-
plex in recent years, according to Marc Ferrara, president of CELA4 Management Services, the project manager for all the ongoing Braman construction.
In late 2015 and early 2016, work was started on the West Palm Beach re- development: new Porsche, Bentley, Rolls‐Royce, Mini, Preowned Luxury Cars showrooms, plus a six‐story parking garage. In 2016 Braman BMW Jupiter was rebuilt. Then, the new Porsche facilities and one‐third of the parking garage were completed in July 2017.
The 800‐car garage was completed in August of this year, and 26 Bentley/ Rolls‐Royce service bays and a new parts department on the rst oor of the garage were completed in October. Early next year, according to Ferrara, the showrooms for Rolls‐Royce, Bentley and
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