Most everyone I know has a very vivid memory of the first time he or she drove a car, right down to make and model of car, time of year, passenger(s), and street name.
My first memory was at age 14 and a half. Yes, 14 and a half.
I had a part-time job as a porter for an Oldsmobile dealership in the South Suburbs. One of my older brother’s got me the job and drove me to work that first day. And within the first 10 minutes of my first day, I was handed the keys to a brand-new 1984 Oldsmobile Tornado and instructed to drive the car around to the car wash, wash it, dry it, and park it back in the front of the sales lot.
The ink on my driver’s education application wasn’t even dry, let alone ink on an actual drivers permit. I was instructed just to drive slowly and not hit anyone or anything, which was not easy after attaching the price sticker to the passenger side window (seemed like an amount of money in those days).
I learned to drive that summer on the dealership lot at the rocket speed of 5 miles per hour, especially after the general manager realized I had never driven a car before. It was great experience.
What does driving a car have to do with real estate you ask? Well, nothing really, but that old dealership sales lot and building pales in comparison to the new facilities of today, especially Fair Oaks Ford Lincoln on 2055 W. Ogden in Naperville.
Built in 2007 and purchased by Norm Zienty about a year ago, the 35,000 square-foot building, situated on 8.5 acres has 18 service bays, with 6 more currently under construction. With 24-foot clear (how ceiling height is described in commercial real estate), the building has plenty of room for the over half million parts in the parts department.
This is the third location for Fair Oaks, they have a pre-owned sales lot and facility on Ogden and Naperville Rd. and another location in a neighboring city. Owner Zienty is thrilled with the quality of construction of his new building and its location within Naperville. It is so high-tech, that he could not event turn on the lights in the morning his first day as the timers for the lights are on a master automated system.
When asked why he likes Naperville, Norm replied, “We’ve been here for 30 years and appreciate the vibrant economy and loyalty of our customers.”
Even today whenever I drive on a car lot, I drive slowly, and that often draws attention from the sales folks.
I often explain it is just and old habit and I am only looking!
