Foley Rice Cadillac will close its Madison Street sales and service operations as soon as the sale of its franchise is approved by General Motors, the dealership’s owner said Friday.
Terry Rice, who’s co-owned the dealership for two decades, said property taxes pushed him out of business.
“It’s become very expensive to operate here,” Rice said.
Also, when GM ended production of its Oldsmobile line in 2004, the loss of the franchise cut his sales in half and decreased his service business by 35 percent, he said.
The 12 properties used by the dealership will be sold. The land, owned by Stephen X. Foley Sr. and his family, could create attractive development potential as it includes two full-block stretches.
A master plan for Madison Street, completed in 2006, calls for a $20-$25 million project for the northeast corner of Oak Park Avenue and Madison St. Other projects are also in the works.
Rice started shopping around the dealership last fall, hoping to find a buyer who would keep the business in Oak Park. But the dealership’s weak sales figures kept that from happening.
“If it wasn’t for my friends and repeat customers, I’d be long gone,” Rice said, adding that Madison Street–once known as Motor Row–hasn’t been an ideal spot for a dealership for a long time.
Rice would not disclose the name of the buyer until the deal gets GM’s OK.
Rice did not know how much sales tax the dealership generates for the village, but in 2004 he put the figure at $200,000.
The dealership was nearing completion of an overhaul of its facilities made possible in part by a 2005 business retention agreement with the village. Rice said that he will return all the money the village gave him from its tax-increment financing fund as part of the deal.
“I’m not keeping the taxpayers’ money,” he said. “That’s not what I’m about.”
Read a complete story in next week’s Wednesday Journal.