On Real Estate

Tuesday, September 11, 2001

Kia is returning to Corpus Christi

J.C. Classic Cars is new seller; facility to be near corner of Nile and SPID

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

About two months ago, J.C. Classic cars purchased a two-acre parcel of farmland near Nile and South Padre Island Drive as a home to a new Kia dealership. J.C. Classic Cars is headed by Jeff Grissom (left), president, and Curtis Hills (right), vice president.

Korean car maker Kia is making a Corpus Christi comeback. Kia, known for its low-priced cars, cruised out of the city last year after it was unable to resolve real estate issues with its local dealer, Vista Automotive Group. Kia wanted Vista to build a new facility to showcase its cars. But with its hands full building a cluster of dealerships in the 6600 block of South Padre Island Drive, constructing a home solely for Kia just wasn't logical, said Bill McBean, president of Vista.
   "We looked at it, but we were in the middle of building three other new buildings and moving our dealerships," McBean said. "We don't have a home for Kia, simple as that."
   Vista Automotive operates Cadillac-Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Toyota dealerships in its 6600 SPID cluster. It inherited the Kia dealership in February 1995 along with its purchase of the Mitsubishi franchise from dealer Paul York. Vista bought Toyota from the York family in late 1997, after Paul York's death in July 1995.
   But Kia will drive back to the city in December when J.C. Classic Cars opens its Kia facility about 100 yards from the corner of Nile and SPID, near the Vista Toyota dealership.
   J.C. Classic Cars operates three used car lots in Corpus Christi under the Oasis Motor Co. name and a new-car Chevrolet dealership in Sinton.
   About two months ago, J.C. Classic cars purchased a two-acre parcel of farmland near Nile and South Padre Island Drive, as a home to the new Kia dealership. Peterson Development Co. sold the farmland to J.C. Classic Cars Co.
   The dealership, scheduled to open in December, will have a 3,600-square-foot area for showroom and offices and a nearly 10,000-square-foot area for service and parts, said Curtis Hills, vice president of J.C. Classic Cars.
   Also nearby the Vista dealership and the soon-to-be Kia operation is Padre Ford-Mazda.
   By clustering car dealerships on SPID, dealerships are able to attract shoppers looking for convenience, said Jeff Grissom, president of J.C. Classic Cars.
   A remodeled cooperative
   Even an electric utility needs to recharge its office once in a while. Such was the thinking behind the nearly $1 million remodeling project at the Nueces Electric Cooperative facility in Robstown.
   The 709 E. Main St. facility gave tours last week to show off the changes to the facility that began in 1997.
   The one-story facility, built in the late 1940s and dedicated in 1950, was starting to get a little run down, said John Sims, the cooperatives executive manager.
   The roof leaked, it still had the original plumbing and wasn't wired for the computer age, Sims said. The company searched briefly for new offices, but in the end chose to stick to its old building, Sims said.
   When the cooperative began, it had only about 3,000 to 4,000 customers and about a dozen employees. Today, it bills 12,700 customers a month in Nueces, Kleberg, McMullen, Jim Wells, Kleberg, Kenedy, Live Oak and Brooks counties.
   The remodeling project included a new roof, a drive-up window, new flooring, new ceilings, new paint and easier access for handicapped customers. About 1,000 square feet of office space was added, bringing the building's total square footage to 11,000. The project also included 7,000 feet of computer wiring and 7,000 feet of telephone wiring for Internet access.
   And the outside brick was replaced with stucco. Built to endure hurricanes, the facility retained its walls and pier-and-beam structure.
   Oh, and the cooperative also did what it tells its customers to do - build with energy efficiency in mind. Its new air conditioning unit dropped the cooperative's usage by 5,000 kilowatts, or the equivalent of five all-electric homes, Sims said. Workers also installed insulation and double-pane windows during the remodeling.
  
  

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Contact Laura Elder at 886-3678 or elderl@caller.com

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