For the first time in a year, people can buy a new car at an auto dealership on El Camino Real in Menlo Park.
Granted, it’s a $109,000 car with a year-long waiting list.
Amidst a flourish of media coverage, Tesla Motors opened its new Menlo Park showroom and service center on July 22, giving the public a chance to get a close look at the trendy all-electric Tesla Roadster sports car.
The showroom, championed by Tesla as the new sales hub for Northern California, is located at 300 El Camino Real, at the site of the former Anderson Chevrolet dealership.
Some 1,200 people are already on a waiting list to buy the Roadster, and now that sales operations have moved to Menlo Park, the city will net sales-tax revenue for each new Roadster purchased at the new location.
David Johnson, the city’s business development manager, said the city will collect about $1,000 in sales-tax revenues for each $109,000 Roadster sold through the site. He said Tesla will help raise the city’s business profile, especially in the area of “green” technology.
“Tesla is such a high-profile name,” Mr. Johnson said. “Anything we plan to do to attract other … green or clean-tech businesses, this will help. Tesla really enhances our brand in those categories.”
The property is owned by Stanford, and Tesla is committed to a five-year lease. Tom O’Leary, the showroom’s general manager, said Tesla doesn’t have long-term plans for the Menlo Park site once the lease expires, but he noted that the showroom could help city-led efforts to revamp properties along El Camino Real.
“Menlo Park has been extremely helpful, and Stanford has been extremely helpful,” Mr. O’Leary said. “We’re happy to be the anchor tenant for a new El Camino Real.” He said Tesla is currently manufacturing about four cars per week, and within six months, will be producing 100 cars each month.
The city has been without an auto dealership since all four dealerships closed over a two-and-a-half-year period. The last dealership closed in June 2007.
